The 9 Circles: A Guide Through the Structure of Dante’s “Inferno”

Hell , by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), is the first of 3 parts that make up the epic poem The Divine Comedy , written in the 14th century and considered one of the great works of world literature. The poem begins with Hell , continues with Purgatory , and finally the reader reaches Paradise. Those who wish to meet Hell for the first timeof Dante, you can use this guide to start reading. The narrative describes the journey of Dante and the poet Virgil through the 9 circles of hell. At the beginning of the story, Beatriz provides Virgil with the company of an angel to help both Dante and him on their journey, and to protect them from any danger.

The nine circles of hell

On their descent through hell, Dante and Virgil cross 9 circles or pailas , which are ordered from least to greatest according to the seriousness of the sin and the severity of the punishment, until they finally reach Satan’s feet. They are the following:

1. limbo _ It is where the indifferent, the pusillanimous and the unbaptized are found. These souls were rejected by heaven for not having done well and by hell for not having done any wrong. In limbo Dante meets Ovid, Homer, Socrates, Aristotle, Julius Caesar and many more.
2. lust . Here suffer those who lived dominated by desire. Dante meets Achilles, Helen of Troy, Paris, Tristan, Cleopatra and Dido, among others.
3. gluttony _ Guarded by the three-headed dog, Cerberus, those who had an excessive appetite are punished with eternal rain and hail. Few famous people they run into. The author Giovanni Boccaccio took one of the characters from this circle, Ciacco, and incorporated him into his book From him The Decameron .
4. Greed . It is a circle guarded by Pluto, god of wealth. It is reserved for people who hoarded or squandered their money. Dante and Virgil do not directly interact with any of its inhabitants. This is the first time they have walked through a circle without speaking to anyone, which could reflect Dante’s view of greed, a very serious sin for him.
5. anger _ Dante and Virgil are threatened by the Furies when they try to enter through the walls of the city of Dite (Latin name for Satan). In that circle the angry ones, stuck in the mud, fight eternally among themselves. Dante analyzes at this point the nature of sin. He begins to question himself and his own life as he realizes that his actions and his nature could lead to this permanent torture. 
6. heresy . All those who rejected religious or political norms are here, imprisoned in burning tombs. Dante meets Farinata degli Uberti, a military leader and aristocrat who tried to win the Italian throne and was posthumously convicted of heresy in 1283. He also meets Epicurus, Pope Anastasius II, and Emperor Frederick II.
7. Violence. It is the first circle divided into three turns or rings. The first ring is for those who were violent against people and property, whose souls boil in a river of blood, like Attila the Hun. Centaurs guard this first ring and shoot arrows at those who try to get out of it. The middle ring is made up of those who are violent against themselves, for example by committing suicide. These sinners have no control over their bodies as they become trees perpetually devoured by the Harpies. The third ring is intended for blasphemers, usurers and sodomites, that is, those who were violent against God and nature. One of these sinners is Brunetto Latini, a sodomite who mentored Dante. Here are also those who blasphemed the gods, like Capaneo, who blasphemed Zeus.
8. fraud . This circle is distinguished from the previous ones because it contains those who commit fraud knowingly. Within this circle is the  Malebolge , which contains ten  bolgias or ditches dividing types of fraud or the like:

• Pimps and seducers, whipped with whips.
• Flatterers, sunk in manure.
• Simoniacs (those who deal in spiritual matters), buried upside down.
• Fortune tellers and false prophets, with their heads twisted back.
• Political swindlers, sunk by demons in hot resin.
• Hypocrites, dressed in capes of gold on the outside and lead on the inside.
• Thieves and false advisers, bitten and turned to ashes by snakes.
• Sowers of contention, mutilated by means of swords.
• Schismatics (those who split religions to form new ones), torn apart by demons.
• Counterfeiters, who walk around suffering from various diseases (leprosy, fever, scabs, etc.).

Each  bolgia  is guarded by different demons, and the inhabitants suffer different punishments.

9. Treason. It is the deepest circle of hell, and in it resides Satan. As with the last two circles, it is divided into four rings. The first is Caina, named after the biblical character Cain, who murdered her brother Abel. This ring is for traitors to the family. The second, Antenora, for Antenor of Troy, who betrayed the Greeks, is reserved for traitors to the country. The third is Ptolemy, for Ptolemy the son of Abubus, who was known to invite Simon the Maccabee and his sons to dinner and then kill them. This ring is for hosts who betray their guests. They are punished more harshly due to the belief that having guests means entering into a voluntary and unbreakable relationship with someone. Betraying a voluntarily established relationship is more despicable than betraying a relationship established by birth or for any other reason. The fourth ring is Judeca, named after Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ. This ring is reserved for those who betray their benefactors. All Penan souls submerged in ice in different positions.

the center of hell

After going through the nine circles of hell, Dante and Virgilio reach the center of it, which coincides with the center of the earth. There they meet Satan, whom Dante describes as a three-headed beast. Each mouth is occupied devouring a specific person: the left mouth devours Brutus, the right one Casio and the central one Judas Iscariot. Brutus and Cassius betrayed, provoked and perpetrated the murder of Julius Caesar, while Judas betrayed Christ and provoked his passion and death. According to Dante, they are the greatest sinners, since they consciously committed treason against their lords, who had been appointed by God.

The hole to the center of the Earth was formed when Satan was thrown from heaven into hell. The displaced lands that remained on the surface formed the mount of Purgatory, where Dante and Virgil continue their adventure.

References

Alighieri, D. (2012). The Divine Comedy  (1st ed.). Oruro: Latin. Available at: http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra/la-divina-comedia-2/