DANTE’S INFERNO THE JOURNEY INTO HELL

Dante and his guide Virgil

CHARON The River Acheron…

THE GATES OF HELL ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE…

* YOU ARE HERE, beyond the GATES OF HELL

Circle I – Limbo -Unbaptized and virtuous pagans who did not accept Christ. -Limbo is a somewhat pleasant place, with fields and a castle. -Denied God's presence for eternity

Famous People Trapped in Limbo Homer Ovid Lucan Horace

Circle II – The Carnal The sinners are sentenced to their punishment by Minos.

The Suffering of the Carnal The Lustful…indulged their passions beyond reason. They are trapped forever in a violent storm, never to touch anything again. It features the lovers, Francesca and Paolo.

Circle III – The Gluttonous CERBERUS Those trapped in Circle 3 are constantly maimed by Cerberus Symbolic of their excessive drinking and eating

The Suffering of the Gluttonous They lie in putrid slush (symbolic of the garbage they produced) It is continuously raining and hailing

Circle IV – The Hoarders and Wasters The Greedy vs. the Wasteful They are divided into two groups, each pushing boulders against each other (symbolic of their mundane existence on earth, with sin punishing its opposite sin).

Circle V - The River Styx The Wrathful forever attack one another while stuck in the marsh of the Styx.

Crossing the River Styx Phlegyas, your guide The Slothful are eternally trapped beneath the swampy water of the river. They reach out and try to pull you into the swamp.

You have reached the City of Dis! The Shores of Dis Now, your true nightmare beings, for within the Walls of Dis are the worst sins of Hell. THE SINS OF MALICE

Circle VI The Heretics The heretics denied immortality and, therefore, denied God. They are entombed in flaming graves for eternity (since they believed the soul dies with the body, they will suffer that fate in Hell).

Circle VII The Violent and the Bestial

Circle VII - Outer Ring The Violent Against Neighbors Murderers and war- makers are immersed in boiling blood (symbolic of the blood of those they killed). -Centaurs guard the banks and shoot arrows at anyone who tries to escape

Circle VII – Middle Ring The Violent Against Self The Wood of the Suicides Their souls are encased in thorny trees. The harpies feed upon their leaves.

Circle VII – Middle Ring The Violent Against God The blasphemers, sodomites, and usurers all committed a profane act against God. They are lain over burning sand or forced to run ceaselessly around in circles. -The sky rains fire symbolic of God’s wrath.

Circle VIII - Malebolge Malebolge contains the “Fraudulent” sinners. They are guilty of committing deliberate evil. Each type of sinner is placed in his own ditch. Seducers Evil Counselors ThievesHypocrites GraftersSorcerersSimoniacsFlatterers Sowers of Discord Falsifiers

Circle VIII – Inside Malebolge… Seducers – Run forever in opposite directions and are whipped by demons Flatterers – Lie up to their necks in human feces Simoniacs – Those who mocked the church are placed head-first in flaming holes Sorcerers – Their heads are put on their bodies backward Grafters – Trapped in a lake of burning pitch Hypocrites – Made to wear brightly painted lead cloaks Thieves – Chased by venomous snakes and who, after being bitten by the venomous snakes, turn into snakes themselves and chase the other thieves in turn Evil Counselors – Eternally trapped in flames Sowers of discord – Their bodies are ripped apart, healed, and they destroyed again Falsifiers – Alchemists, counterfeiters, and perjureres are cursed with disease FalsifiersSimoniacs Sowers of Discord Thieves

The Path to the Ninth Circle... You must be lowered into the pit by the Giants Antaeus and Nimrod.

Circle IX – Compound Fraud

Circle IX - Caina You travel across the frozen lake of the ninth circle of Hell. Caina features those who betrayed their family. They are frozen up to their necks in ice. They cry eternally for those they betrayed.

Circle IX - Antenora Antenora holds those who betrayed their country. Your fear rises as you travel closer to the lair of the Devil.

Circle IX - Ptolomea Ptolomea holds those who betryaed their guests. Their tears freeze instantly and pierce their eyes.

Circle IX - Judecca The Lair of Lucifer Traitors to their Lords Lucifer’s three faces eternally consume the bodies of Brutus and Cassius for betraying Caesar, and Judas Iscariot for betraying Christ.