virtuele reis door de hel [6]

deze maand daal ik met Dante en Vergilius af in de hel
de vijfde kring: de wraakzuchtigen

De vijfde kring bevat de moerassige Styx, waarin de agressievelingen elkaar tot in eeuwigheid bevechten. De wrokkigen liggen onder water.

wraakzuchtigen
Like the fourth circle of hell, the fifth circle–presented in Inferno 7 and 8–contains two related groups of sinners. But whereas avarice and prodigality are two distinct sins based on the same principle (an immoderate attitude toward material wealth), wrath and sullenness are basically two forms of a single sin: anger that is expressed (wrath) and anger that is repressed (sullenness). This idea that anger takes various forms is common in ancient and medieval thought. Note how the two groups suffer different punishments appropriate to their type of anger–the wrathful ruthlessly attacking one another and the sullen stewing below the surface of the muddy swamp (Inf. 7.109-26)–even though they are all confined to Styx.
 
Bron: danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu

Dante Online | illustraties Doré | Dante’s Inferno

virtuele reis door de hel [5]

deze maand daal ik met Dante en Vergilius af in de hel
de vierde kring: de hebzuchtigen

In de vierde kring duwen de hebzuchtigen én de verkwisters zware lasten zinloos heen en weer.

hebzuchtigen
Avarice–greed, lust for material gain–is one of the iniquities that most incurs Dante’s scornful wrath. Consistent with the biblical saying that avarice is “the root of all evils” (1 Timothy 6:10), medieval Christian thought viewed the sin as most offensive to the spirit of love; Dante goes even further in blaming avarice for ethical and political corruption in his society. Ciacco identifies avarice–along with pride and envy–as one of the primary vices enflaming Florentine hearts (Inf. 6.74-5), and the poet consistently condemns greed and its effects throughout the Divine Comedy. Dante accordingly shows no mercy–unlike his attitude toward Francesca (lust) and Ciacco (gluttony)–in his selection of avarice as the capital sin punished in the fourth circle of hell (Inferno 7). He viciously presents the sin as a common vice of monks and church leaders (including cardinals and popes), and he further degrades the sinners by making them so physically squalid that they are unrecognizable to the travelers (Inf. 7.49-54). By defining the sin as “spending without measure” (7.42), Dante for the first time applies the classical principle of moderation (or the “golden mean”) to criticize excessive desire for a neutral object in both one direction (“closed fists”: avarice) and the other (spending too freely: prodigality). Fittingly, these two groups punish and insult one another in the afterlife.
 
Bron: danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu

Dante Online | illustraties Doré | Dante’s Inferno

virtuele reis door de hel [4]

deze maand daal ik met Dante en Vergilius af in de hel
de derde kring: de vraatzuchtigen

In de derde kring, waar het eeuwig regent, bevinden zich de vraatzuchtigen, die bewaakt en gemarteld worden door de hellehond Cerberus.

de vraatzuchtigen
om mijn verdoemelijke vraatzuchtigheid werd ik door deze regen neergeslagen
Gluttony–like lust–is one of the seven capital sins (sometimes called “mortal” or “deadly” sins) according to medieval Christian theology and church practice. Dante, at least in circles 2-5 of hell, uses these sins as part–but only part–of his organizational strategy. While lust and gluttony were generally considered the least serious of the seven sins (and pride almost always the worst), the order of these two was not consistent: some writers thought lust was worse than gluttony and others thought gluttony worse than lust. The two were often viewed as closely related to one another, based on the biblical precedent of Eve “eating” the forbidden fruit and then successfully “tempting” Adam to do so (Genesis 3:6). Based on the less than obvious contrapasso of the gluttons and the content (mostly political) of Inferno 6, Dante appears to view gluttony as more complex than the usual understanding of the sin as excessive eating and drinking.
 
Bron: danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu

Dante Online | illustraties Doré | Dante’s Inferno