Using evidence from Circles 7 and 8 to support your assertions, discuss why Dante believes fraud to be a more evil sin than violence. Consider in your argument the ideas of alienation and union that we have discussed in our study of this work. Do you agree with Dante's overall assessment?

Dante believes that Fraud is a more despicable sin than violence for one main reason. Violence can be caused by every animal in all of creation, while fraud is a sin unique to man, and is a bastardization of God's gifts of free will and intelligence.

Violence is a very basic and bestial sin. Dante puts many beasts in circle 7, to represent how humans become less human when they commit a violent act. The minotaur, the centaurs, and the harpies are all representations of how a human becomes part beast when they commit a violent act. Violence is a behavior that is natural to every creature. Every creature uses violence to survive. Predators use violence to find food, while prey uses violence to fend of the predators. The naturalness of violence against another is why Dante places the violent against their neighbors in the upper part of circle 7. They have committed one of the more natural sins. The violent against themselves and nature receive slightly harsher punishments, but they are still committing fairly bestial acts. Humans are not the only creatures to engage in suicidal behavior. Lemmings jump off of cliffs, and pack animals will follow their leader into any danger. The violent against God and Art are punished more severely due to the more uniquely human nature of their sins, but nevertheless, these uniquely human sins did not directly affect their fellow men.

Fraud is much more severe a sin because humans use the gifts of intelligence and free will to cause harm to their brothers. The major difference between the violent against others, and the fraudulent, is that the violent against others became beast like when they killed and maimed, while the fraudulent used the God given gifts of free will and human intelligence to injure their brothers. God hates fraud more than violence due to the fact that fraud is the abuse of the gifts that God gave to humans, and only humans. These humans are not ignoring Gods gifts like the sullen; they are actively using the gifts of intelligence and free will to cause harm to their fellow men.

I have to agree with Dante's portrayal of Fraud as a more despicable sin than violence. When a human uses God's gifts for evil, they deserve a lower position is hell. Violence is a natural sin, while fraud is a result of humanity's distortion of God given gifts. The fraudulent have abused God's trust in them to use these gifts for good, and now deserve the eternall punishment that they will forever receive.

No mortal power may stay her spinning wheel.
The nations rise and fall by her decree.
None may foresee where she will set her heel:
she passes, and things pass. Man's mortal reason
cannot encompass her. She rules her sphere
as the other gods rule theirs. Season by season...

What do you think Dante is saying here about fate and fortune through this mythological figure of Dame Fortune? How does this relate to Dante's conception of God? How do you think this compares with the way fate is explored in Sophocles' works?

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In the Inferno, Dante uses Dame Fortune to reflect Catholic Ideology of the day. The Catholic view of Christianity saw God as all powerful and beyond human comprehension, but did not believe in predestination. This view is similar to Sophocles's belief in the power of the Gods to control men, but fundamentally differs in what aspect of men's lives the gods/ God is controlling.

This poem can easily be used to reflect the belief that God was all powerful and impossible to comprehend with human reason. Since Dante was not a pagan, we can safely assume that Dame Fortune is an allegory for God. Dante mentions how Dame Fortune's actions cannot be predicted in the line "None may foresee where she will set her heel." This inability to control Dame Fortune is probably Dante's way of telling how men cannot begin to control or comprehend God. Those who try to accomplish actions that only God can do, for example seeing/controlling the future, are found in the lowest levels of hell. The fortune tellers are found in level 8. Their belief that they could see the future removes some of God's power, since they believed that the future they saw was what would happen, they denied the power of God to change the future to what he saw fitting. This leads to the next point.

The medieval Catholic Church did not believe in predestination, but did believe in an omnipotent God. This is a difficult belief to hold, but can be rationalized through the viewpoint that Dante expresses in the poem. Using Dame Fortune as an allegory for God, Dante states that "She rules her sphere as the other gods rule theirs. Season by season..." This sentence shows the belief that God did not directly control men's future, but on occasion, controlled only their present. God has the ability to directly control everything, but out of respect for free will, very rarely intervenes with earthly matters, and does not set individuals future in stone. This differs greatly from Sophocles's viewpoint on fate.

Sophocles and Dante both agree on one thing, the ability of God to completely control man. Their viewpoint differs on whether God actually does control the fate of men. Dante does not think that he does, as made obvious by the quote in the paragraph above, as well as the fact that Catholics of Dante's day did not believe in predestination. Sophocles believes that God maps out men's lives, while Dante believes that God lets men make the decisions, and only intervenes when it suits His purposes.

1) What does the inscription on the gates of Hell imply about the divine perspective on the sinful and about the place of Hell in God's plan? Consider, for instance, the phrase "PRIMORDIAL LOVE" -- how does Hell being formed with love seem strange to our modern ears? How does the inscription indirectly explain why the damned are so eager to cross Acheron and receive their punishment?

The inscription on the gates of Hell implies that God created Hell out of love for humanity. Though at first this does not seem to make sense, upon closer inspection one can clearly see Dante's reasoning. God so loved humanity that he gave them the gift of free will, and hell is a place for those who choose to disobey God.

Hell is a testament to God's gift of free will. In the medieval Catholic interpretation, humans were the only beings to possess free will. No other creature on earth could choose their destiny like humans could. Dante writes that "Here you shall pass among the fallen people/ souls who have lost the good of intellect." In Dante's world, humans were the only creatures that possessed the ability to choose to disobey God. Other monsters are in hell, but they are in hell as a representation of the sins of man, not because they choose to disobey God. This gift results in these sinners, who choose to disobey God. Their actions are displeasing to God, so they cannot enter heaven, but God still loves all of his creations. Because of this love, God creates hell as the place for sinners after death. Hell is representative of God's love in that the all powerful God recognizes the ability of man to choose their own destiny, and respects that decision. God stil loves these sinners enough to grant them their conscience, but due to their sins they can never be with God.

The interpretation that hell is the place for sinners can be used to explain why the sinners are so anxious to move on to their circle of hell. Their desire to get to their circle can be explained partially as morbid curiosity, but mostly as a wish to fulfill the destiny that they choose. One of the greatest fears of man, that of death, no longer applies to these sinners. They have been granted eternal life by God. It will not be a pleasant eternity, but they will be among peers, and will be judged justly. tHey have chosen this path, and they are anxious to finally reach the end. Their is a certain security in being in hell. In life these sinners had to worry about ailments, death, and discovery of their sins, as well as horrific tortures that they may have to go through if their sins were discovered. Not only did God grant them eternal life, he also granted them security. These souls now know that they will never have to worry about their punishments increasing. Once they reach their level of hell, they can go no further. Souls in circles 1 through 8 know that there are worse punishments below that they will never have to bear.

Free will is the cause of hell. If God had controlled everyone's life, there would be no need for hell, but He gave us the gift of free will. Not only did humans receive the gift of free will, they also received the gift of immortality, and for most sinners, a certain sense of security in the fact that their tortures will never increase.