Representation Of Evil In Dante's Inferno

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The Inferno by Dante Alighieri shows a vision of hell in 1320 and inspired an ample amount of authors to follow the image he made common. Conversely, more than 300 years in the future, writer and author John Milton composed his renowned epic poem Paradise Lost in 1667. Their representations of hell are very different. Milton shows a place where Satan plots revenge. On the contrary, Dante describes his journey through hell and the tortures each level or circle displays. Milton culminates his individual vision of satan, while Dante shows Satan as a three-headed beast and a prisoner torturing sinners. Milton shows Satan in a different light; delineated as the master of hell plotting his revenge against God.
Dante Alighieri first pictured Satan …show more content…
God condemned Satan and his followers to hell for their war against God. Satan is described to be pure evil and the “apostate angel” (l.125) known for being very large in scale amongst every other demon. He defied God and now makes his home in hell for the rest of eternity until the final battle between god and satan comes to play “Matchless but with the almighty” (l.623). “The fall” of humanity is directly caused by Satan and his influence on Eve. They’re ashamed of their sins and have fallen from God's grace just as Satan did.
These two settings of heaven and hell are vastly different and each journey is represented differently. Satan's purpose in hell and how he is pictured are similar in the aspect of his size but not his manor. In Milton’s version, hell is described as a void and Dantes represents it as being systematic prison setting with varying degrees of punishment. On the other hand, they give us a deeper understanding and maybe even a totally different perspective of religion and the afterlife. These pieces of literature are studied and investigated even today and will continue to be due to their intricate and invested

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