A World of Inversion: Dante's Inferno
A Review & Reflection
Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost.
THE ONLY WAY UP IS DOWN
The opening lines to The Divine Comedy ranks among the most memorable lines of all western literature. Scarce has few individuals not found themselves in such a state. The most powerful literature is literature that binds the soul to the body; the heart to the mind; and the intellect to the spirit. The Inferno is a descent into Hell where Dante encounters every aspect of sin, misery, and deformity— not only on others but also himself. His encounter with his poetic hero Virgil represents a first attempt at transcending his being. Virgil represents Reason— the great pagan philosophical tradition that is going to lead Dante into something greater that Reason can’t voyage. There are infinite ways to dissect the epic poem that can’t be all covered here. Wherever the path I voyage, I hope to create new voyages for you, the reader, as we dive into the world of Dante.
Sin is the disordering of the body, mind, soul, and spirit. Dante lived in a state of pity, weakness, and cowardice under the contagion of sin. After he encounters the three beasts (representing the three kinds of sins in Inferno), Virgil appears to Dante scattering the beasts away. Dante begs for protection from Virgil, but Virgil makes aware that it is only Dante can do that for himself. He has to descend into Hell before he enters Heaven. Dante previews the end goal of The Inferno in this line,
“And I to him: “Poet, I thee entreat, By the same God whom thou didst never know, So that I may escape this woe and worse,Thou wouldst conduct me there where thou hast said, That I may see the portal of Saint Peter, And those thou makes so disconsolate.”