Fraud vs. Violence

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?


When reading Inferno, one begins to establish the impression that Dante strongly believes that the sin of fraud is much greater then that of violence. Sinners of violence are held in the earlier circle of hell, such as circle 8, as to where sinners of fraud are located          in lower hell, like circle 8 for example. The higher  
the number of the circle is, the lower in hell they are         
held, and the greater the punishment is, though they 
are all symbolic to that particular crime of the   
circle.


In circle 7, murderers, those who have committed suicide, an those who are violent against God, are held in the three different rounds. The punishments vary from being made inanimate objects such as trees or being submerged in boiling blood. 

Dame Fortune

Throughout Dante's Inferno, the overriding theme of one's ultimate fate and fortune set by God leading them to where they are destined to be in their afterlife is clearly represented in each of the different circles of Hell. In circle 4, Dante and Virgil encounter a peculiar mythological figure named Dame Fortune. Dame Fortune is best described as a woman creature that embodies the uncontrollable phenomenon that is known as one's destiny and fate. Her personality is made up of the same characteristics that are also commonly associated with fate. Both Dame Fortune and one's fate are unmanageable and uncontrollable, and no man can do anything to avoid one's destiny determined by God, while also no man can avoid this creature. Also, both have the power to either improve one's life or completely ruin it. When describing the Dame Fortune, the text says, “The nations rise and fall by her decree…Man's mortal reason cannot encompass her.” Here, Dante is explaining that Dame Fortune, much like God, has the final say in one's life through their predestined fortune, and no man can avoid this fate, especially if they get in the way, which is what this creature and God represent. Although one cannot disregard their fate, Dante has also expressed in the text that ultimately sin is a personal choice of free will, and one does not have to sin if they do not choose to, one has control over and can manipulate their fate, for sin is the prime reason for a poor destiny.

Dante perceives God as an almighty man who has power and control over all creatures, living or dead. This directly correlates with the idea of fate and fortune, for one’s fate is determined by God. Though one's ultimate will is determined by God, their path throughout life is chosen by the person themself, which explains why God does not cause man to sin, but actually the opposite. Dante believes that sin is a choice. 

The Opportunists

The first circle of Upper Hell is made up of the Opportunists, or those who were neither good nor bad, but lived only for themselves. This is the vestibule of Hell, or the entrance way, meaning that these people weren't even given an established place in Hell. Their punishment consisted of endlessly chasing a banner that they can never catch, being stung repeatedly by wasps and hornets, and having worms and maggots eating their dripping blood. Also, not being granted a spot in Hell is definitely a punishment within itself. 


The portrayal of the law of contrapaso is evident and obvious here, for if one never chose a side or specific point of view, they did not deserve to be permitted a certain place in their afterlife. Virgil said, "The High Creator scouraged them from Heaven for its perfect beauty, and Hell will not receive them since the wicked might feel glory over them" (19). This describes why Dante chooses to put them all in a place where they are isolated from everyone who chosen between good and evil, for their indecisiveness dithering will disturb others. The constant stinging from the hornets and wasps displays how they ignored their conscience, which is now incessantly stinging at them. For all the time that the Opportunists neglected their conscience, the wasps sting at them to remind them of the choices they should have made. The blood that streams down their bodies from the stinging of wasps is eaten by maggots and worms. These maggots are similar and comparable to their morals, for they are both filthy and dirty. Also, the chasing of the uncatchable banner displays their chased opportunity. "I saw a banner there upon the mist. Circling an circling, it seemed to scorn all pause. So it ran on, still behind it pressed a never-ending rout of souls in pain" (19). Trailing after the banner just brings more grief upon the Opportunists in the Vestibule, as described in the text. 


The punishments in each of the circles of Hell directly relates to and imitates the life of that person prior to Hell, only now there are repercussions for this middle ground between good and evil. Dante describes that in his Hell, one will pay the price for living a life entirely for themselves, which is an afterlife spent in the Vestibule.