Editing Inferno (Dante) (section)

===Overview===
'''''Canto IV'''''
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Virgil proceeds to guide Dante through the nine circles of Hell. The circles are [[Concentric objects|concentric]], representing a gradual increase in [[wickedness]], and culminating at the centre of the earth, where [[Satan]] is held in bondage. The sinners of each circle are punished for eternity in a fashion fitting their crimes: each punishment is a ''[[contrapasso]]'', a symbolic instance of [[poetic justice]]. For example, later in the poem, Dante and Virgil encounter [[Fortune-telling|fortune-teller]]s who must walk forward with their heads on backward, unable to see what is ahead, because they tried to see the future through forbidden means. Such a ''contrapasso'' "functions not merely as a form of [[Divine retribution|divine revenge]], but rather as the fulfilment of a destiny [[Free will|freely chosen]] by each soul during his or her life".<ref>{{Cite book|first=Peter|last=Brand|first2=Lino|last2=Pertile|url={{Google books|3uq0bObScHMC|page=PA63|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|title=The Cambridge History of Italian Literature|edition=2nd|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-521-66622-0|pages=63–64}}</ref> People who sinned, but prayed for forgiveness before their deaths are found not in Hell but in Purgatory, where they labour to become free of their sins. Those in Hell are people who tried to justify their sins and are unrepentant.

Dante's Hell is structurally based on the ideas of [[Aristotle]], but with "certain Christian symbolisms, exceptions, and misconstructions of Aristotle's text".<ref name="John Ciardi pg. 94">John Ciardi, ''Inferno'', notes on Canto XI, p. 94</ref> Dante's three major categories of sin, as symbolized by the three beasts that Dante encounters in Canto I, are [[Incontinence (philosophy)|Incontinence]], [[Violence]] and Bestiality, and [[Fraud]] and Malice{{clarify|three or five?|date=June 2019}}.<ref name="John Ciardi pg. 94"/><ref name=sayers139>Dorothy L. Sayers, ''Hell'', notes on Canto XI, p. 139</ref> Sinners punished for incontinence (also known as wantonness)  –  the lustful, the gluttonous, the hoarders and wasters, and the wrathful and sullen  –  all demonstrated weakness in controlling their appetites, desires, and natural urges; according to Aristotle's ''[[Nicomachean Ethics|Ethics]]'', incontinence is less condemnable than malice or bestiality, and therefore these sinners are located in four circles of Upper Hell (Circles 2–5). These sinners endure lesser torments than do those consigned to Lower Hell, located within the walls of the City of Dis, for committing acts of violence and fraud  –  the latter of which involves, as Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "abuse of the specifically human faculty of reason".<ref name=sayers139/> The deeper levels are organized into one circle for violence (Circle 7) and two circles for fraud (Circles 8 and 9). As a Christian, Dante adds Circle 1 (Limbo) to Upper Hell and Circle 6 (Heresy) to Lower Hell, making 9 Circles in total; incorporating the Vestibule of the Futile, this leads to Hell containing 10 main divisions.<ref name=sayers139/> This "9+1=10" structure is also found within the ''Purgatorio'' and ''Paradiso''. Lower Hell is further subdivided: Circle 7 (Violence) is divided into three rings, Circle 8 (Fraud) is divided into ten ''bolge'', and Circle 9 (Treachery) is divided into four regions. Thus, Hell contains, in total, 24 divisions.

{{Clear}}