9 Circles of Hell | A complete guide to its meaning and punishments

The first part of Dante’s 14th-century epic masterpiece Divine Comedy is Inferno. His The Divine is an Italian narrative poem that he began in c. 1308 and finished in 1320, a year before his death in 1321. It is the most important work of Italian literature. Also, it is one of the greatest works of literature in the world. The poem’s creative image of the afterlife typifies the mediaeval worldview. It emerged in the Western Church by the 14th century. It aided in the establishment of the Tuscan language as the standardized Italian language. Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso are the three portions of the poem.

Purgatorio and Paradiso come after it. The ancient Roman poet Virgil described his journey through Hell in The Inferno. We can see the description of hell in the poem as nine concentric rings of pain within the Earth. It is the domain of persons who have abandoned spiritual principles by giving in to bestial desires or violence, or by using their human intelligence for deception or hatred against others. In this article, we are talking about these circles. So, please keep reading to know more.

9 circles of hell meaning

However, the Nine Circles of Hell were first mentioned in Dan’s epic poem Divine Comedy. Moreover, it’s a long Italian narrative poem. Then, we can see his trip through the three regions in the three portions of the poem. Also, Gustave Dore, one of the most well-known illustrators, illustrated Inferno.

Then, Virgil escorted and mentored Dan. Moreover, Virgil is an Ancient Roman poet. Also, we can see the nine circles of Hell in the poem Inferno’s first portion. Also, they have influenced literature throughout history. Then, each circle represents a sin and the penalty that the sinner deserves.

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Moreover, the rings have two sections: Upper and Lower Hell. Self-indulgence, such as Lust, Gluttony, Greed, and Wrath. So, Wrath is the first sin. Then, the two to five circles represented the upper hell. Then, circles seven and eight are for aggression. Whereas circles eight and nine are for deception. Also, he added circles one and six for Limbo and Heresy, respectively.

9 circles of hell painting

More than 500 years after his death, Botticelli’s paintings continue to captivate audiences. However, the artist had a dark side. He painted and sketched hell according to Dan’s description.

The Vatican vaults were uncovered for the documentary “Botticelli Inferno,” allowing the filmmakers to convey the narrative of this masterpiece. The path to paradise passes through purgatory and the nine circles of hell (“Inferno” in Italian). Only those who have endured the torment of hell will – potentially – enter heaven. In a total of 102 precise drawings, Botticelli brought Dan’s descriptions of the nine circles of hell to life.

9 Circles of Hell

Botticelli Illustrated The Divine Comedy. It is a copy of Dan’s Divine Comedy that includes 92 full-page paintings by Sandro Botticelli. These are masterpieces and among the Renaissance painter’s greatest works. The pictures are largely silverpoint drawings, with many of them being touch over in ink and colorful four pages. Gustav Friedrich Waagen recovered most of the vanished manuscript in the late 1800s in the collection of the Duke of Hamilton. Also he recovered a few more pages unearthed in the Vatican Library. Botticelli created sketches, which are now unavailable.

For the first time in centuries, the Berlin drawings and those in the Vatican collection displayed together at an exhibition in Berlin, Rome, and London’s Royal Academy in 2000–01.

9 circles of Hell punishments

In the Inferno, punishment tailored to the crime. However it may also serve to represent the sin itself. Particularly its impact is on the sinners and/or their victims during their lives. Every penalty is proportionate to the extent of the offence. Gluttons, for example, become ghostly forms “flattened by the rain,” such that their physical bodies. They formerly pampered to excess, now become “emptiness”. Their souls suffer severe anguish while laying exposed to the chilly rainfall. Similarly, soothsayers who professed to know the future, punished by having their heads bent backwards and staring out over their bottoms.

Because these people “wished to look too far ahead” into the future and created fictitious, untruthful forecasts. They had their ability of foresight entirely taken away.

While all penalties are appropriate for the crime, several in the Inferno also represent the nature of the sin and its impact on mankind. Several penalties demonstrate how a certain sin affects the person who commits it in life. We can see the penalty for lust in a “hellish cyclone” that “snatches the spirits up in its furious whirl, whisks them around, beats and buffets them”.

9 circles of hell treachery

The ninth Circle of Hell was treason. This last circle was set aside for individuals who betrayed their loved ones, friends, countries, towns, and even their masters. It was also the location of Lucifer’s true body’s imprisonment.

9 Circles of Hell

Treachery was a frozen landscape. The Classical and Biblical Giants surrounded it. It represented hubris and other spiritual defects that underpin treachery. They will use their frozen breath to try to murder the player.

There was a failing ice bridge as well as the last Chain of Judecca before Lake Cocytus. It is the realm’s final section. According to Lucifer, Satan escaped Hell by using the souls. All attempts to liberate him were futile. When Dan burst through the final Chain of Judecca, he was able to liberate Lucifer. Also, he forces him to face the Prince of Darkness in a final struggle for his soul and redemption.

9 circles of hell Dante

9 Circles of Hell

9 circles of Hell Limbo

In Dan’s First Circle of Hell, good non-Christians and unbaptized pagans are punished in an inferior form of Heaven for all eternity. They reside in a palace with seven gates, each of which represents one of the seven virtues.

9 circles of hell Lust

He and his mentor Virgil encounter humans who have been overcome by desire in the Second Circle of Hell. Strong winds punish them by causing them to be thrown back and forth, preventing them from obtaining peace and relaxation. Strong winds represent a person who is restless because of a desire for sensuous pleasures. He observes a number of historical and religious figures, including Cleopatra, Tristan, Helen of Troy, and others, who were disloyal throughout their lifetimes.

9 circles of hell Gluttony

He and Virgil encounter gluttons’ souls in the Third Circle of Hell. The worm-monster Cerberus confronted them. In this circle of Hell, sinners are punished by being forced to lay in a foul slush created by never-ending freezing rain. The filthy slush reflects the personal degradation of someone who overindulges in food, drink, and mystery pleasures. The gluttons’ selfishness and coldness symbolized their inability to perceive those lying close.

He speaks to a character, who tells him that the Guelphs (a faction loyal to the Pope) will vanquish and expel the Ghibellines (a faction loyal to the Emperor) from Florence in 1302.

9 circles of Hell Greed

He and Virgil witness the greedy souls in the Fourth Circle of Hell. They joust between two groups: those who obtained stuff and those who generously filled it. They employ heavy weights as a weapon, pressing them down with their chests, symbolizing their egotistical desire for prosperity throughout their lives. The two poets don’t try to communicate with the two groups. A figure named Pluto (possibly the old Greek king of the underworld) guarded them. Here, he speaks to meet numerous priests including cardinals and popes.

9 circles of Hell Anger

In the fifth circle of Hell, demons punished souls for their transgressions. He and Virgil are exiled on a boat and witness the ferocious battles on the surface of the river Styx. The dismal gurgling under the water’s surface. The punishment is based on the sort of sin they committed throughout their lifetime. Filippo Argenti, a famous Florentine politician who stole his property following his banishment from Florence, approaches the poets as they pass by.

9 circles of hell Heresy

He and Virgil witness heretics doomed to an eternity in blazing graves when they reach the Sixth Circle of Hell. He meets a pair of Florentines. But he also sees a number of famous historical figures. Some experts believe the poet was referring to the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I.

9 circles of hell violence

There are three circles in the Seventh Circle of Hell. Murderers and individuals housed in the Outer Ring. These humans have been violent to other persons and property. He sees Alexander the Great (debatable), Dionysius I of Syracuse, Guy de Montfort, and a slew of other historical and mythological characters, including the Centaurus, drowning in a river of boiling blood and fire. The poet envisions self-murderers converted into trees and shrubs that are fed upon by harpies in the Middle Ring. But he also sees squanderers, strewn around and chewed to shreds by dogs. Blasphemers and sodomites live in the Inner Ring, where they live in a desert of scorching sand and pouring flaming rain.

9 circles of Hell Fraud

The deceitful occupy the eighth circle of Hell. Like the Trojans, he and Virgil arrive on the back of Geryon, a winged creature with several personalities. This circle of Hell had ten Bolgias, or stony ditches connected by bridges. He discusses panderers and seducers in Bolgia. Then, he meets flatterers in Bolgia 2. He and Virgil witness persons who are guilty of simony after going across the bridge to Bolgia 3.

9 circles of Hell Treachery

According to the severity of the sin, the Ninth Circle of Hell has four rounds. Despite the fact that the entire community froze in an ice lake. Then, those who committed more serious sins buried deeper under the ice. Then, each of the four Rounds named after a person who symbolises the sin. So, round 1 is Caina after Cain, who murdered his brother Abel. Then, round 2 is Antenora after Anthenor of Troy, Priam’s counsellor during the Trojan War. Then, Round 3 is Ptolemaeus after Ptolemy (son of Abubus). Atlast, round 4 is Judecca after Judas Iscariot, the apostle. She betrayed Jesus with a kiss.

9 circles of hell movie

On February 9, 2010, Dan’s Inferno: An Animated Epic released as a direct-to-video adult animated dark fantasy action picture. He must go through the circles of Hell and combat demons, beasts, monsters, and even Lucifer himself to save his beloved Beatrice, based on the computer game his Inferno, which is partially based on Dan’s Inferno.

9 circles of hell movie Cast

  • Graham McTavish – Dante
  • Vanessa Branch – Beatrice
  • Steve Blum – Lucifer
  • Peter Jessop – Virgil
  • Mark Hamill – Alighiero, Dan’s father
  • Victoria Tennant – Bella
  • Bart McCarthy – Filippo Argenti
  • Kevin Michael Richardson – King Minos, Phlegyas
  • John Paul Karliak – Avenger
  • Tom Tate – Francesco
  • Grant Albrecht – Ciacco, Farinata Uberti
  • Stephen Apostolina – Walla
  • Nika Futterman – Female Prisoner, Lust Minion 4
  • Charlotte Cornwell – Nessus, Lust Minion 3
  • Vanessa Marshall – Lust Minion 2, Frozen Prisoner
  • Grey DeLisle – Lust Minion 1,(as 10 years old)
  • Richard Greene – Socrates, King Richard I
  • John Rees (as Greg Ellis) – Plato
  • Shelley O’Neil – Child
  • Nicholas Guest – Demon Priest
  • Wendy Cutler – unspecified voice
  • Lia Sargent – unspecified voice
  • Mark Sussman – unspecified voice
  • David Zyler (as Dave Zyler) – unspecified voice

9 circles of Hell diagram

Limbo Dan meets Ovid, Homer, Socrates, Aristotle, Julius Caesar, and others in this section.
Lust Dan meets a number of characters, including Achilles, Paris, Tristan, Cleopatra, and Dido.
Gluttony Dan meets regular people here, not figures from epic writings or mythological gods.
Greed Dan meets more regular people, as well as the circle’s guardian, Pluto, the Underworld’s fabled monarch.
Anger When Dan and Virgil attempt to enter through the walls of Dis, they are attacked by the Furies (Satan). This is the next step in Dan’s analysis of the essence of sin.
Heresy He and Virgil witness heretics doomed to an eternity in blazing graves when they reach the Sixth Circle of Hell. He meets a pair of Florentines. But he also sees a number of famous historical figures.
Violence This is the first circle to be subdivided into rings or sub-circles. There are three of them: the Outer, Middle, and Inner rings, each of which houses a distinct sort of violent criminal.
Fraud This circle differs from the others in that it is made up of people who knowingly and willfully perpetrate fraud. Another circle, the Malebolge (“Evil Pockets”), is located within the eighth circle and has ten different bolgias (“ditches”).
Treachery Satan lives in the darkest circle of Hell. This circle, like the previous two, is further split into four rounds. The first is Caina, who is named after Cain, the biblical brother who was slaughtered. This round is for family traitors. The second, Antenora, is designated for political/national traitors. It is named after the Antenor of Troy, who betrayed the Greeks. Ptolemy, son of Abubus, is infamous for inviting Simon Maccabaeus and his sons to supper and then killing them.

9 Circles of Hell

9 circles of Hell and their inhabitants

  • Unbaptized/virtuous pagans- loss of friend by death by the being away of Father of all’s presence.
  • Lustful- sent up, through air about by the violent and not ever ending wind.
  • Glutton- forced to be placed in dirt while being troubled by cerberus and pummelling with cold rain, hail, and black snow.
  • Hoarders were forced to push stones in the direction of the circle’s centre.
  • Spenders are forced to push rocks out of the circle’s centre.
  • On the surface of the river Styx, the full of angry, violent feelings fight each other, while the bad-humored are pushed to the river’s lowest part, where they choke and trouble in the muck.
  • The said violent language seats of feeling’ not being able to view the present, only the future, because of, in relation to that at odds with the general belief got shut up in burning stone coffins.
  • The spirits forced to swim in a burning, much moving liquid of blood were violent against their neighbors.
  • Blasphemers/sodomites/usurers- given decision ordering punishment to a scorching sand desert with a going on all the time rain of fire.
  • While walking as military, bad beings give blows with whip pimps/panderers/seducers.
  • Betrayers of benefactors-forced to destroy each other, giving others away of country-contoured and stuck totally into thick bits of ice.

Some frequently asked questions

What are the 9 circles of heaven?

The Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Fixed Stars, and the Primum Mobile are Dan’s nine spheres of Heaven. These are linked by Dan to the angelic hierarchy’s nine tiers.

What are the 10 circles of Hell?

There were reportedly just nine rings of hell, according to Dante’s Inferno: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery. After the ordeal I’ve had attempting to obtain a visa in Bolivia over the last week, I’ve officially recognized the 10th circle of hell: Bolivian bureaucracy.

What sin did Dante commit?

In Paradiso, Dan’s so-called sin of Pride, which he first encountered in the Inferno and was purified in Purgatorio, reappears strongly. He believes he is worthy of a “laurel crown.” Dante is still full of pride, despite the fact that he is far from being cured. Both admissions to Lust and Pride were most likely false.

How did Francesca and Paolo fall in love?

Francesca di Rimini was a lovely noble lady who wanted to become a nun, but she was abducted and forced to marry Paolo’s elder brother, Gianciotto Malatesta. Paolo and Francesca fell in love while living together.

For what sin does Dante blame Pisa?

He also claims that the municipality of Pisa is largely to blame for the boys’ imprisonment. They don’t have time to think about it since they need to get to Ptolomea, the ninth circle’s next part. Only the sinners’ faces are visible above the ice in this section of the circle.

What is Dante’s 10th circle?

Archivists in Ravenna, Italy, have found a missing canto of Dan’s Inferno, presumably the tenth circle of Hell. The ninth circle represents him and his guide Virgil’s lowest point in Hell before ascending on their trip to Paradise.

What is the 1st circle of hell?

In Dan’s First Circle of Hell, good non-Christians and unbaptized pagans are punished in an inferior form of Heaven for all eternity. They reside in a palace with seven gates, each of which represents one of the seven virtues. He encounters a number of notable figures from classical antiquity, including Homer, Socrates, Aristotle, Cicero, Hippocrates, and Julius Caesar.

What is the 3rd circle of Hell?

Dan and Virgil encounter gluttons’ souls in the Third Circle of Hell, where they are confronted by the worm-monster Cerberus. In this circle of Hell, sinners are punished by being forced to lay in a foul slush created by never-ending freezing rain. The filthy slush reflects the personal degradation of someone who overindulges in food, drink, and mystery pleasures, while the gluttons’ selfishness and coldness are symbolized by their inability to perceive those laying close.

What is the meaning of 9th circle of Hell?

However, the Nine Circles of Hell were first mentioned in Dan’s epic poem Divine Comedy. Moreover, it’s a long Italian narrative poem. Then, we can see his trip through the three regions in the three portions of the poem. Also, Gustave Dore, one of the most well-known illustrators, illustrated Inferno. Then, Virgil escorted and mentored Dan. Moreover, Virgil is an Ancient Roman poet. Also, we can see the nine circles of Hell in the poem Inferno’s first portion. Also, they have influenced literature throughout history. Then, each circle represents a sin and the penalty that the sinner deserves.

Moreover, the rings have two sections: Upper and Lower Hell. Self-indulgence, such as Lust, Gluttony, Greed, and Wrath. So, Wrath is the first sin. Then, the two to five circles represented the upper hell. Then, circles seven and eight are for aggression. Whereas circles eight and nine are for deception. Also, he added circles one and six for Limbo and Heresy, respectively.

What is treachery?

According to the severity of the sin, the Ninth Circle of Hell has four rounds. Despite the fact that the entire community froze in an ice lake. Those who committed more serious sins buried deeper under the ice. Each of the four Rounds named after a person who symbolizes the sin. Round 1 is Caina after Cain, who murdered his brother Abel.

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