The Divine Comedy: Dante’s Journey Through Hell

In anticipation of EA’s 2010 release of Dante’s Inferno, I thought it would be appropriate to shed some background on the classical poem. We here at RRB Games aren’t just all about plasma rifles and chainsaws. We are a litirit…um, literate bunch as I will ilistr8 in the following article. Literature roolz!!1!

The entire epic is called The Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia). It was written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321. It is significant for establishing the Italian standard, especially since works of high literature at the time were written in Latin. It not only vividly illustrates the medieval vision of the Christian afterlife but also served (from Dante’s point of view) as political allegory during the struggle between the Guelphs (who supported the Pope) and Ghibellines (who supported the Holy Roman Emperor) in Northern Italy during that period. The Guelphs themselves eventually split into factions, and Dante’s White Guelphs were exiled in 1302 ultimately at the request of Pope Boniface VIII who supported the Black Guelphs. This is important because Dante in his poem places a bunch of his opponents in hell. Wouldn’t you? Judging by the trailer Dante appears to be a sword wielding knight, intent on saving his true love, Beatrice. I’m sure the game is going to take some creative liberties here. Anyway, the descriptions of the Nine Circles of Hell make it just natural for a video game. In some descriptions I speculate how it might translate into the game, though the descriptions themselves are quite sufficient on their own.

The poem is told in the first person with Dante himself as the main character. He begins his journey in a dark wood (perhaps contemplating suicide) where he is assailed by a lion (self-indulgence), a leopard (violence), and a she-wolf (malice). He is rescued by the classical Roman poet Virgil and together they begin their journey into the underworld. He is to witness how unrepentant sinners are punished.

They pass through the gate of Hell where they encounter the Uncommitted; souls of people who in life committed neither good nor evil, and outcast angels who took no side during the War in Heaven. These souls eternally pursue a banner while they are stung by wasps and hornets, and maggots drink their blood and tears. This might serve as a hub or town portion of the game and it would be darkly amusing…to me anyway. After Charon ferries Dante and Virgil across the Acheron River they enter Inferno.

The First Circle:

Limbo is the place for the unbaptized and virtuous pagans. By its description it doesn’t sound too bad, since there are green fields and a castle. The gate of Hell with its stinging wasps and blood drinking maggots sounds a lot worse. In the poem, such famous figures like Aristotle, Socrates, Homer, and Julius Caesar reside here. This level might serve as the game’s “overworld”.

The Second Circle:

Those who can’t keep it in their pants are punished here. Obviously, the Second Circle is for the lustful. Horny historical figures like Cleopatra and Achilles are endlessly swept to and fro in a violent storm. So there’s likely to be a lot of wind in the video game version. It is probably also the most erotic level. The last sentence is said in Zapp Brannigan’s voice.

The Third Circle:

The three headed dog Cerberus watches over gluttons in this circle. They are forced to lie in a nasty slush made by freezing rain, black snow, and hail. I guess this would be an ice level and Cerberus is the boss Dante would have to defeat to get to the next circle. I wonder what makes the snow black…eww.

The Fourth Circle:

The sin of greed is punished in this circle. Those who hoarded possessions in life are forced to push huge bags of rocks into the center of the circle, while those who squandered everything have to take the rocks back to their own side. This dull sounding place is guarded by Plutus (son of Hades and Persephone) and he will most likely be this level’s boss.

The Fifth Circle:

Both wrath and sloth are punished here. Taking place on the swampy River Styx, the wrathful continually fight each other, while the lazy lie gurgling beneath the surface. Maybe this could be a zombie infested swamp level?

The Sixth Circle:

Heretics are trapped in flaming tombs. This sounds like a very straightforward fire level if there ever was one. Watch out for the heretics popping out of the tombs and inflicting fire damage.

The Seventh Circle:

The Seventh Circle is divided into three rings. The outer ring is for those who are violent against people and property. These souls are immersed in a river of boiling blood while centaurs shoot arrows at anyone trying to escape.

The middle ring is for suicides who have abandoned any chance for resurrection during the Final Judgment because they took their own lives. Their punishment is that they have been transformed into gnarled trees and have their own corpses hanging from their limbs. Squanderers of money are also here and they are eternally chased by ferocious dogs through the thorns. But weren’t they already punished in the Fourth Circle?

The inner ring is reserved for blasphemers, sodomites, and usurers (those who charge interest on loans).

They all reside in a desert of burning sand with fire raining from the sky. Take that, credit card companies!

Boiling blood, centaurs firing arrows, gnarled trees with corpses, and fiery deserts…yup, the Seventh Circle is poised to kick ass.

The Eighth Circle:

Now here is where things get really interesting. To reach this area, Dante and Virgil have to descend a vast cliff. The Eighth Circle itself is divided into ten ditches, each exacting its own horrible punishments on the damned souls who reside there. In the video game, this might serve as a vast penultimate dungeon before the final circle.

Ditch 1: Pimps and seducers march in lines for all eternity while being whipped by demons as punishment for misleading others in life. I guess it’s true. Pimpin’ really ain’t easy.

Ditch 2: Flatterers are steeped in human excrement, simply because they are “full of s***” Yuck. In my opinion this would be the worst punishment of all. I think I’d rather take the fire.

Ditch 3: The crime of simony (exchanging money for spiritual things) is punished here. The damned are placed head first into holes in the rock, while fires burn the soles of their feet. It’s still better than Ditch 2.

Ditch 4: The heads of sorcerers and false prophets are twisted on backward. Another ironic punishment; they attempted to divine the future in life, they can only see what is behind them in death.

Ditch 5: This ditch is a lake of boiling pitch to punish corrupt politicians. Really, this area speaks for itself. It is guarded by devils and their leader, Malacoda.

Ditch 6: Hypocrites walk aimlessly through this ditch wearing gilded lead cloaks while they trample on the crucified soul of Caiaphas, the high priest who ordered Jesus to be crucified.

Ditch 7: In this ditch, thieves are pursued and bitten by snakes and lizards. As they are bitten, they become the snakes and it is just an endless circle of biting and in turn being bitten.

Ditch 8: Fraudulent advisors are trapped in individual flames. Interestingly, the author Dante places Ulysses from the Odyssey here, to be punished for his horrible, horrible crime of pursuing knowledge on his own.

Ditch 9: In this ditch a demon hacks at those who have brought discord. Their wounds continually heal only for them to be hacked again. Who does Dante condemn to this ditch? It is none other than the prophet Muhammad (Dante views Islam as an offshoot of Christianity) and his son-in-law Ali (for creating the schism between Sunni and Shi’a). There is NO possible way this would ever be in the video game. If I’m certain about anything, this is it.

Ditch 10: Various alchemists, counterfeiters, and perjurers are afflicted by many diseases in the final ditch, since they are considered to be a disease upon society.

The Ninth Circle:

The Ninth Circle is guarded by a ring of giants and is made up of four concentric circles. In contrast to common depictions of Hell in which the entire realm is ablaze, the lowest circle of the netherworld is depicted as a cavern of ice and darkness. This final circle is reserved for the worst of all sinners from Dante’s point of view: traitors.

Round 1: Caina is named after Cain, who according to the Bible betrayed his brother Abel. Traitors to their kindred are frozen up to their necks.

Round 2: Antenora gets its name from Antenor of Troy who according to Greek mythology betrayed his city by letting the Greeks sack it. The damned are immersed further up to their necks and cannot bend them. Betrayers of political entities are punished here.

Round 3: Treachery against one’s guests is punished in Ptolomaea. It is named after Ptolemy who invited Simon Maccabaeus and his sons to a banquet then assassinated them. The earthly bodies of the damned are possessed by demons and their souls are immersed up to the face, so when they weep their tears freeze their eyes shut.

Round 4: The final ring of the Ninth Circle is called Judecca, named after Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus. Those who betray their lords and benefactors are completely buried under the ice, their punishment being complete and total separation from God. In the center is Satan himself, halfway immersed in the ice, the wind from the flapping of his wings freezing the zone even more. He is portrayed as having three faces, each one chewing on an infamous traitor. In the left and right mouth are the assassins of Caesar, Brutus and Cassius respectively. Judas is chewed on in the center mouth. Is this the “Final boss?” I’m pretty sure.

SPOILER ALERT: The poem is called The Divine Comedy, and comedy in its classical sense means there is a happy ending. In the poem Dante and Virgil escape Hell by climbing down Satan’s fur, then traveling through the center of the Earth, and finally emerging in the southern hemisphere where they ascend the terraces of Purgatory (Purgatorio), where sins are cleansed and the soul purified before ascension into Heaven (Paradiso). Virgil, being a virtuous pagan cannot continue the journey so Dante is united with his love Beatrice and together they ascend the Nine Spheres of Heaven. At the end they stand before God, portrayed as a point of light surrounded by angels.

END OF SPOILERS: After my extensive research  (Wikipedia) of the Divine Comedy  I am looking forward to actually playing the game and seeing how close it is to the epic poem. The vivid descriptions of the Nine Circles are just such a natural setting for a video game that I was pleasantly surprised when I read the news. The animated companion film that expands the story is a bonus. Maybe I’ll sit down and actually read the poem. It’s time for a trip to my local library…or I could just read it here.