Internal Condition In Dante's Inferno
In this canto, Dante awakens to find that he is on the edge of Hell. Dante and Virgil descend into the bottomless pit. They enter the first circle of Hell, Limbo, where the souls that are sighing live. The souls include those all Unbaptized infants and those men and women who lived before the age of Christendom. I am going to talk more about those souls later.
In the previous canto, Dante fainted at moments of great intensity of feeling when he is shocked by the strange sights he sees in Hell. Paralleled to his violent fainting, is he awakened by a great clasp of thunder. This supernatural ‘weather’ mirrors Dante’s internal condition. The faint, however, acts as to move from one location, the ferry crossing over Acheron, to Limbo. Furthermore, …show more content…
Caught by this statement, Dante asks if anyone has escaped and achieved Heaven. Dante continues on by saying “I want to confirm the faith that conquers every path that strays,” showing that he is seeking knowledge and wishing to be reassured of the Justice of God and be confirmed of what he heard about the harrowing of Hell. The real question he’s asking is that why should he seek confirmation of Christ’s ascent to heaven from a pagan? Virgil answers with “I had just entered in this state when I saw coming One of power and might crowned with the glorious sign of victory” (54-55). “One of power and might” indicates Christ, in the harrowing of hell. The Harrowing of Hell indicates the event where Christ descended to Hell, and freed the souls of all those virtuous people who lived before the grace of baptism. The sign of victory can mean the cross. However, in Dante’s case, the virtuous souls remain in the limbo eternally. Dante’s question and Virgil’s answer doesn’t concern with the harrowing of hell, but rather with those who went up with Christ after the harrowing of hell. Virgil answers with list of the patriarchs and matriarchs, mentioning on Hebrews; Adam, Abel, Noah, Moses, Abraham, David, Jacob, Isaac, the sons of Jacob and Rachel. He indicates that “many others” were included, some of whom will be concerned later. The reason for this is to emphasize the conflict toward the
In the previous canto, Dante fainted at moments of great intensity of feeling when he is shocked by the strange sights he sees in Hell. Paralleled to his violent fainting, is he awakened by a great clasp of thunder. This supernatural ‘weather’ mirrors Dante’s internal condition. The faint, however, acts as to move from one location, the ferry crossing over Acheron, to Limbo. Furthermore, …show more content…
Caught by this statement, Dante asks if anyone has escaped and achieved Heaven. Dante continues on by saying “I want to confirm the faith that conquers every path that strays,” showing that he is seeking knowledge and wishing to be reassured of the Justice of God and be confirmed of what he heard about the harrowing of Hell. The real question he’s asking is that why should he seek confirmation of Christ’s ascent to heaven from a pagan? Virgil answers with “I had just entered in this state when I saw coming One of power and might crowned with the glorious sign of victory” (54-55). “One of power and might” indicates Christ, in the harrowing of hell. The Harrowing of Hell indicates the event where Christ descended to Hell, and freed the souls of all those virtuous people who lived before the grace of baptism. The sign of victory can mean the cross. However, in Dante’s case, the virtuous souls remain in the limbo eternally. Dante’s question and Virgil’s answer doesn’t concern with the harrowing of hell, but rather with those who went up with Christ after the harrowing of hell. Virgil answers with list of the patriarchs and matriarchs, mentioning on Hebrews; Adam, Abel, Noah, Moses, Abraham, David, Jacob, Isaac, the sons of Jacob and Rachel. He indicates that “many others” were included, some of whom will be concerned later. The reason for this is to emphasize the conflict toward the