Divina Commedia - Dante Alighieri
Divina Commedia - Dante AlighieriWe all live according to our own choices.Our choices may lead to good deeds and bad deeds.What if we are given a chance to 'fast forward' and see the consequence of these deeds (good or bad)?Will we change the way we live.Maybe.
One of the sources we can refer to (on what happens after we die) is a work by Italian poet in the 1300,Dante Alighieri entitled 'Divina Commedia'.Here Dante wrote on his journey through hell, purgotary & heaven.
In his journey through hell, he was guided by Virgil.Virgil is a pagan and destined to be in limbo.In hell, there are 9 levels for the sinners.So, Virgil and Dante went down into Hell.
The 1st level (Limbo) is for those who do not believe in God but live a good life.They are not sinful but did not accept God.Their punishment is that their soul has no purpose but can only grieve for not able to be out of hell..
The 2nd level is for those who commited adultery.Their punishment is that their soul are blown aimlessly by a violent wind.
The 3rd level is for those who wants everything excessively.Their punishment is that their soul are forced to lie in the mud under continual cold rain and hail.
The 4th level is for those who do not share their wealth & those who suqnder their weatlh.As a punishment, these 2 groups push weighs against each other back and forth.Failure to push will risk souls to be run over by the weigh and suffer in pain.
The 5th level is for those who are lazy.Their punishment is that their soul trapped under the stinking River Styx.
The next few levels are behind the City of Dis.The punishment outside the City is for passive sins but the ones inside the city is for active sins.
The 6th level is for those who preach religion to their own benefit.They are called heretics.Their punishment is that their soul are burned in flaming tombs.
The 7th level is for 3 types of people.Those who are violent towards people,those who commited suicide & those who are blasphemous,commited acts of sodomy & charging interest in businesses. Their punishment for violent against people is swimming in boiling blood.Those who commited suicides does not have a body but turn into trees.They can only speak when a branch is broken or their trunk poked by tree eating birds called Harpies.Dante needs to break a branch to hear how one of the suicide souls became a tree.The 3rd punishment is for the souls who defy God and they reside in hot sandy dessert with firedrops rain from the sky.
The next level has a huge gap and can only b reached when Dante & Virgil helped by a winged monster, Greyon.
The 8th level is for the fraudsters.This level has 10 ditches.Each for Seducers, Flaterers,Simony (people who uses their religious position to make money for their own benefit),False prophets,Corruptt politicians,Hypocrites,Thieves,Fraudulent Advisors,Sowers of Discord ('Batu Api' in Malay) & Falsifiers.Their punishment are many types ranging from being stabbed by devils with thier sharp fork to being hacked by swords continously even after the wounds are healed.
The 9th level is for the Traitors.Dante explained that Hell in here is not hot but freezing cold.There are 4 levels of ice and the sinners are grouped into 4 types.Traitors to their friends,society,guests & masters.Lucifer or Satan is imprisoned here because he betrayed God.Their punishment is that their soul is frozen in ice at different level;neck deep, head deep,half face deep and totally submerged under ice.
One of the sources we can refer to (on what happens after we die) is a work by Italian poet in the 1300,Dante Alighieri entitled 'Divina Commedia'.Here Dante wrote on his journey through hell, purgotary & heaven.
In his journey through hell, he was guided by Virgil.Virgil is a pagan and destined to be in limbo.In hell, there are 9 levels for the sinners.So, Virgil and Dante went down into Hell.
The 1st level (Limbo) is for those who do not believe in God but live a good life.They are not sinful but did not accept God.Their punishment is that their soul has no purpose but can only grieve for not able to be out of hell..
The 2nd level is for those who commited adultery.Their punishment is that their soul are blown aimlessly by a violent wind.
The 3rd level is for those who wants everything excessively.Their punishment is that their soul are forced to lie in the mud under continual cold rain and hail.
The 4th level is for those who do not share their wealth & those who suqnder their weatlh.As a punishment, these 2 groups push weighs against each other back and forth.Failure to push will risk souls to be run over by the weigh and suffer in pain.
The 5th level is for those who are lazy.Their punishment is that their soul trapped under the stinking River Styx.
The next few levels are behind the City of Dis.The punishment outside the City is for passive sins but the ones inside the city is for active sins.
The 6th level is for those who preach religion to their own benefit.They are called heretics.Their punishment is that their soul are burned in flaming tombs.
The 7th level is for 3 types of people.Those who are violent towards people,those who commited suicide & those who are blasphemous,commited acts of sodomy & charging interest in businesses. Their punishment for violent against people is swimming in boiling blood.Those who commited suicides does not have a body but turn into trees.They can only speak when a branch is broken or their trunk poked by tree eating birds called Harpies.Dante needs to break a branch to hear how one of the suicide souls became a tree.The 3rd punishment is for the souls who defy God and they reside in hot sandy dessert with firedrops rain from the sky.
The next level has a huge gap and can only b reached when Dante & Virgil helped by a winged monster, Greyon.
The 8th level is for the fraudsters.This level has 10 ditches.Each for Seducers, Flaterers,Simony (people who uses their religious position to make money for their own benefit),False prophets,Corruptt politicians,Hypocrites,Thieves,Fraudulent Advisors,Sowers of Discord ('Batu Api' in Malay) & Falsifiers.Their punishment are many types ranging from being stabbed by devils with thier sharp fork to being hacked by swords continously even after the wounds are healed.
The 9th level is for the Traitors.Dante explained that Hell in here is not hot but freezing cold.There are 4 levels of ice and the sinners are grouped into 4 types.Traitors to their friends,society,guests & masters.Lucifer or Satan is imprisoned here because he betrayed God.Their punishment is that their soul is frozen in ice at different level;neck deep, head deep,half face deep and totally submerged under ice.
The above is the simplified version but a detail work can be found in this weblink.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Divine_Comedy)
Other Refs:
http://web.eku.edu/flash/inferno/
There is a Robin Williams's movie called 'What Dreams May Come' that made active references to Dante's work.Go and watch it.I will review the movie soon in my other blog; Sinemayang.
I am not a religious person but I like to explore the various ways to understand and appreciate my faith.
posted by Rentap @ Wednesday, November 01, 2006
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