Dante’s Inferno is replete with symbolism. Inferno is a comprehensive, overarching allegory and Dante uses symbols throughout to explore the different themes such as violence, fraud, evil, God’s justice, immortality and more. Some of the symbols that Dante employs are simple and easy to understand such as the beast Geryon (with the head of a man and the body of a serpent, it symbolizes deceit) while others involve biblical and other classical references (the fall of Satan). Divine Comedy on the whole symbolizes the spiritual quest of man. Dante also uses symbols as an allusion to the sins that men commit in life. He uses animals from other classics, places such as the wood (forest) to describe emotional states and figures that stand for human qualities such as Virgil and Beatrice. Animal symbolism is the most prevalent throughout Inferno; Dante uses symbols such as the leopard, the lion and the she-wolf to talk about malice, violence and incontinence. He also uses monsters from other classical works such as the Erinyes and Harpies which are the embodiment of fear, medusa as a threat of evil that exists for men, Charybdis and Cacus, the Minotaur, Cerberus and the Geryon.
"Beyond the point the slope begins to rise / sprang up a leopard, trim and very swift! It was covered by a pelt of many spots. / And everywhere I looked, the beast was there" (Inferno I 32-35). Dante uses the leopard in Inferno to talk about the fraudulent masking their evil intentions. Just as the leopard uses its spot to hide from its prey, evil men also hide their sinister intentions. And just as the leopard will take its time to strike and hunt, malicious men also hide their true intentions and do not reveal them at the beginning. On the same lines, Dante also introduces the beast Geryon which is an embodiment of fraud. Dante says, "His face was the face of any honest man, / it shone with such a look of benediction; / and all the rest of him was serpentine" (Inferno XVII 10-12). Although Geryon can be found in other classics such as Theogony, Dante’s Geryon is different. Unlike the three headed monster slain by Hercules, Dante makes Geryon in the Inferno much more complex. In Inferno Geryon becomes a hybrid of sorts with the head of a just man and the tail of a scorpion. This human and serpentine body also has biblical connotations. Just as Satan came in the form of a serpent to lure Adam and Eve into evil, Geryon also stands for fraud. The face and the scorpion’s tail at the end of his body do not match and one can be hoodwinked by the kind face while failing to realize or expect that stinger could pierce them. Dante thus uses the leopard and Geryon to bring out the fraudulent nature in men.
The next animal that Dante uses in the Inferno or the animal that prevents Dante from his righteous path is the lion. He says, "he was coming straight toward me, it seemed, / with head raised high, and furious with hunger" (Inferno I 46-47). Dante uses the lion here as a symbol of violence and aggression. Violent and aggressive behaviors in men are punishable behaviors in Dante’s hell. The last animal that Dante meets on his righteous path is the She-wolf, a symbol of lust and adultery. The mysteriousness of an adulterous relationship is represented by the wolf. Dante also uses a she-wolf in place of a male wolf in keeping with the biblical and classical tradition as women have always been associated with sexual treachery. "And now a she-wolf came, that in her leanness / seemed racked with every kind of greediness / (how many people she has brought to grief!)" (Inferno I 49-51). Although the world has some positive attributes in other certain cultures such as being majestic, Dante uses no such favorable references to the wolf. The wolf is a symbol of the greed and lust that afflicts men.
Dante’s makes an allusion to the negative image associated with animals in the bible by using these three animals in his Inferno. The other monsters that are used as symbols include, the Erinyes and Harpies, medusa, Charybdis and Cacus, the Minotaur, Cerberus and the Geryon. The harpies are found in the wood and Dante describes them as loathsome with wings, talons for feet, human heads and distended stomachs. Dante’s pilgrim finds out that the wood that the harpies inhabit is the wood of the suicides. The Erinyes and the Harpies thus stand as symbols of fear in men. Medusa stands as a symbol of the ‘doom of petrifaction’; what will happen to the pilgrim if he does not avert his eyes and looks beyond the veil. Medusa is also used here as a symbol of the hubris of men. Just as she was cursed with a terrible face because of the pride in her beauty, men shall also fall because of their pride.
Charybdis and Cacus are also monsters that Dante employs to signify the punishment that men will suffer in hell after their physical death. Unlike other classical works, Charybdis is not used in the sense of an actual monster in The Inferno but rather a figure of speech to describe the hordes of damned that crash against each other. Cacus is a creature which is evil without any redeeming qualities about it. It is also a symbol of the evil that can be found in men. The Minotaur is a symbol of the raging and the gnashing of the teeth that are eternal. It also is a symbol of the duality in men that cannot function in unity, with one form inflicting violence on the other; a form of self-punishment. Cerberus is employed in the Inferno as a symbol of gluttony and incontinence. Dante says, “Cerberus, monster cruel and uncouth, With his three gullets like a dog is barking (Inferno VI 13-14).
The symbolism, numerous in Dante’s inferno makes allusions to both the classical works and the bible. Dante uses symbols throughout Inferno to describe the themes such as violence, greed, pride, rage, incontinence and more.
Works Cited
Dante."The Inferno." The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. Lawall, Sarah, Ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 1466.
Willis, Roy, ed. World Mythology. First Edition. New York: Duncan Baird Publishers, 1993. 41, 50.
Hunt, Patrick. “Dante’s Monsters in the Inferno: Reimagining Classical to Christian Judgment.”Stanford.edu. 3 Apr. 2010. Web. 13 Dec 2014.
