Prompt One: Homosexuals in Dante's Inferno vs. Modern Day

            An issue that has been a prominent concern in the government the past few years is gay rights. A recent news article written by Jonathan Mann explores the history of gay rights in America and how policies are currently changing. Puritans were the founders of America—meaning that from the beginning, homosexuals were not exactly welcome. To this day, a great majority of states have policies against gay and lesbian marriages. Recent studies show that homosexual relationships would have no serious harm on the country. Even politics have started to back away from this issue by not stressing family values. Entertainment, business, and news have advertising homosexuality in positive lights, while the military is still questioning the allowance. The military discussion seems to be leaning towards the allowance, however there is also the 30% of men and women in uniform proved homophobic. The officials of the military responded to that, saying they could deal with making the homophobes feel comfortable through privacy measures. The military is currently attempting to get as many citizens enrolled as possible, therefore they need to put aside unnecessary fears. Overall, America seems to be moving in the direction of pro-homosexuality.

            In my opinion, homosexuals should have the same rights as everyone else. Their personal attractions should not be able to dictate how others portray them. To see homosexuals in a bad light because they are physically attracted to the same gender is the equivalent of saying men and women should not be allowed in the same rooms with each other due to their physical attractions. Those who are homophobic due to religion are supporting the Bible, however are diminishing their views on other humans due to something that the specific person has little to no control over. Love isn’t always self-controlled; sometimes one falls in love without warning or consent from their brain. Love and marriage are between two people, not others who are making judgments from the outside and cannot personally feel what the couple is feeling.

            In Inferno, Dante categorizes sodomites—homosexuals—into the third round of the seventh circle. Due to placing this category of people so low into the depths of Hell shows how strongly he feels against homosexuals. He describes the area by writing, “And all over that sand on which they lay or crouched or roamed, great flakes of flame fell slowly as snow falls in the Alps on a windless day” (111). Dante’s use of fire here expresses his inner anger. As a Catholic, Dante’s anger does derive from his religion—relating to modern-day Christians—which claims that homosexuality is a major sin. Dante and I would not agree at all on this topic as he is against it and I am for. It is possible that if Dante existed now instead of then, he may have a different opinion due to so many elements involving gays and lesbians changing.

Prompt 2: Fate in Inferno

This quote is an expression of Dante’s belief in pre-destination. He refers to fate as female. The typical symbol for women is a circle, which is portrayed in Dante’s usage of a spinning wheel. The circular motion represents the lives of people circling through and it never stops to reconsider or figure out the placement of a soul after death. In Greek mythology, the spinning wheel is actually a direct symbol of fate, with each strand representing the lives of separate people. The courses of their lives are already planned out for them, and all in the hands of this one spinning wheel.

In the line, “The nations rise and fall by her decree,” Dante seems to compare and give fate as much power as God. He is at the same time, however, also suggesting that God does not at all control fate and that it is a completely different element of the world. This aspect contradicts Dante’s Catholic belief that God is in control of everything. Even if Dante were to be referring to fate as an aspect of God, he gives the reference to fate as a woman. In the Middle Ages, women were not seen as at all powerful, strong, or able to make big decisions about life.

Both Dante and Sophocles have similar viewpoints on fate. Each other believes that fate is extremely powerful and unavoidable; determined before one even takes their first breath. Though, in Inferno, those placed in Hell are suffering for their personal actions, those actions had been set in stone long before they decided to make them. Dante’s work is essentially a follow up to the events in Antigone and Oedipus—the sin, and then the punishment. While reading Inferno, one typically thinks, “Oh, they did this, that is what they get as a punishment.” But Sophocles’ work explores the conflict, reasoning, and thought processes behind the sins.

Contrapasso of Circle Three: The Gluttons

Circle Three, the Gluttons, is the home to those who over-indulged themselves in life. Dante observed that wherever he turned, there were, "new torments and new souls in pain" (45), and that he could not look in any direction to avoid the suffering souls. Every aspect of this circle seems to be filled with dismal qualities, such as the threatening and dark weather, air, and water. At the heart of this circle is Cerberus, the three-headed, ravaging dog. He is described in a way that makes him seem even more repelling than those humans who were sent to hell; "His eyes are red, his beard is greased with phlegm, his belly is swollen, and his hands are claws to rip the wretches and flay and mangle them." His characteristics reflect those of the humans in the circle, however to a further degree. The phlegm and claws represent the salivation and greedy qualities that they once had.
The punishment for their gluttony was to become the food that they once ate. In life, these specific humans showed no filter or ability to turn down opportunities involving indulgence. At the time this was written, in the 1300's, it is possible that indulging wasn't looked down upon. In modern society, obesity and indulgence is discouraged in many ways. Dante's interpretation of Cerberus when he notes, "As a hungry cur will set the echoes raving and then fall still when he is thrown a bone, all of his clamor being in his craving" (45). This description not only describes the dog, but also those whom he is snacking on. The reason they have come to this level of hell was due to leaping at every opportunity. Now, they themselves have become the opportunity. Dante uses words such as "putrid" and "rotting" in ways that seem to characterize both the setting and the humans being clawed away at. This language represents that the humans are the equivalent of garbage due to their inability to suppress their desire. It all goes back to the saying, "You are what you eat."