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."