Level 9, Code Red

Why has Dante's Inferno has captured our imagination for centuries?


One of the reasons Dante has captured our imagination for so long is that Dante has always been a part of our culture. It has always been available to be read, to be taught to us. If it was obscure, it certainly wouldnt be so well known. However, many many people know of it/read it.
One thing which helps this is that Dante's Inferno is a large work of literature. Even without its subject matter, it is lyrical and poetic (or so I gather from criticisms of the original Italian). It goes into great detail with horrific descriptions. And it is really really long. The divine comedy is huge, the Inferno is just one part. This epic-ness appeals to humans, and it helps the Inferno stand the test of time the way that the epics told by Homer have lasted this long. Its merits due to its epic nature and its lyrical poetry certainly put it up on a pedestal.
Another reason Dante has been so widespread and available is its religious nature. The church was a political force at the time of its writing. It ruled Europe. This caused a lot of the crap that Dante complains about, but it also meant that Dante was writing for a HUGE audience. And the people who were educated, and could read were the religious. So a book practically had to be religious for them to dig it. Fortunately, it was. Therefore, it was remembered, and could be there to capture our imagination.
Another thing which Dante's inferno had going for it was the fact that it was Italian. This means that it came from a very Roman place. The Romans were very good about spreading their culture across Europe, so Italian was a good language to choose.
Dante's inferno was also written after the dark ages. Historically speaking, this time period was a sort of coming out party for literature. Dante wasnt stuck in the middle of some prolific century of literature. Thus, he occupies a space in history, which also helps his widespreadness.
Dante's inferno is very very well known. It has lasted through history for many reasons other than its subject matter and imagination. It has a wide following, many people know of it or have read it because of this. This helps it get into new hands, and helps it capture new imaginations. Without the above, Dante's Inferno might just be some obscure, non-imagination-capturing literary critics book.
However, the above doesnt explain why Dante actually captures our imaginations.
I believe that Dante deals with issues which have always fascinated humankind. Life after death? Justice? Punishment? These subject draw humans like bugs to those bug zapper light things.
Every culture/religion deals with life after death. Everyone has an answer. In fact, a recent study has shown that most everyone behaves as though there is a life after death: even athiests. As humans, we like to believe that we go on after our deaths. Perhaps it is hardwired into our brains? Regardless, the subject has lain at the center or many religions. Reincarnation? Christ rising from Death? Heaven? Hell? Becoming one with the earth? Xenu? The idea of life after death plays a central role in every religion. This indicates its universal nature, and the way it attracts human intrest. Dante's Inferno deals with life after death. It gives answers in very matter of fact ways. This is what its like here. Always. Forever. Answering this question satisfies the human curiousity about life after death, and captures our imagination.
Another subject Dante covers heavily is justice. If someone sins, they will be punished. As a human being, I certainly see my fair share of sinning every day. And on the by and large, it is never punished. No justice is administered. No one cares, or no one sees. This is similar to the corruption in the church at the time of Dante, which I imagine made Dante very angry. The Inferno is filled with talk of Justice. Even if something seen is not punished in real life; even if you are helpless to give retribution; retribution will be given. There is an ultimate justice, and it is direct and cruel. This appeals to a part of me, at least. Even if I am helpless to "get back at someone," even if I am too weak or too scared, they will still be punished. Justice is real and it is always. It is not an abstract concept enforced sometimes when the political conditions are ripe.
Another thing which has always fascinated humans is blood and gore. Pain has always captured imaginations in a morbid way. In the same way that some people cant take their eyes away from road killed squirrel they find in the road, or the mouse the cat drags home, Dante appeals to us. Yes, it is absolutely disgusting. Yes, it repels us, and we want to look away. But, for some reason, we don't. There's something fascinating about suffering. There's something that keeps my eyes glued to the page when I read about people walking around in a circle getting decapitated by a demon every revolution. We can see this in modern culture as well. Look at slasher movies. Look at the Saw series of movies for God's sake. They are filled with nothing but paper thin plot/characters, and scenes filled with maximum gore and suffering. And there are what; five of those movies. Its not the characters and plot carrying the series. Its the same draw as Dante, the gore and the suffering. However, part of the universal appeal of Dante is his creative ideas. This isn't your average torture. It turns it to an art. Torture by becoming a tree and having stuff crap on you and tear off your leaves? Also, some of the tortures fit the crimes perfectly. Dante does torture very effectively, and this captures our imaginations. It is a step above Saw. And, above all, it is delivered in this lyrical poetic style, and is mixed in with these ideas of justice, life after death, and religion. This is an unbeatable combination for most humans.

This is also shown in the quote below:
"My master: "Stare a little longer," he said,
"And i will quarrel with you!" When I heard him
Speaking to me in anger as he had,

I turned to him with such a feeling of shame
That it still circles through my memory.
As one who dreams he is harmed may in the dream

Wish it were a dream-and therefore he
Longs for the thing that is, as it were not:
So I, unable to speak, was yearning to say

Something to excuse myself-and by doing that
I did excuse myself, at the same time
As I was failing to do in my thought."

---(Cantos XXX)

In this situation, Dante is fascinated by an argument between two sinners about whose sin is worse. These sinners are also being punished (surprise surprise) These is something dirty, something vulgar, something which is bad. And Dante is fascinated by it. Virgil admonishes him because of this fascination, and Dante feels shame. I think that this represents the readers reaction as well. Dante is a channel for the reader to react.
This is another reason Dante's inferno has lasted the test of time. Dante isn't truly a character. The story isn't driven by him, he is paper thin. However, this paper-thin-ness serves as an asset to the writing. Instead of all of these wonderful images/ideas of suffering, torture, justice, religion, and life after death being masked by a plot of characters, Dante makes them the center of the story. The things which capture human imagination come to the front. Most of Dante's inferno is spent describing images of hell, or the stories of those being punished. Dante as a character, just serves as a vessel. He rarely reacts beyond pity (which we all would feel) or fascination. He is a pathway for the reader to get into the story, to get involved in the world of hell. Virgil isnt just telling Dante off in the passage above, he is telling off the reader. This immersion Dante creates helps the story grab us and pull us all the way in. It gets the images into our imagination, and forces us to face them.
All this would be useless however, if the images sucked. Dante has a surefire way to deal with this problem. He doesnt make it up. He steals from past mythologies like a felon. For instance:

"All round the bank encompassing the pit
With half their bulk like towers above it, stood

Horrible giants, whom Jove still rumbles at
With menace when he thunders.....

Nature indeed,

When she abandoned making these animals,
Did well to keep such instruments from Mars"

---(Cantos XXXI)

In this situation, Dante is describing Giants in hell. However, he brings in Jove and Mars. These are not Christian dieties at all. However, Dante uses them in his book describing a Christian hell. It takes the ideas and puts a fresh coat of paint on them, makes them suitable for the religion of the times. Look throughout the novel. Cerebus. The River Styx. Giants. Jove. Mars. The list goes on and on. I mean, all Dante really did was add a Devil to the bottom of Hades, and plug some fallen angels in here and there. This isnt to say that he wasnt wonderfully imaginative. He simply did not make up the entire thing from scratch.
This is a huge asset for the Inferno. Greek mythology had centuries to evolve and develop. The Romans then took it on and modified it further. Its cast of characters were created and modified to catch human intrest. Many many people worked under that unbrella of mythology. Their work has lasted until modern day. I know who Jupiter and Mars are. I know who Pluto is. "By Jove!" is still and expression. The work put into mythology has made it last and put it in our imaginations.
Dante takes from these works as he pleases. Then, he adds his twists to them (such as Cerebus's appearance). Dante builds off of this already hugely successful body of work. And he makes it Christian, so it became politically correct. Most of our modern ideas of hell come from Dante, so it obviously worked. He took those mythologies and made them accessible to the middle aged/modern wo/man. They already grabbed imaginations before he took them, and they continued to do so in his work. Dante stole from the ancient mythologies, which gave him their universal appeal. His cast of characters were already vetted throughly, nothing stands out as wrong because everything wrong had been taken out long before Dante.
Dante also has historical intrests, which capture some peoples imaginations. Caesar is still a name known to us today. The pope is still a world figure. Dante's historical commentary does not fall on deaf ears, or blind eyes. The book is not strickly religious (in both the mythology-stealing and the christian-justice senses of the word). Look at who Lucifer is eating. Along with Judas sit Brutus and Cassius. While they do sit second fiddle to Judas, their betrayl of Julius Caeser brings them to the lowest level of hell. Julias Caeser, as a product of this, seems to sit second fiddle to Jesus. Caeser was not a religious figure at all. Therefore, his historical importance is what places him in the Inferno. This captures many people's imagination: it gives the Inferno the feeling of something which truely applies to the real world. This isnt an abstract punishment only concerned with the religious. It is real. This idea also feeds back into the immersion into Dante's Inferno.
Above all. Dante's Inferno also gives answers. This is something which humans have a craving for. Answers and their implications always capture our imaginations.
So to cap it all off:
Dante has captured our imaginations through the ages partly because it has lasted through the ages. It is an epic work of Italian poetic literature which has roots in the Christian faith. This has put it in many many hands. It also holds a place in history because of the time in which it was written. It deal with issues like life after death, justice, punishment. Humans have always faced these issues; they are very important to us. It feeds our morbid curiosities in numerous creative ways. Dante does these things flawlessly by taking from a wealth of ancient religion. These scenes and characters have already been proven to capture imaginations. It also takes from real world history and situations, grounding the story in reality. Imaginations are much more stimulated by things which may be real and affect them. Dante as a character acts as a vessel for the reader to get to the world of hell. The Inferno is not distracted by plots or characters. Dante's Inferno has stood the test of time, and has continuously captured our imaginations, no matter our religious beliefs.