Reviewing "The Inferno"

While it might be exceptionally pretentious to assume anyone wishes to read the review of a 700 year old book that has been broken down time and time again, I'll risk pretention and make a quick comment on Dante's epic poem.

So powerful was this poem that the Christian vision of hell was essentially reworked to coincide with the imagery in Dante's work. Interestingly, "The Inferno" was meant as much of a commentary on the political state of Florence spliced with references to pagan myths and historical figures. In actually, I have found nothing "Christian" about this vision, lacking any of the so called Christian virtues. Charity, compassion, sympathy, forgiveness; these are almost entirely lacking.

What is so interesting about this, is that the imagery was so vivid, so frightening, and so cleverly written, that the descriptions of hellish punishments for sinners became a tool for the Church to use frighten its followers. Of course, this is nothing new to the fourteenth century, as the Christian institution has often used an assortment of past traditions and powerful imagery to achieve its religious and political objectives.

In many ways, I almost find it unfortunate that the Christain view of hell is little more than a work of fiction that has been taken as a point of faith. Snark aside, this seems the modern day equivalent of using the next apocolyptic film as a true vision of the future. On the other hand, the Inferno is so enjoyable and unlike anything every written (save Milton's "Paradise Lost") that Christianity could have done far worse.