“To get to Heaven, one must first go through

Hell,” -Virgil, Divine Comedy

The lecture by Rick Albright is about the first part of Dante’s epic poem, Divine Comedy. Though it isn’t
funny, Divine Comedy is named so as opposed to a tragedy, which starts happily and has a tragic ending, this
epic start as a tragedy but do have a happy ending. It tells how the traveler (Dante himself) understands that he
lost his way, and ended up in a dark wood. The dark wood is being guarded by three beasts: a lion, a leopard,
and a she-wolf, he cannot escape these 3 beasts, until Virgil, the dead poet, found him and rescued him. Virgil
said that for one to go to a higher road, that is heaven, one must first go through hell. The traveler then begins
his journey to the underworld with Virgil.

In Dante’s Inferno, the punishments are not equivalent to the sins, but instead the punishments are the
crime itself. In example, the astrologers and the false prophets have their heads twisted from their bodies,
which forces them to walk backwards. This is because of their attempts to look into the future by forbidden
means.

As they started to enter the gates of hell, they came across different kinds of sinners. From the first
circle, who are not sinners but whom do not accept Christ, in the second circle are those that are overpowered
by lust, in the third circle are the gluttons, in the fourth are the avaricious and the prodigal, in the fifth circle are
the wrathful and the sullen, in sixth, are the heretics, the seventh circle is composed of the 3 rings; the first ring
are those who are violent to people and property, in the second ring are the suicides, who are violent to selves,
and in the third ring are those who are violent to God or the blasphemers. The different kinds of frauds are
scattered in the eighth circle. And in the last and bottom circle are those who had betrayed their kindred, their
city or country, their guests and lastly their benefactor or God. Satan, Judas Iscariot, Brutus and Cassius are
some of those who are frozen in the pit of hell. After their journey in the underworld, they climbed through
Satan’s ragged fur to the center of earth. They ended up in the other hemisphere, in the mountain of purgatory.

Dante’s Inferno is very interesting, because in his epic poem, Divine Comedy, Satan, and the other
sinners, are frozen in the very pit of hell, opposing the common notion that sinners burn in hell. He pictured the
hell as a series of circles and every time you go down to every circle you will come across to more serious
offenders. And right at the very pit of hell is Satan, Judas Iscariot, Brutus and Cassius, who are frozen from the
waist down. Imagine not moving for like a couple of minutes, it would be difficult, very, very difficult, because it
is in the nature of man to move, to fidget even just a bit. How much harder it would be, if you cannot be able to
move for a lifetime? This is what Satan and the rest of the ones who betrayed their benefactors or God are
suffering up to the present time, according to Dante. And that for me, is the greatest punishment one could ever
endure.

While I was listening to the lecture about Dante’s Inferno, I sort of think about my own set of sins, and
wonder where I will end up if I will keep on doing that sin. Certainly I am not overcome by lust, and no, I am not
a glutton either. Then I realized that I may actually end up in the 2nd ring of the seventh circle, and that give me
goose bumps. Hearing this kind of lecture inspires me, to be more productive in my life and stop my stupidity,
well I thought and I hope that it will be that easy for me to change the way I’m living my life. Dante’s Inferno is a
very great piece of art, and keeps the mind thinking.