Similarities between Dantes, God, and Satan
Although there seem to be similarities between Dante's vision of Satan and his vision of God, Satan is actually an inversion of the Trinity and God. There are also significant differences between the two visions, which are essential to understanding this inversion.
The most obvious instance of inversion is Dante's construction of the world of his Divine Comedy. A simplified version of this world looks like this:
EMPYREAN (God)
PLANETS
PURGATORY
HELL
SATAN
From this depiction, it is obvious that God and Satan are at opposite ends of the world. However, similarities between the two are equally obvious. How can this be?
A closer examination reveals that only the language is similar. Dante uses emotions and images to describe his experiences with these two divinities. The language actually highlights the differences between them, as will be seen later.
The most significant pseudo-similarities and inversions are within the individual texts. The first instance is the climactic difference between God's realm of the Empyrean and Satan's realm of Lake Cocytus. Cocytus is a cold, frozen place. (Dante, Hell, XXXIV, 12) Contrasted with this in Paradise is God's realm of light and warmth. (Dante, Paradise, XXXIII, 27) The realms and the deities themselves are opposites; Cocytus and Satan are material (Dante, Hell, XXXIV, 29), where God and the Empyrean are not. (Dante, Paradise, XXXIII, 114)
Emotions play a strong role in both realms. The basic emotions that Dante feels in each realm are opposite. He describes the pit of Hell as "sorrowful," (Dante, Hell, XXXIV, 25) but experiences "bliss" in the Empyrean. (Dante, Paradise, XXXIII, 10) Both emotions hav...
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...ation of the text reveals that the two are actually opposites of each other. Most significantly, Satan is a grotesque inversion of the sacred Trinity seen in God.
Bibliography:
Bibliography
Dante Alighieri. The Divine Comedy: Hell. Trans. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1949; Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1978.
Dante Alighieri. The Divine Comedy: Paradise. Trans. Dorothy L. Sayers and Barbara Reynolds. (1962; Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1978.
Gardner, Patrick. "Dante's Inferno" [online resource]. Accessed November 15, 1999. Available at http://www.sparknotes.com/guides/inferno/
Sayers, Dorothy L., trans. The Divine Comedy: Hell. By Dante Alighieri. 1949; Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1978.
Sayers, Dorothy L. and Barbara Reynolds, trans. The Divine Comedy: Paradise. By Dante Alighieri. 1962; Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1978.
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