Uses of Three in Inferno by Dante Alighieri

There are many symbols in Dante’s Inferno. One of the most important symbols is the number three. Throughout Dante’s Inferno, Dante uses the number three to symbolize and represent important figures and concepts in Hell. His extensive use of the number three is partly due to reasons in his life. It is obvious that the number three is the most noticeable symbol, and that it is no coincidence that the number shows up so many times throughout the Inferno.

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy, in 1265, into a well-to-do merchant family. According to James Cocoran, “Dante’s Florence was a place of political turbulence, divided between two rival political factions, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines.” Cocoran also states that, “Dante was probably educated at the University of Bologna, where he studied law and rhetoric.” Having studied law in a time of such political unrest must have impacted his life and made him think about organization and justice, which can be seen in the Inferno. He was not involved much in politics early in his life, but eventually, as said by Cocoran, “Dante became embroiled in the political controversies of his time. He fought against the Ghibellines from Arezzo in the battle of Campaldino in 1289. In 1295 he became an official in the Florentine commune. Dante belonged to the White faction of the Guelphs at a time when the Pope, Boniface VIII, had decided to support the Blacks” (618). Dante was eventually exiled due to supporting the faction who opposed the Pope. Dante was a Christian, which can be noticed by the many divine references and factors in the Inferno. He also was in love with a girl named Beatrice. Alighieri loved her even though she married another man and after she died, he kept her in his mem...

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...gless and plain subjects. Arguably, if Dante did not use the number three and all the meaning and mystique that go with it, much of the subjects in Inferno would be just plain and impassive ideas and figures. Nevertheless the number three was an essential and critical part of the Inferno and made many people consider the Divine Comedy as the epitome of Italian literature.

Works Cited

Cocoran, James. Ed. et al. World Masterpieces Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003. 618-619. Print.

Rudd, Jay. "Inferno: Cantos 1–4." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

Rudd, Jay. "Inferno: Cantos 12–17." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

Rudd, Jay. "Inferno: Cantos 31–34." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

Vossler, Carl. “On Inferno.” Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.