The 9 Levels of Hell
A guide to the bottom of Dante's Inferno...
Few works of Western literature can compete with Dante’s Divine Comedy. It’s a fascinatingly engaging read, despite being written over 700 years ago and containing many complex references to history and myth. For those who want to master the cultural heritage of the West, it’s required reading.
The first part of his Comedy is Inferno. In it, he travels through Hell, recounting the people and punishments he observes at each of its nine levels.
Why take this journey?
Because to journey upward in life, you must first descend into the depths of your own soul — and face the darkness you find there. Dante provides a profound, metaphorical exploration of the darkness through which the soul must wade to eventually reach the light.
While Dante had Virgil to guide him through Hell, your guide is right here. I will take you on a tour through each level, and show you what lies at the very bottom…
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The Map of Hell
Dante’s Hell is full of complex geography that draws both from classical mythology and Renaissance science. Though complex, every detail of Dante’s world-building has meaning that adds to his story.
Hell is a funnel-shaped pit comprising descending, concentric circles, similar in a sense to stadium seating. Specific sins are punished at each level, with both the trespasses and corresponding punishments growing increasingly severe as the levels descend.
Dante’s journey takes him from the uppermost, least severe circles of Hell, all the way to the terrifying lair at its core. But first, inscribed on the gate as he enters:
“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here"
Dante and Virgil pass first through the Vestibule of Hell. It's a place where the Uncommitted dwell: people who took no side in life (neither good nor evil), being simply concerned with themselves. They all chase a meaningless, blank banner for eternity, and wait endlessly on the shores of the river Acheron.
Next, Dante and Virgil are taken on a ferry across the river — into Hell itself...
First Circle: Limbo
When Dante first enters Hell, the scene is hardly hellish: he sees green fields capped by a castle. Virgil explains that this is Limbo, the eternal resting place of those who lived virtuous lives but, lacking the opportunity to become Christians, could not enter Heaven.
They live eternally in a beautiful place devoid of pain, but also bereft of the full presence, joy, and spirit of God. Here we find Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Aeneas, and Julius Caesar.
Second Circle: Lust
The second circle is where punishments begin, and it’s the place for the lustful. Here reside souls who, in their earthly lives, gave themselves up to the whims of their sinful passions.
Correspondingly, they are punished by being swept through the air by hot winds. This is the first example of Dante’s contrapasso, a device by which he matches Hell’s punishments to the sins of the damned.
At this level, Dante places several figures from antiquity, including Cleopatra — on account of her being a seductress in life, and unfaithful to her lovers.
Third Circle: Gluttony
Here, the three-headed hound of Hades, Cerberus, barks at and harasses gluttonous souls who are mired down in a pool of foul-smelling sludge.
Having devoted themselves to comfort and good food, they neglected the truly worthwhile aspects of life. Now, they’re drenched by freezing rain and are only able to eat the putrid slime they wallow in.
Fourth Circle: Greed
In the next circle, Dante encounters the souls of both the avaricious and the prodigal — or in other words, those who hoarded wealth, and those who squandered it.
These two groups are condemned to push massive boulders against each other in a never-ending struggle. This endless, futile effort mirrors the endless and pointless pursuit of wealth they engaged in during life, causing the souls to reflect on the vanity of their earthly pursuits.
It’s agonizing to imagine — but things are about to get much worse.
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