Inferno, Canto 5

After reading canto 1-8, I was easily able to say what affected me the most personally, was the way it alludes to Sin. Sin is when someone goes against Gods commands, in Christian religions specifically Catholicism, there are two types of sin mortal and non-mortal. Mortal is when you commit acts of sin such as the 7 deadly sin, non-mortal are acts of sin that don’t break the commandments. Throughout the story Dante mentions how the different stages of hell progress in punishment according to the sins committed. The reason this affects me is because I was raised Catholic, and these sins he mentions have been broken by many people I know, including myself and if you die before confessing through a priest you will carry these sins with you. This affects me because it reminded me how serious the punishments of me committing sins are, the way Dante uses imagery somewhat intimidates me more than the word from Satan himself in the Bible. Christianity is a major theme in Inferno, this is because Catholicism was the biggest religion in Italy during the middle ages. In Catholicism it is thought that everyone who was not baptized under their faith will go to hell but, during the story we find out that these people have landed in different circles of hell. This is a reason why canto 5 caught my attention, Dante mentions Cleopatra and Helen, two very notable figures in history. They reside in the second circle of hell because they committed lustful sins, this caught my attention because that mean if I or anyone I know commits that type sin and dies before confessing will likely go to this circle of hell which sound dreadful. A part of Inferno that provokes sadness and pity is when Dante speaks to Francesca and listens to her story, it was extremely sad to me that she died after being caught cheating with her husbands brother, both were killed and landed in the second circle of hell all for love, I acquired these feelings because we are supposed to find comfort in love but they only received punishment. This text reminds me only of the Bible and Virgils story of hell, this is because they hall have similar themes and Dante takes from Virgils works. This text supports my beliefs of Catholicism, it supports my belief in the sense that we both believe that if one dies with sins they will all go to hell. This story so far has given me more insight on my religion, it goes into details of hell I never hear in church which interests me very much. It also gives me insight to the punishments I will receive depending on the sins I commit, hopefully reading this text will help me stay true to my faith.