Circle 7 and Circle 8: Fraud and Violence

     Dante’s Inferno can be classified as a creative understanding of human evil, which Dante categorizes, explores, separates and judges.  In Circle Five and all of Upper Hell, Dante becomes more aggressive, vivid, and detailed of the sins, punishments and descriptions in the circles. Sometimes we ponder his path, questioning why, for example, a sin punished in the Eight Circle of Hell, such as cheating, is worse than a sin punished in the Seventh Circle of Hell, such as murder. Dante says that sins of  malice can be either sins of fraud or violence, which is why God hates both types of sins. However, among the two sins committed by man, God hates fraud more than violence, and, therefore, the penalty for cheating is more grievous than the punishment for violence. Showing that Dante’s moral system is on God’s will in Heaven rather than human happiness or peace on Earth.
  
     While in the rounds of Circle Seven we see the sinners, guarded by Minotaur, Centaurs and Harpies, who have committed the sins of the lion, which are the sins against neighbors, murder and war- makers, against self, suicide and destroyers of their own body, and against God, art and nature. While Dante may not correspond to violence, it seems as though he has sympathy for the sinners. In the book, Inferno, Dante feels sorry for those who committed suicide,  because that was a viable option for him after his exile. In Circle Seven, there are many half- beast creatures, which  Dante considers humans as halfway between angels and animals. Dante believes that creatures can kill, but only humans are able to offend people and God.

    The unlawful and malicious sins of the leopard are in Circle Eight and Circle Nine. In Circle Eight, there are seducers and panders, flatterers, simoniacs, fortune tellers and diviners, grafters, hypocrites, thieves, evil counselors, sewers of discord, counterfeiters and alchemists. Dante states, “The former mode of fraud not only denies the bond of Nature, but the special trust added by bonds of friendship or blood-ties,” which shows us that he believes fraud is an argument to God’s will, which is to treat others with the love given to us by God (86). He also believes that fraud destroys the traditional wants for authentic faith that should exist between men. For example, in Bolgia Six we see the Hypocrites, who are people that pretend to have admirable principles, beliefs, or feelings but behaves differently. Also, meaning that people are using their God given talents for their own selfish needs, and not to do what is best for God or others.

     However in society, violence is more corrupt than fraud. So why does Dante believe that murder of a person is less corrupt than a lie to a person? All of his beliefs trace back to his Christian values. He believes that God is the only one who has the ultimate power, no one else. Also, Dante believes that even though someone dies, the pain that one gets from that death will soon recover.  Although, one is able to recover from betrayal, deception still can affect us not to trust others, which can lead to alienation. Dante believes that unity among others and God will salvation.