Dante and Dostoevsky on Hell

Dante, of course, didn't literally believe that hell was structured the way he depicts it in The Inferno. Nor was his depiction of punishment for sins like lust, usury, and murder in any official way taught by the Medieval Church. Dante was getting at something deeper by using literary tools, and an interesting bit of help on what Dante was up to comes from the Russian novelist Dostoevsky.

Here is a passage from "The Brothers Karamazov" . Though there are some variations between Dostoevsky's Russian Orthodox Background and Dante's Medieval Catholic background, both literary artists put their finger on a truth all Christians can accept: hell is in a sense self-chosen. God does not send one to hell, but one sends him- or herself to hell.

More on Dante and Art

More on Dante and art. In this case, we have more images from Gustav Dore's famous images of the Divine Comedy, this time set to music from Liszt.

Dante on Film

One of the most famous artistic realizations of Dante's Divine Comedy is found in the artwork of Gustav Dore. In 1911, Italian filmaker Francesco Bertoli produced a a film version of The Inferno, and it was apparently the first full length film of Italian cinema. Bertoli used Dore's artwork as the basis for his film, and selections from it can be found on Youtube.

Hail to the Chief

John Hodges does not go to great lengths to toot his own horn, which is natural for a well-developed Christian, so I will take this opportunity to remind those involved with the Institute about the qualifications of the man leading us in this experiment.

I want to point to one of John's accomplishments--his participation in The Trinity Arts Conference from several years ago. If you look at the other participants, you will see that John keeps good company. Several of the other speakers are nationally known writers and academics who have written important books on the relationship between Christianity and Culture.

I wanted to inform readers of this blog about John's background to help promote the Institute by helping you to see that John has spent much time and effort in getting to where he is today. Please give the Institute due consideration in whatever fashion you can, knowing that the impetus behind it results from a vigorous Christian vision that has been shaped by years of thought and work.

Turning Up the Heat

We will soon begin discussion of Dante's Inferno, and some of you might find this visual guide to Hell useful.

Of course, merely getting in order the circles of Hell and the sins in each circle is just a small step in getting into this important work. Dante deals with much, much more than creating particularly delicious torments for sundry sinners.

Even so, obtaining a sense of the structure of the epic will help one get oriented to the larger themes and issues the work deals with. The symbolism of Dante's descent provides the artistic structure for exploring the nature of sin.