The Guardians of the Inferno (Dante)

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Dante's Inferno is one of the best written works of all time because it was written as an

allegory inside an excellent story. A key part of this allegory was how Dante used

different guardians in the various circles of hell. These guardians were used to symbolize

the punishments of the sinners.

Minos is the guardian of Circle II, the circle of the Lustful. He symbolizes an accusing

personality because his job is to give punishments to the sinners. The bodies of the sinners

confess the sins automatically, and that shows the sinners know everything about

themselves when it is too late to repent. Minos is important because he is used to stress

that none of the sinners can doubt which sins they have committed, and that the crime will

receive a matching punishment. The lustful were carried away by their passions in their

previous lives, and therefore they are thrown about by a black wind.

Dante considers lust

to be the highest sin because it is mutually committed to the pleasure of both parties.

Cerberus is the guardian of Circle III, the circle of the Gluttons. Cerberus is meant to

portray the image of uncontrolled appetite. In mythology, he was known to devour

people who approached hell, and therefore is a glutton himself. However, being a glutton,

he must surrender himself to his appetite. His appetite just overtakes him when Dante

throws dirt in Cerberus' mouth, and the poets are allowed to enter the circle. Cerberus is

an example of how everything must submit to the glutton's appetite, including his soul.

This is a dark sin because they now worship food instead of God, and this is reciprocated

by the rain, which belies the jolly nature of gluttons and gives them dark temperaments.

Gluttony is a sin which involves...