Inferno tells of Dante's journey through Hell guided by the Roman poet Virgil. During their journeys through each of the nine circles of Hell, Dante and Virgil witness the contrapasso, or the law that ensures that every sinner is punished with a punishment appropriate to the severity of their offense according to medieval expectations . Certain punishments observed by Virgil and Dante logically correspond to the corresponding crimes. Other punishments, however, are more symbolic and obscure. Although the nature of the sins may be related, each punishment is designed to torture each sinner in a way that reflects how the sins affected others, thus allowing the punishments to vary greatly. Throughout their journey, Dante and Virgil observe and converse with sinners to explore the relationship between sin itself and the corresponding contrapasso. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay When Dante and Virgil arrive in the third circle of Hell, it rains, as it is always the weather that accompanies the punishment of gluttons. Dante describes the rain as “an eternal rain, cursed, cold and strong; its rule and its quality never change” (6.7-9). The rainwater is dirty and large hailstones and snow also fall from the sky. The “earth that receives them stinks” (6.11-12). In these few short lines, Dante manages to convey the disgusting atmosphere of this circle to underline the idea of ​​the misery of Hell. A monstrous three-headed dog-like beast named Cerberus guards the wolverines, who howl like dogs along with the creature. When Cerberus saw Virgil and Dante, he opened his mouth and showed his fangs. Virgil “opened his hands, took some earth and, with both fists full, threw it into these voracious pipes” (6, 25-27). The beast devours the mud and then falls silent, symbolizing that it is itself a glutton. The contrapasso and punishment are clearly evident as sinners are tormented by this beast which mirrors their earthly behaviors. The vile slushie symbolizes the personal degradation of someone who overindulges in food, drink, or other worldly pleasures. The inability to see others lying nearby represents the selfishness and coldness of the gluttons. Those souls who have abused food, drink, and other types of addictions are eternally tortured for it, and their punishment directly reflects and satirizes these specific earthly sins. Virgil and Dante enter the sixth bolgia of the eighth circle of Hell which punishes those who commit fraud. They witness the hypocrites who are “painted people who walked with very slow steps, weeping and, by their expressions, tired and defeated” (23, 58-60). Hypocrites wear hooded robes that resemble those of monks. However, these robes are "of dazzling gilding, but inside they are all lead, so heavy that the ones Frederick put on the people could have been made of straw" (23.64-66). It is notable that Dante's interpretation of hypocrisy comes from the Magnae derivationes of Uguccione of Pisa who attributes the etymology of "hypocrisy" to "hypo", meaning below, and "crisis", meaning gold ( 64-65nn). Analogous to the golden cloaks, in their lives sinners appeared outwardly good. Yet in reality, they contained evil within them. The hypocrites walk indifferently, clad in heavy cloaks of golden lead, representing the factiousness that lies behind the appearance of their actions. This falsity weighs them down and makes spiritual progress impossible for them. The contrapasso of the hypocrites is appropriate to sin itself.