Ms. Andrea Solomon, Ms. Mary Edsall
Colloquium F2003x
Assignment #4 – Dante Alighieri
23 September 1999
Sin As That Which Hurts Others
We must fear only those things which have the power of hurting others; and not the others, which are not to be feared. – Inferno 2:88-90 (alternate translation)
An Italian friend of mine has complained that this is a pretty inaccurate translation of those two lines in the Inferno. However, I agree to some extent that Dante "organizes his world according to the principle [that sin is what hurts others].” Dante keeps with Catholic doctrine that many “victimless” crimes are, in fact, sins, such as lust or gluttony. However, he punishes these crimes of incontinence much less severely than crimes that harm other people (heresy, violence, and fraud). Not only are harmful perpetrators in a lower circle of hell, but Dante also spends significantly more time delineating the different forms of these crimes, identifying historical perpetrators, and describing the gradations of punishment. For example, he spends one canto each in the second, third, and fourth circles (the lustful, the gluttonous, and the greedy or prodigal). In contrast, he spends six cantos in the seventh circle (the violent - divided into three rings) and thirteen cantos in the eighth circle (the fraudulent – divided into ten pockets). Dante also punishes violence, which mostly affects individuals, less severely than fraud, which threatens that fragile bond of trust that is necessary for society to function. Furthermore, sowers of discord or schism are punished near the very bottom of hell.
The first circle of hell, limbo, is for those who committed no sin other than not knowing about Christianity. Accordingly, their punishment is only that they cannot go to heaven. The second through fifth circles are sins of incontinence, relatively minor personal flaws which are punished by unpleasant penalties that correspond to the crimes. The sixth circle is for the heretics, a still personal but very important flaw from the medieval point of view. Finally, the seventh through ninth circles are for malice, ranging from simple violence to treachery, each with increasingly horrible punishments. At the very bottom of hell, in the mouths of Satan himself, are those who committed the ultimate act of betrayal against their benefactors.
I think this theory of sin as that which hurts others is weak in only a couple of places. Dante punishes those who are violent against themselves (suicidal) and their possessions (squanderous) worse than those who are violent against others (murderous). Also, at least from a modern point of view, it is difficult to see crimes such as sodomy or flattery as being more hurtful to others than tyranny.