Divine Comedy - St.Augustine in Dante’s Inferno :: Divine Comedy Inferno Essays

St.Augustine in the Inferno It is hard to come out of the closet St. Augustine in spite of appearance just one of the levels of Dantes hell for his sins were varied and not great. forthwith many of his sins argon commonplace. For example, most people attempt to better their throw lives without regard of others. They attempt to increase their standard of living and gain more worldly possessions. They are neither good nor evil but are just trying to make a living and keep up in todays fend-for-yourself society. Before Augustines conversion, this was his goal. He was continually searching for honors, money, (and) marriage (Confessions, 991). This allows Augustine to be placed in the first bailiwick of hell, the Vestibule. It is a place for opportunists such as Augustine was before his conversion. It is a place for the nearly soulless. . . who were neither for God nor Satan, but only for themselves (Inferno, 1295). Augustine never by design hurt anyone, but his actions were led by his instincts to succeed and gain praise. These actions include kissing up to the Emperor, his study of law and the art of persuasion, and the mocking of newcomers to his profession. Since for each one of these sins also falls inwardly a different realm of Dantes hell, they will be discussed later in this paper. The second level of Dantes hell, Limbo, does not apply to Augustine because he was baptized and was blessed with the knowledge of messiah Christs existence. Therefore, Augustine can not be placed within this first circle of hell. The second circle of hell, a realm for those who deteriorate victim of their carnal desires, is another level at which to place Augustines soul for he was consumed by lust in his pre-conversion days. He was back up by his family to learn the art of persuasion and making of fine vernacular when he was only sixteen. He used these skills, which he developed in truth well, along with his good looks to seduce as many women as possible. It was in that sixteenth year of my life in this world, when the madness of lust. . . took complete declare of me, and I surrendered to it (Confessions, 987). He was in love with being in love. Yet, he was unable to discern between love and lust. His carnal desires overpowered his soul for the bulk of his life.