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Inferno, the first part of Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri, is the story of a man’s journey through Hell and his observance of the punishments incurred as a result of committing sin. In all cases the severity of the punishment and the punishment itself, has a direct and symbolic correlation to the sin committed.
According to Dante, Hell has two divisions. Upper Hell is devoted to those who perpetrated sins of incontinence and Lower Hell is devoted to those who perpetrated sins of malice. The first of the two divisions of Hell is Upper Hell. Upper Hell is the area inhabited by those who committed sins of incontinence or lack of self-restraint. This lack of self-restraint comes in the form of many sins ranging from sex to mood.
Circle one of Hell is reserved for those whose crime is living before Christianity and therefore not being able to worship God. These spirits are the unbaptised infants and virtuous pagans who either came before Christ or did not accept him. The punishment for this sin is ceaseless longing, without hope, for God's forgiving grace. The punishment fits the sin because without God, even a virtuous man is doomed to eternal damnation. However, the sins of the unbaptised and virtuous nonbelievers are punished lightly because they followed a virtues life even though they did not embrace god.
Circle two through five illustrates the sins of incontinence and lack of self-restraint which are voluntary sins, meaning that the individual choose to commit the sin. The sinners of Upper Hell committed sins against themselves and did not affect others in the process. Therefore, the sins of lust, gluttony, hording, wasting, wrath and sullenly are punished less than the sins of Lower Hell because they sinned against themselves and did not affect others.
The sins of lust, gluttony, hording, wasting, wrath and sullenly are punished according to their crime. The lustful, those who allowed themselves to succumb to the winds of...