175-551: Satan , also known as the Devil ( cf. a devil ), is an entity in Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism , Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God , typically regarded as a metaphor for the yetzer hara , or 'evil inclination'. In Christianity and Islam , he is usually seen as a fallen angel or jinn who has rebelled against God , who nevertheless allows him temporary power over
350-561: A Black Guelph from the prominent Adimari family. Little is known about Argenti, although Giovanni Boccaccio describes an incident in which he lost his temper; early commentators state that Argenti's brother seized some of Dante's property after his exile from Florence. Just as Argenti enabled the seizing of Dante's property, he himself is "seized" by all the other wrathful souls. When Dante responds "In weeping and in grieving, accursed spirit, may you long remain," Virgil blesses him with words used to describe Christ himself ( Luke 11:27). In
525-484: A Guelph who was the father of Dante's friend and fellow poet, Guido Cavalcanti . The political affiliation of these two men allows for a further discussion of Florentine politics. In response to a question from Dante about the "prophecy" he has received, Farinata explains that what the souls in Hell know of life on earth comes from seeing the future, not from any observation of the present. Consequently, when "the portal of
700-577: A group of fallen angels , or their offspring , to tempt humans to sin and punish them. Although the Book of Genesis does not mention him, Christians often identify the serpent in the Garden of Eden as Satan. In the Synoptic Gospels , Satan tempts Jesus in the desert and is identified as the cause of illness and temptation. In the Book of Revelation , Satan appears as a Great Red Dragon , who
875-569: A heraldic device emblazoned on a leather purse around his neck ("On these their streaming eyes appeared to feast"). The coats of arms indicate that they came from prominent Florentine families; they indicate the presence of Catello di Rosso Gianfigliazzi , Ciappo Ubriachi , the Paduan Reginaldo degli Scrovegni (who predicts that his fellow Paduan Vitaliano di Iacopo Vitaliani will join him here), and Giovanni di Buiamonte . Dante then rejoins Virgil and, both mounted atop Geryon's back,
1050-455: A prototypical form of the ransom theory, but Origen was the first to propose it in its fully developed form. The theory was later expanded by theologians such as Gregory of Nyssa and Rufinus of Aquileia . In the eleventh century, Anselm of Canterbury criticized the ransom theory, along with the associated Christus Victor theory, resulting in the theory's decline in western Europe. The theory has nonetheless retained some of its popularity in
1225-526: A "disgusting fantasy" and declared that belief in Hell and Satan were among the many lies propagated by the Catholic Church to keep humanity enslaved. By the eighteenth century, trials for witchcraft had ceased in most western countries, with the notable exceptions of Poland and Hungary , where they continued. Belief in the power of Satan, however, remained strong among traditional Christians. Mormonism developed its own views on Satan. According to
1400-416: A 'physical' entity is strengthened by numerous other rabbinical anecdotes: one tale describes two separate incidents where Satan appeared as a woman in order to tempt Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Akiva into sin, while another describes Satan taking the form of an ill-mannered, diseased beggar in order to tempt the sage Peleimu into breaking the mitzvah of hospitality. Another passage relates that Satan once kissed
1575-772: A 2013 poll conducted by YouGov , fifty-seven percent of people in the United States believe in a literal Devil, compared to eighteen percent of people in Britain. Fifty-one percent of Americans believe that Satan has the power to possess people. W. Scott Poole, author of Satan in America: The Devil We Know , has opined that "In the United States over the last forty to fifty years, a composite image of Satan has emerged that borrows from both popular culture and theological sources" and that most American Christians do not "separate what they know [about Satan] from
1750-618: A Christian, Dante adds Circle 1 (Limbo) to Upper Hell and Circle 6 (Heresy) to Lower Hell, making 9 Circles in total; incorporating the Vestibule of the Futile, this leads to Hell containing 10 main divisions. This "9+1=10" structure is also found within the Purgatorio and Paradiso . Lower Hell is further subdivided: Circle 7 (Violence) is divided into three rings, Circle 8 (Fraud) is divided into ten bolge , and Circle 9 (Treachery)
1925-663: A Florentine contemporary identified as Ciacco , which means 'hog'. A character with the same nickname later appears in The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio , where his gluttonous behaviour is clearly portrayed. Ciacco speaks to Dante regarding strife in Florence between the "White" and "Black" Guelphs , which developed after the Guelph/Ghibelline strife ended with the complete defeat of the Ghibellines. In
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#17327720295622100-567: A city. Among the Giants, Virgil identifies Nimrod (who tried to build the Tower of Babel ; he shouts out the unintelligible Raphèl mai amècche zabì almi ); Ephialtes (who with his brother Otus tried to storm Olympus during the Gigantomachy ; he has his arms chained up) and Briareus (who Dante claimed had challenged the gods); and Tityos and Typhon , who insulted Jupiter. Also here
2275-419: A comparison with the topic being discussed. Style guides recommend that "cf." be used only to suggest a comparison, and the words "see" or " vide " be used generally to point to a source of information. In Italian , the abbreviation "cfr." ( confronta , 'confront') is more common than "cf." is. In biological naming conventions, cf. is commonly placed between the genus name and the species name to describe
2450-534: A derivative of the Greek word diabolos . Muslims do not regard Satan as the cause of evil, but as a tempter, who takes advantage of humans' inclinations toward self-centeredness. Seven chapters in the Quran describe how God ordered all the angels and Iblis to bow before the newly created human, Adam . All the angels bowed, but Iblis refused, claiming to be superior to Adam because he was made from fire, whereas Adam
2625-524: A literal sense, this reflects the fact that souls in Hell are eternally fixed in the state they have chosen, but allegorically, it reflects Dante's beginning awareness of his own sin. In the distance, Dante perceives high towers that resemble fiery red mosques . Virgil informs him that they are approaching the City of Dis . Dis, itself surrounded by the Stygian marsh, contains Lower Hell within its walls. Dis
2800-469: A narration, the sound of the shofar , which is primarily intended to remind Jews of the importance of teshuva , is also intended symbolically to "confuse the accuser" (Satan) and prevent him from rendering any litigation to God against the Jews. Kabbalah presents Satan as an agent of God whose function is to tempt humans into sinning so that he may accuse them in the heavenly court. The Hasidic Jews of
2975-506: A newly observed specimen and a known species or taxon . Such a usage might suggest a specimen's membership of the same genus or possibly of a shared higher taxon. For example, in the note " Diptera: Tabanidae , cf. Tabanus ", the author is confident of the order and family ( Diptera : Tabanidae ) but can only suggest the genus ( Tabanus ) and has no information favouring a particular species. Among numismatists (coin collector-research specialists), cf. may be used in references on
3150-614: A pillar known as the Jamrah al-’Aqabah , symbolizing the stoning of the Devil . This ritual is based on the Islamic tradition that, when God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael , Satan tempted him three times not to do it, and, each time, Abraham responded by throwing seven stones at him. The hadith teach that newborn babies cry because Satan touches them while they are being born, and that this touch causes people to have an aptitude for sin. This doctrine bears some similarities to
3325-403: A reflection of the spiritual stagnation in which they lived. After passing through the vestibule, Dante and Virgil reach the ferry that will take them across the river Acheron and to Hell proper. The ferry is piloted by Charon , who does not want to let Dante enter, for he is a living being. Virgil forces Charon to take him by declaring, Vuolsi così colà dove si puote / ciò che si vuole ("It
3500-788: A role in some of the parables of Jesus , namely the Parable of the Sower , the Parable of the Weeds , Parable of the Sheep and the Goats , and the Parable of the Strong Man . According to the Parable of the Sower, Satan "profoundly influences" those who fail to understand the gospel. The latter two parables say that Satan's followers will be punished on Judgement Day , with the Parable of the Sheep and
3675-505: A safeguard against temptation, since the Devil "cannot endure gaiety ". John Calvin repeated a maxim from Saint Augustine that "Man is like a horse, with either God or the devil as rider." In the late fifteenth century, a series of witchcraft panics erupted in France and Germany. The German Inquisitors Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger argued in their book Malleus Maleficarum , published in 1487, that all maleficia ("sorcery")
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#17327720295623850-516: A small mountain, but his way is blocked by three beasts he cannot evade: a lonza (usually rendered as ' leopard ' or ' leopon '), a leone ( lion ), and a lupa ( she-wolf ). The three beasts, taken from Jeremiah 5:6, are thought to symbolize the three kinds of sin that bring the unrepentant soul into one of the three major divisions of Hell. According to John Ciardi , these are incontinence (the she-wolf); violence and bestiality (the lion); and fraud and malice (the leopard). It
4025-418: A specimen that is hard to identify because of practical difficulties, such as poor preservation. For example, " Barbus cf. holotaenia " indicates that the specimen is in the genus Barbus and believed to be Barbus holotaenia , but the actual species-level identification cannot be certain. Cf. can also be used to express a possible identity, or at least a significant resemblance, such as between
4200-668: A symbol of virtuous characteristics and liberty. Satan's appearance is never described in the Bible, but, since the ninth century, he has often been shown in Christian art with horns, cloven hooves, unusually hairy legs, and a tail, often naked and holding a pitchfork. These are an amalgam of traits derived from various pagan deities, including Pan , Poseidon , and Bes . Satan appears frequently in Christian literature , most notably in Dante Alighieri 's Inferno , all variants of
4375-509: A vision of a Great Red Dragon with seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns, and a massive tail, an image which is likely inspired by the vision of the four beasts from the sea in the Book of Daniel and the Leviathan described in various Old Testament passages. The Great Red Dragon knocks "a third of the sun... a third of the moon, and a third of the stars" out the sky and pursues the Woman of
4550-621: A voice booms down from Heaven heralding the defeat of "the Accuser" ( ho Kantegor ), identifying the Satan of Revelation with the satan of the Old Testament. In Revelation 20:1–3 , Satan is bound with a chain and hurled into the Abyss , where he is imprisoned for one thousand years . In Revelation 20:7–10 , he is set free and gathers his armies along with Gog and Magog to wage war against
4725-406: A wand, and rebukes those who opposed Dante. Allegorically, this reveals the fact that the poem is beginning to deal with sins that philosophy and humanism cannot fully understand. Virgil also mentions to Dante how Erichtho sent him to the lowest circle of Hell to bring back a spirit from there. In the sixth circle, heretics , such as Epicurus and his followers (who say "the soul dies with
4900-590: A young fowl". Cotton Mather wrote that devils swarmed around Puritan settlements "like the frogs of Egypt ". The Puritans believed that the Native Americans were worshippers of Satan and described them as "children of the Devil". Some settlers claimed to have seen Satan himself appear in the flesh at native ceremonies. During the First Great Awakening , the " new light " preachers portrayed their "old light" critics as ministers of Satan. By
5075-611: Is Antaeus , who did not join in the rebellion against the Olympian gods and therefore is not chained. At Virgil's persuasion, Antaeus takes the poets in his large palm and lowers them gently to the final level of Hell. At the base of the well, Dante finds himself within a large frozen lake: Cocytus , the Ninth Circle of Hell. Trapped in the ice, each according to his guilt, are punished sinners guilty of treachery against those with whom they had special relationships. The lake of ice
5250-491: Is a "monster with the general shape of a wyvern but with the tail of a scorpion , hairy arms, a gaudily-marked reptilian body, and the face of a just and honest man". The pleasant human face on this grotesque body evokes the insincere fraudster whose intentions "behind the face" are all monstrous, cold-blooded, and stinging with poison. Dante now finds himself in the Eighth Circle, called Malebolge ("Evil ditches"):
5425-408: Is a righteous man favored by Yahweh. Job 1:6–8 describes the " sons of God " ( bənê hāʼĕlōhîm ) presenting themselves before Yahweh. Yahweh asks one of them, "the satan", where he has been, to which he replies that he has been roaming around the earth. Yahweh asks, "Have you considered My servant Job?" The satan replies by urging Yahweh to let him torture Job, promising that Job will abandon his faith at
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5600-572: Is blasphemy... to say that the greatest God... has an adversary who constrains his capacity to do good" and said that Christians "impiously divide the kingdom of God, creating a rebellion in it, as if there were opposing factions within the divine, including one that is hostile to God". The name Heylel , meaning "morning star" (or, in Latin, Lucifer ), was a name for Attar , the god of the planet Venus in Canaanite mythology , who attempted to scale
5775-661: Is defeated by Michael the Archangel and cast down from Heaven. He is later bound for one thousand years , but is briefly set free before being ultimately defeated and cast into the Lake of Fire . In the Middle Ages, Satan played a minimal role in Christian theology and was used as a comic relief figure in mystery plays . During the early modern period , Satan's significance greatly increased as beliefs such as demonic possession and witchcraft became more prevalent. During
5950-536: Is described as "from the jinns". This, combined with the fact that he describes himself as having been made from fire, posed a major problem for Muslim exegetes of the Quran , who disagree on whether Satan is a fallen angel or the leader of a group of evil jinn. According to a hadith from Ibn Abbas , Iblis was actually an angel whom God created out of fire. Ibn Abbas asserts that the word jinn could be applied to earthly jinn, but also to "fiery angels" like Satan. Hasan of Basra , an eminent Muslim theologian who lived in
6125-515: Is destined to be overthrown through Jesus's death and resurrection. John 16:7–8 promises that the Holy Spirit will "accuse the World concerning sin, justice, and judgement", a role resembling that of the Satan in the Old Testament. Jude 9 refers to a dispute between Michael the Archangel and the Devil over the body of Moses . Some interpreters understand this reference to be an allusion to
6300-410: Is divided into four concentric rings (or "rounds") of traitors corresponding, in order of seriousness, to betrayal of family ties, betrayal of community ties, betrayal of guests, and betrayal of lords . This is in contrast to the popular image of Hell as fiery; as Ciardi writes, "The treacheries of these souls were denials of love (which is God) and of all human warmth. Only the remorseless dead center of
6475-685: Is divided into four regions. Thus, Hell contains 24 divisions in total. Dante awakens to find that he has crossed the Acheron, and Virgil leads him to the first circle of the abyss, Limbo , where Virgil himself resides. The first circle contains the unbaptized and the virtuous pagans , who, although not sinful enough to warrant damnation, did not accept Christ. Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "After those who refused choice come those without opportunity of choice. They could not, that is, choose Christ; they could, and did, choose human virtue, and for that they have their reward." Limbo shares many characteristics with
6650-442: Is guarded by a figure Dante names as Pluto : this is Plutus , the deity of wealth in classical mythology. Although the two are often conflated, he is a distinct figure from Pluto (Dis), the classical ruler of the underworld. At the start of Canto VII, he menaces Virgil and Dante with the cryptic phrase Pape Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe , but Virgil protects Dante from him. Those whose attitude toward material goods deviated from
6825-561: Is implied that the satan is shamed in his defeat. Zechariah 3:1–7 contains a description of a vision dated to the middle of February of 519 BC, in which an angel shows Zechariah a scene of Joshua the High Priest dressed in filthy rags, representing the nation of Judah and its sins, on trial with Yahweh as the judge and the satan standing as the prosecutor . Yahweh rebukes the satan and orders for Joshua to be given clean clothes, representing Yahweh's forgiveness of Judah's sins. During
7000-409: Is intending to commit it. Suddenly, two spirits – Gianni Schicchi de' Cavalcanti and Myrrha , both punished as Imposters (Falsifiers of Persons) – run rabid through the pit. Schicchi sinks his teeth into the neck of an alchemist, Capocchio, and drags him away like prey. Griffolino explains how Myrrha disguised herself to commit incest with her father King Cinyras , while Schicchi impersonated
7175-531: Is less condemnable than malice or bestiality, and therefore these sinners are located in four circles of Upper Hell (Circles 2–5). These sinners endure lesser torments than do those consigned to Lower Hell, located within the walls of the City of Dis , for committing acts of violence and fraud – the latter of which involves, as Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "abuse of the specifically human faculty of reason". The deeper levels are organized into one circle for violence (Circle 7) and two circles for fraud (Circles 8 and 9). As
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7350-680: Is mentioned explicitly in some daily prayers, including during Shacharit and certain post-meal benedictions, as described in the Talmud and the Jewish Code of Law . In Reform Judaism , Satan is generally seen in his Talmudic role as a metaphor for the yetzer hara and the symbolic representation of innate human qualities such as selfishness. The most common English synonym for "Satan" is " devil ", which descends from Middle English devel , from Old English dēofol, that in turn represents an early Germanic borrowing of Latin diabolus (also
7525-523: Is now dawn of Good Friday , April 8, with the sun rising in Aries . The beasts drive him back despairing into the darkness of error, a "lower place" ( basso loco ) where the sun is silent ( l sol tace ). However, Dante is rescued by a figure who announces that he was born sub Iulio (i.e., in the time of Julius Caesar ) and lived under Augustus : it is the shade of the Roman poet Virgil , author of
7700-475: Is one of the names of Pluto , the classical king of the underworld, in addition to being the name of the realm. The walls of Dis are guarded by fallen angels . Virgil is unable to convince them to let Dante and him enter. Dante is threatened by the Furies (consisting of Alecto , Megaera , and Tisiphone ) and Medusa . An angel sent from Heaven secures entry for the poets, opening the gate by touching it with
7875-449: Is rebuked by Virgil. As a result of his shame and repentance, Dante is forgiven by his guide. Sayers remarks that the descent through Malebolge "began with the sale of the sexual relationship, and went on to the sale of Church and State; now, the very money is itself corrupted, every affirmation has become perjury, and every identity a lie" so that every aspect of social interaction has been progressively destroyed. Dante and Virgil approach
8050-402: Is required to confess all of their sins to Minos, after which Minos sentences each soul to its torment by wrapping his tail around himself a number of times corresponding to the circle of Hell to which the soul must go. The role of Minos here is a combination of his classical role as condemner and unjust judge of the underworld and the role of classical Rhadamanthus , interrogator and confessor of
8225-403: Is reverred as the founder of Maturidiyyah Sunni orthodoxy ( kalam ) argued that since angels can be blessed by God, they are also put to a test and can be punished. Accordingly, Satan became a devil ( shaiṭān ) or jinn after he refused to obey. The Tarikh Khamis narrates that Satan was a jinn who was admitted into Paradise as a reward for his righteousness and, unlike the angels, was given
8400-471: Is so willed there where is power to do / That which is willed"), referring to the fact that Dante is on his journey on divine grounds. The wailing and blasphemy of the damned souls entering Charon's boat contrast with the joyful singing of the blessed souls arriving by ferry in the Purgatorio . The passage across the Acheron, however, is undescribed, since Dante faints and does not awaken until they reach
8575-669: Is structurally based on the ideas of Aristotle , but with "certain Christian symbolisms, exceptions, and misconstructions of Aristotle's text", and a further supplement from Cicero's De Officiis . Virgil reminds Dante (the character) of "Those pages where the Ethics tells of three / Conditions contrary to Heaven's will and rule / Incontinence, vice, and brute bestiality". Cicero, for his part, had divided sins between violence and fraud . By conflating Cicero's violence with Aristotle's bestiality, and his fraud with malice or vice, Dante
8750-572: Is the "realm [...] of those who have rejected spiritual values by yielding to bestial appetites or violence, or by perverting their human intellect to fraud or malice against their fellowmen". As an allegory , the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul toward God , with the Inferno describing the recognition and rejection of sin. The poem begins on the night of Maundy Thursday on March 24 (or April 7), 1300, shortly before
8925-455: Is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri 's 14th-century narrative poem The Divine Comedy . It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso . The Inferno describes the journey of a fictionalised version of Dante himself through Hell , guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil . In the poem, Hell is depicted as nine concentric circles of torment located within the Earth; it
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#17327720295629100-520: Is translated as 'Satan': The word does not occur in the Book of Genesis , which mentions only a talking serpent and does not identify the serpent with any supernatural entity. The first occurrence of the word "satan" in the Hebrew Bible in reference to a supernatural figure comes from Numbers 22:22, which describes the Angel of Yahweh confronting Balaam on his donkey: "Balaam's departure aroused
9275-544: The Aeneid , a Latin epic which also featured a journey through the underworld . On the evening of Good Friday, Dante hesitates as he follows Virgil; Virgil explains that he has been sent by Beatrice , the symbol of Divine Love. Beatrice had been moved to aid Dante by the Virgin Mary (symbolic of compassion) and Saint Lucia (symbolic of illuminating Grace). Rachel , symbolic of the contemplative life, also appears in
9450-561: The Encyclopædia Britannica , liberal Christianity tends to view Satan "as a [figurative] mythological attempt to express the reality and extent of evil in the universe, existing outside and apart from humanity but profoundly influencing the human sphere". Bernard McGinn describes multiple traditions detailing the relationship between the Antichrist and Satan. In the dualist approach, Satan will become incarnate in
9625-586: The Nicomachean Ethics and the Physics of Aristotle , with medieval interpretations. Virgil asserts that there are only two legitimate sources of wealth: natural resources ("Nature") and human labor and activity ("Art"). Usury , to be punished in the next circle, is therefore an offence against both; it is a kind of blasphemy, since it is an act of violence against Art, which is the child of Nature, and Nature derives from God. Virgil then indicates
9800-502: The Age of Enlightenment , belief in the existence of Satan was harshly criticized by thinkers such as Voltaire . Nonetheless, belief in Satan has persisted, particularly in the Americas . Although Satan is generally viewed as evil, some groups have very different beliefs. In theistic Satanism , Satan is considered a deity who is either worshipped or revered. In LaVeyan Satanism , Satan is
9975-693: The Amazons ), King Latinus and his daughter, Lavinia , Lucius Junius Brutus (who overthrew Tarquin to found the Roman Republic ), Lucretia , Julia , Marcia , and Cornelia Africana . Dante also sees Saladin , a Muslim military leader known for his battle against the Crusaders , as well as his generous, chivalrous, and merciful conduct. Dante next encounters a group of philosophers, including Aristotle with Socrates and Plato at his side, as well as Democritus , "Diogenes" (either Diogenes
10150-529: The Asphodel Meadows , and thus, the guiltless damned are punished by living in a deficient form of Heaven. Without baptism ("the portal of the faith that you embrace") they lacked the hope for something greater than rational minds can conceive. When Dante asked if anyone has ever left Limbo, Virgil states that he saw Jesus ("a Mighty One") descend into Limbo and take Adam , Abel , Noah , Moses , Abraham , David , Rachel , and others (see Limbo of
10325-459: The Book of Moses , the Devil offered to be the redeemer of mankind for the sake of his own glory. Conversely, Jesus offered to be the redeemer of mankind so that his father's will would be done. After his offer was rejected, Satan became rebellious and was subsequently cast out of heaven. In the Book of Moses, Cain is said to have "loved Satan more than God" and conspired with Satan to kill Abel . It
10500-564: The Eastern Orthodox Church . Most early Christians firmly believed that Satan and his demons had the power to possess humans, and exorcisms were widely practiced by Jews, Christians, and pagans alike. Belief in demonic possession continued through the Middle Ages into the early modern period . Exorcisms were seen as a display of God's power over Satan. The vast majority of people who thought they were possessed by
10675-565: The Host of Heaven . Yahweh asks the Host which of them will lead Ahab astray. A "spirit", whose name is not specified, but who is analogous to the satan, volunteers to be "a Lying Spirit in the mouth of all his Prophets". The satan appears in the Book of Job , a poetic dialogue set within a prose framework, which may have been written around the time of the Babylonian captivity . In the text, Job
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#173277202956210850-525: The Inferno. Dante and Virgil leave Limbo and enter the Second Circle – the first of the circles of Incontinence – where the punishments of Hell proper begin. It is described as "a part where no thing gleams". They find their way hindered by the serpentine Minos , who judges all of those condemned for active, deliberately willed sin to one of the lower circles. At this point in Inferno, every soul
11025-756: The Masoretic Text , in two books of the Hebrew Bible: Job ch. 1–2 (14×) and Zechariah 3:1–2 (3×). It is translated in English bibles mostly as 'Satan'. The word without the definite article is used in ten instances, of which two are translated diabolos in the Septuagint. It is generally translated in English Bibles as 'an accuser' (1x) or 'an adversary' (9x as in Book of Numbers , 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 Kings ). In some cases, it
11200-560: The Satanic Verses as true. According to this narrative, Muhammad was told by Satan to add words to the Quran which would allow Muslims to pray for the intercession of pagan goddesses. He mistook the words of Satan for divine inspiration . Modern Muslims almost universally reject this story as heretical, as it calls the integrity of the Quran into question. On the third day of the Hajj , Muslim pilgrims to Mecca throw seven stones at
11375-873: The Second Temple Period , when Jews were living in the Achaemenid Empire , Judaism was heavily influenced by Zoroastrianism , the religion of the Achaemenids. Jewish conceptions of Satan were impacted by Angra Mainyu , the Zoroastrian spirit of evil, darkness, and ignorance. In the Septuagint , the Hebrew ha-Satan in Job and Zechariah is translated by the Greek word diabolos (slanderer),
11550-411: The nation of Judah in the heavenly court and tests the loyalty of Yahweh's followers. During the intertestamental period , possibly due to influence from the Zoroastrian figure of Angra Mainyu , the satan developed into a malevolent entity with abhorrent qualities in dualistic opposition to God. In the apocryphal Book of Jubilees , Yahweh grants the satan (referred to as Mastema ) authority over
11725-434: The ransom theory of atonement , which was popular among early Christian theologians, Satan gained power over humanity through Adam and Eve 's sin and Christ's death on the cross was a ransom to Satan in exchange for humanity's liberation. This theory holds that Satan was tricked by God because Christ was not only free of sin, but also the incarnate Deity, whom Satan lacked the ability to enslave. Irenaeus of Lyons described
11900-405: The temptation of Christ by Satan in the desert ( Matthew 4:1–11 , Mark 1:12–13 , and Luke 4:1–13 ). Satan first shows Jesus a stone and tells him to turn it into bread. He also takes him to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem and commands Jesus to throw himself down so that the angels will catch him. Satan takes Jesus to the top of a tall mountain as well; there, he shows him the kingdoms of
12075-421: The " great refusal ", implied to be Pope Celestine V , whose "cowardice (in selfish terror for his own welfare) served as the door through which so much evil entered the Church". Mixed with them are outcasts who took no side in the Rebellion of Angels . These souls are forever unclassified; they are neither in Hell nor out of it, but reside on the shores of the Acheron . Naked and futile, they race around through
12250-539: The 1430s, the Catholic Church began to regard witchcraft as part of a vast conspiracy led by Satan himself. During the Early Modern Period , Christians gradually began to regard Satan as increasingly powerful and the fear of Satan's power became a dominant aspect of the worldview of Christians across Europe. During the Protestant Reformation , Martin Luther taught that, rather than trying to argue with Satan, Christians should avoid temptation altogether by seeking out pleasant company; Luther especially recommended music as
12425-507: The 1620s and continued until the end of the 1600s. Brian Levack estimates that around 60,000 people were executed for witchcraft during the entire span of the witchcraft hysteria. The early English settlers of North America, especially the Puritans of New England , believed that Satan "visibly and palpably" reigned in the New World . John Winthrop claimed that the Devil made rebellious Puritan women give birth to stillborn monsters with claws, sharp horns, and "on each foot three claws, like
12600-560: The Anglican bishop John Bancroft , had begun to criticize the belief that demons still had the power to possess people. This skepticism was bolstered by the belief that miracles only occurred during the Apostolic Age , which had long since ended. Later, Enlightenment thinkers, such as David Hume , Denis Diderot , and Voltaire , attacked the notion of Satan's existence altogether. Voltaire labelled John Milton 's Paradise Lost
12775-581: The Antichrist, just as God became incarnate in Jesus . However, in Orthodox Christian thought, this view is problematic because it is too similar to Christ's incarnation. Instead, the "indwelling" view has become more accepted, which stipulates that the Antichrist is a human figure inhabited by Satan, since the latter's power is not to be seen as equivalent to God's. The Arabic equivalent of
12950-671: The Apocalypse . Revelation 12:7–9 declares: " And war broke out in Heaven . Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon. The Dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in Heaven. Dragon the Great was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called Devil and Satan, the one deceiving the whole inhabited World – he was thrown down to earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." Then
13125-608: The Central Well, at the bottom of which lies the Ninth and final Circle of Hell. The classical and biblical Giants – who perhaps symbolize pride and other spiritual flaws lying behind acts of treachery – stand perpetual guard inside the well-pit, their legs embedded in the banks of the Ninth Circle while their upper halves rise above the rim and are visible from the Malebolge. Dante initially mistakes them for great towers of
13300-516: The Cynic or Diogenes of Apollonia ), Anaxagoras , Thales , Empedocles , Heraclitus , and "Zeno" (either Zeno of Elea or Zeno of Citium ). He sees the scientist Dioscorides , the mythical Greek poets Orpheus and Linus , and Roman statesmen Marcus Tullius Cicero and Seneca . Dante sees the Alexandrian geometer Euclid and Ptolemy , the Alexandrian astronomer and geographer, as well as
13475-444: The Devil did not suffer from hallucinations or other "spectacular symptoms", but "complained of anxiety, religious fears, and evil thoughts". Satan had minimal role in medieval Christian theology , but he frequently appeared as a recurring comedic stock character in late medieval mystery plays , in which he was portrayed as a comic relief figure who "frolicked, fell, and farted in the background". Jeffrey Burton Russell describes
13650-624: The Florentines. He also identifies other sodomites, including Priscian , Francesco d'Accorso , and Bishop Andrea de' Mozzi . The Poets begin to hear the waterfall that plunges over the Great Cliff into the Eighth Circle when three shades break from their company and greet them. They are Iacopo Rusticucci , Guido Guerra, and Tegghiaio Aldobrandi – all Florentines much admired by Dante. Rusticucci blames his "savage wife" for his torments. The sinners ask for news of Florence, and Dante laments
13825-563: The Ghibellines of Romagna , asking for news of his country. Dante replies with a tragic summary of the current state of the cities of Romagna. Guido then recounts his life: he advised Pope Boniface VIII to offer a false amnesty to the Colonna family , who, in 1297, had walled themselves inside the castle of Palestrina in the Lateran. When the Colonna accepted the terms and left the castle,
14000-588: The Goats stating that the Devil, his angels, and the people who follow him will be consigned to "eternal fire". When the Pharisees accused Jesus of exorcising demons through the power of Beelzebub, Jesus responds by telling the Parable of the Strong Man, saying: "how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house" ( Matthew 12:29 ). The strong man in this parable represents Satan. The Synoptic Gospels identify Satan and his demons as
14175-520: The Patriarchs ) into his all-forgiving arms and transport them to Heaven as the first human souls to be saved. The event, known as the Harrowing of Hell , supposedly occurred around AD 33 or 34. Dante encounters the poets Homer , Horace , Ovid , and Lucan , who include him in their number and make him "sixth in that high company". They reach the base of a great Castle – the dwelling place of
14350-522: The Pope razed it to the ground and left them without a refuge. Guido describes how St. Francis , founder of the Franciscan order, came to take his soul to Heaven, only to have a demon assert prior claim. Although Boniface had absolved Guido in advance for his evil advice, the demon points out the invalidity: absolution requires contrition , and a man cannot be contrite for a sin at the same time that he
14525-522: The Prince". The Synoptic Gospels identify Satan and Beelzebub as the same. The name Abaddon (meaning "place of destruction") is used six times in the Old Testament, mainly as a name for one of the regions of Sheol . Revelation 9:11 describes Abaddon, whose name is translated into Greek as Apollyon , meaning "the destroyer", as an angel who rules the Abyss . In modern usage, Abaddon is sometimes equated with Satan. The three Synoptic Gospels all describe
14700-658: The Second Temple Period, particularly in the apocalypses . The Book of Enoch , which the Dead Sea Scrolls have revealed to have been nearly as popular as the Torah, describes a group of 200 angels known as the " Watchers ", who are assigned to supervise the earth, but instead abandon their duties and have sexual intercourse with human women. The leader of the Watchers is Semjâzâ and another member of
14875-530: The Slavonic Book of Enoch, contains references to a Watcher called Satanael. It is a pseudepigraphic text of an uncertain date and unknown authorship. The text describes Satanael as being the prince of the Grigori who was cast out of heaven and an evil spirit who knew the difference between what was "righteous" and "sinful". In the Book of Wisdom , the devil is taken to be the being who brought death into
15050-482: The Tyrians", but was hurled down to Earth after he was found to be corrupt. In his apologetic treatise Contra Celsum , however, Origen interprets both Isaiah 14:12 and Ezekiel 28:12–15 as referring to Satan. According to Henry Ansgar Kelly, Origen seems to have adopted this new interpretation to refute unnamed persons who, perhaps under the influence of Zoroastrian radical dualism, believed "that Satan's original nature
15225-723: The Violent. Dante and Virgil descend a jumble of rocks that had once formed a cliff to reach the Seventh Circle from the Sixth Circle, having first to evade the Minotaur ( L'infamia di Creti , "the infamy of Crete ", line 12); at the sight of them, the Minotaur gnaws his flesh. Virgil assures the monster that Dante is not its hated enemy, Theseus . This causes the Minotaur to charge them as Dante and Virgil swiftly enter
15400-450: The adulterous affair. The English poet John Keats , in his sonnet "On a Dream", imagines what Dante does not write, the point of view of Paolo: ... But to that second circle of sad hell, Where 'mid the gust, the whirlwind, and the flaw Of rain and hail-stones, lovers need not tell Their sorrows. Pale were the sweet lips I saw, Pale were the lips I kiss'd, and fair the form I floated with, about that melancholy storm. As he did at
15575-399: The angels and brought to Heaven as a prisoner. God appointed him as judge over the other jinn and he became known as Al-Hakam . He fulfilled his duty for a thousand years before growing negligent, but was rehabilitated again and resumed his position until his refusal to bow before Adam. During the first two centuries of Islam, Muslims almost unanimously accepted the traditional story known as
15750-447: The angels of mercy are created from light, but angels of punishment have been created from fire. The Muslim historian Al-Tabari , who died in around 923 AD, writes that, before Adam was created, earthly jinn made of smokeless fire roamed the earth and spread corruption. He further relates that Iblis was originally an angel named Azazil or Al-Harith , from a group of angels, created from the fires of simoom , sent by God to confront
15925-640: The appropriate mean are punished in the fourth circle. They include the avaricious or miserly (including many "clergymen, and popes and cardinals"), who hoarded possessions, and the prodigal , who squandered them. The hoarders and spendthrifts joust , using great weights as weapons that they push with their chests: Here, too, I saw a nation of lost souls, far more than were above: they strained their chests against enormous weights, and with mad howls rolled them at one another. Then in haste they rolled them back, one party shouting out: "Why do you hoard?" and
16100-553: The body") are trapped in flaming tombs. Dante holds discourse with a pair of Epicurian Florentines in one of the tombs: Farinata degli Uberti , a famous Ghibelline leader (following the Battle of Montaperti in September 1260, Farinata strongly protested the proposed destruction of Florence at the meeting of the victorious Ghibellines; he died in 1264 and was posthumously condemned for heresy in 1283); and Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti ,
16275-641: The boiling rivulet, Dante and Virgil progress across the burning plain. They pass a roving group of Sodomites, and Dante, to his surprise, recognizes Brunetto Latini . Dante addresses Brunetto with deep and sorrowful affection, "paying him the highest tribute offered to any sinner in the Inferno ", thus refuting suggestions that Dante only placed his enemies in Hell. Dante has great respect for Brunetto and feels spiritual indebtedness to him and his works ("you taught me how man makes himself eternal; / and while I live, my gratitude for that / must always be apparent in my words"); Brunetto prophesies Dante's bad treatment by
16450-553: The bottom, the sullen hatreds lie gurgling, unable even to express themselves for the rage that chokes them". As the last circle of Incontinence, the "savage self-frustration" of the Fifth Circle marks the end of "that which had its tender and romantic beginnings in the dalliance of indulged passion". Phlegyas reluctantly transports Dante and Virgil across the Styx in his skiff . On the way they are accosted by Filippo Argenti ,
16625-778: The causes of illness, including fever ( Luke 4:39 ), leprosy ( Luke 5:13 ), and arthritis ( Luke 13:11–16 ), while the Epistle to the Hebrews describes the Devil as "him who holds the power of death" ( Hebrews 2:14 ). The author of Luke-Acts attributes more power to Satan than either Matthew and Mark. In Luke 22:31 , Jesus grants Satan the authority to test Peter and the other apostles . Luke 22:3–6 states that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus because "Satan entered" him and, in Acts 5:3 , Peter describes Satan as "filling" Ananias 's heart and causing him to sin. The Gospel of John only uses
16800-432: The choice to obey or disobey God. When he was expelled from Paradise, Satan blamed humanity for his punishment. Concerning the fiery origin of Iblis, Zakariya al-Qazwini and Muhammad ibn Ahmad Ibshihi state that all supernatural creatures originated from fire but the angels from its light and the jinn from its blaze, thus fire denotes a disembodiment origin of all spiritual entities. Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi argued that only
16975-435: The classic Faust story, John Milton 's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained , and the poems of William Blake . He continues to appear in film, television, and music. The Hebrew term śāṭān ( Hebrew : שָׂטָן ) is a generic noun meaning "accuser" or "adversary", and is derived from a verb meaning primarily "to obstruct, oppose". In the earlier biblical books, e.g. 1 Samuel 29:4, it refers to human adversaries, but in
17150-660: The content of the Epistle of Jude, but omits the specifics of the example regarding Michael and Satan, with 2 Peter 2:10–11 instead mentioning only an ambiguous dispute between "Angels" and "Glories". Throughout the New Testament, Satan is referred to as a "tempter" ( Matthew 4:3 ), "the ruler of the demons" ( Matthew 12:24 ), "the God of this Age" ( 2 Corinthians 4:4 ), "the evil one" ( 1 John 5:18 ), and "a roaring lion" ( 1 Peter 5:8 ). The Book of Revelation represents Satan as
17325-560: The current state of the city. At the top of the falls, at Virgil's order, Dante removes a cord from about his waist and Virgil drops it over the edge; as if in answer, a large, distorted shape swims up through the filthy air of the abyss. The creature is Geryon , the Monster of Fraud; Virgil announces that they must fly down from the cliff on the monster's back. Dante goes alone to examine the Usurers: he does not recognize them, but each has
17500-607: The dawn of Good Friday . The narrator, Dante himself, is 35 years old, and thus "midway in the journey of our life" ( Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita ) – half of the biblical lifespan of 70 ( Psalm 89:10 in the Vulgate ; numbered as Psalm 90 :10 in the King James Bible ). The poet finds himself lost in a dark wood ( selva oscura ), astray from the "straight way" ( diritta via , also translatable as 'right way') of salvation. He sets out to climb directly up
17675-547: The dead Buoso Donati to dictate a will giving himself several profitable bequests. Dante then encounters Master Adam of Brescia, one of the Counterfeiters (Falsifiers of Money): for manufacturing Florentine florins of 21 (rather than 24) carat gold , he was burned at the stake in 1281. He is punished by a loathsome dropsy -like disease, which gives him a bloated stomach , prevents him from moving, and an eternal, unbearable thirst . Master Adam points out two sinners of
17850-435: The doctrine of original sin . Muslim tradition holds that only Jesus and Mary were not touched by Satan at birth. However, when he was a boy, Muhammad's heart was literally opened by an angel, who removed a black clot that symbolized sin. Cf. The abbreviation cf. (short for either Latin confer or conferatur , both meaning 'compare') is used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make
18025-514: The earth and promises to give them all to him if he will bow down and worship him. Each time Jesus rebukes Satan and, after the third temptation, he is administered by the angels. Satan's promise in Matthew 4:8–9 and Luke 4:6–7 to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth implies that all those kingdoms belong to him. The fact that Jesus does not dispute Satan's promise indicates that the authors of those gospels believed this to be true. Satan plays
18200-400: The earthly jinn. Azazil defeated the jinn in battle and drove them into the mountains, but he became convinced that he was superior to humans and all the other angels, leading to his downfall. In this account, Azazil's group of angels were called jinn because they guarded Jannah (Paradise). In another tradition recorded by Al-Tabari, Satan was one of the earthly jinn, who was taken captive by
18375-522: The eighteenth century associated ha-Satan with Baal Davar . Each modern sect of Judaism has its own interpretation of Satan's identity. Conservative Judaism generally rejects the Talmudic interpretation of Satan as a metaphor for the yetzer hara , and regards him as a literal agent of God. Orthodox Judaism , on the other hand, outwardly embraces Talmudic teachings on Satan, and involves Satan in religious life far more inclusively than other sects. Satan
18550-459: The end of Canto III, Dante – overcome by pity and anguish – describes his swoon: "I fainted, as if I had met my death. / And then I fell as a dead body falls". In the third circle, the gluttonous wallow in a vile, putrid slush produced by a ceaseless, foul, icy rain – "a great storm of putrefaction" – as punishment for subjecting their reason to a voracious appetite. Cerberus (described as il gran vermo , literally 'the great worm', line 22),
18725-468: The events described in Zechariah 3:1–2 . The classical theologian Origen attributes this reference to the non-canonical Assumption of Moses . According to James H. Charlesworth , there is no evidence the surviving book of this name ever contained any such content. Others believe it to be in the lost ending of the book. The second chapter of the pseudepigraphical Second Epistle of Peter copies much of
18900-547: The fallen world and a host of demons . In the Quran , Iblis is an evil entity ( shaitan ) made of fire who was cast out of Heaven because he refused to bow before the newly created Adam and incites humans to sin by infecting their minds with waswās ('evil suggestions'). A figure known as ha-satan ("the satan") first appears in the Hebrew Bible as a heavenly prosecutor , subordinate to Yahweh (God), who prosecutes
19075-552: The feet of Aha bar Jacob for having taught his students that his objectionable actions are done only to serve the intents of God. Rabbinical scholarship on the Book of Job generally follows the Talmud and Maimonides in identifying "the satan" from the prologue as a metaphor for the yetzer hara and not an actual entity. Satan is rarely mentioned in Tannaitic literature, but is found in Babylonian aggadah . According to
19250-561: The fires of Jahannam. After his banishment from Paradise, Iblis, who thereafter became known as Al-Shaitan ("the Demon"), lured Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit . The primary characteristic of Satan, aside from his hubris and despair , is his ability to cast evil suggestions ( waswās ) into men and women. 15:45 states that Satan has no influence over the righteous, but that those who fall in error are under his power. 7:156 implies that those who obey God's laws are immune to
19425-549: The first of several political prophecies in the Inferno , Ciacco "predicts" the expulsion of the White Guelphs (Dante's party) from Florence by the Black Guelphs, aided by Pope Boniface VIII , which marked the start of Dante's long exile from the city . These events occurred in 1302, prior to when the poem was written but in the future at Easter time of 1300, the time in which the poem is set. The Fourth Circle
19600-445: The first tribulation. Yahweh consents: the satan destroys Job's servants and flocks, yet Job refuses to condemn Yahweh. The first scene repeats itself, with the satan presenting himself to Yahweh alongside the other "sons of God". Yahweh points out Job's continued faithfulness, to which the satan insists that more testing is necessary; Yahweh once again gives him permission to test Job. In the end, Job remains faithful and righteous, and it
19775-812: The fourth class, the Perjurers (Falsifiers of Words). These are Potiphar's wife (punished for her false accusation of Joseph in Genesis 39:7–19 ) and Sinon , the Achaean spy who lied to the Trojans to convince them to take the Trojan Horse into their city ( Aeneid II, 57–194); Sinon is here rather than in Bolgia 8 because his advice was false as well as evil. Both suffer from a burning fever . Master Adam and Sinon exchange abuse, which Dante watches until he
19950-428: The future has been shut", it will no longer be possible for them to know anything. Farinata explains that also crammed within the tomb are Emperor Frederick II , commonly reputed to be an Epicurean, and Ottaviano degli Ubaldini , whom Dante refers to as il Cardinale . Dante reads an inscription on one of the tombs indicating it belongs to Pope Anastasius II – although some modern scholars hold that Dante erred in
20125-527: The grafters, an unidentified Navarrese (identified by early commentators as Ciampolo ), is seized by the demons, and Virgil questions him. The sinner speaks of his fellow grafters, Friar Gomita (a corrupt friar in Gallura eventually hanged by Nino Visconti – see Purgatorio VIII – for accepting bribes to let prisoners escape) and Michele Zanche (a corrupt Vicar of Logodoro under King Enzo of Sardinia ). He offers to lure some of his fellow sufferers into
20300-788: The group, known as Azazel , spreads sin and corruption among humankind. The Watchers are ultimately sequestered in isolated caves across the earth and are condemned to face judgement at the end of time. The Book of Jubilees , written in around 150 BC, retells the story of the Watchers' defeat, but, in deviation from the Book of Enoch, Mastema , the "Chief of Spirits", intervenes before all of their demon offspring are sealed away, requesting for Yahweh to let him keep some of them to become his workers. Yahweh acquiesces to this request and Mastema uses them to tempt humans into committing more sins, so that he may punish them for their wickedness. Later, Mastema induces Yahweh to test Abraham by ordering him to sacrifice Isaac . The Second Book of Enoch , also called
20475-503: The hands of the demons, and when his plan is accepted he escapes back into the pitch. Alichino and Calcabrina start a brawl in mid-air and fall into the pitch themselves, and Barbariccia organizes a rescue party. Dante and Virgil take advantage of the confusion to slip away. Vanni hurls an obscenity at God and the serpents swarm over him. The centaur Cacus arrives to punish him; he has a fire-breathing dragon on his shoulders and snakes covering his equine back. (In Roman mythology, Cacus,
20650-412: The heavenly scene recounted by Virgil. The two of them then begin their journey to the underworld . Feeling uncertain of his worthiness for the journey, Dante reflects on the paths of Aeneas and Paul, who were granted access to the realms of the afterlife, and doubts his own capability to undertake such a passage (Inf. 2.10-36). Dante passes through the gate of Hell, which bears an inscription ending with
20825-405: The ice will serve to express their natures. As they denied God's love, so are they furthest removed from the light and warmth of His Sun. As they denied all human ties, so are they bound only by the unyielding ice." This final, deepest level of hell is reserved for traitors, betrayers and oathbreakers (its most famous inmate is Judas Iscariot ). In the very centre of Hell, condemned for committing
21000-413: The later books, especially Job 1–2 and Zechariah 3, to a supernatural entity. When used without the definite article (simply satan ), it can refer to any accuser, but when it is used with the definite article ( ha-satan ), it usually refers specifically to the heavenly accuser, literally, the satan. The word with the definite article Ha-Satan ( Hebrew : הַשָּׂטָן hasSāṭān ) occurs 17 times in
21175-495: The latter of whom is mentioned in Inferno XXX.44) first appears as a man, but exchanges forms with Francesco de' Cavalcanti, who bites Buoso in the form of a four-footed serpent. Puccio Sciancato remains unchanged for the time being. Consider well the seed that gave you birth: you were not made to live your lives as brutes, but to be followers of worth and knowledge. Dante is approached by Guido da Montefeltro , head of
21350-400: The least heinous of the sins and its punishment is the most benign within Hell proper. The "ruined slope" in this circle is thought to be a reference to the earthquake that occurred after the death of Christ. In this circle, Dante sees Semiramis , Dido , Cleopatra , Helen of Troy , Paris , Achilles , Tristan , and many others who were overcome by sexual love during their life. Due to
21525-498: The letter to the church of Pergamum , John warns that Satan lives among the members of the congregation and declares that "Satan's throne" is in their midst. Pergamum was the capital of the Roman Province of Asia and "Satan's throne" may be referring to the monumental Pergamon Altar in the city, which was dedicated to the Greek god Zeus , or to a temple dedicated to the Roman emperor Augustus . Revelation 12:3 describes
21700-491: The medieval conception of Satan as "more pathetic and repulsive than terrifying" and he was seen as little more than a nuisance to God's overarching plan. The Golden Legend , a collection of saints' lives compiled in around 1260 by the Dominican Friar Jacobus de Voragine , contains numerous stories about encounters between saints and Satan, in which Satan is constantly duped by the saints' cleverness and by
21875-444: The mist in eternal pursuit of an elusive, wavering banner (symbolic of their pursuit of ever-shifting self-interest ) while relentlessly chased by swarms of wasps and hornets , who continually sting them. Loathsome maggots and worms at the sinners' feet drink the putrid mixture of blood, pus, and tears that flows down their bodies, symbolizing the sting of their guilty conscience and the repugnance of sin. This may also be seen as
22050-428: The monstrous three-headed beast of Hell, ravenously guards the gluttons lying in the freezing mire, mauling and flaying them with his claws as they howl like dogs. Virgil obtains safe passage past the monster by filling its three mouths with mud. Dorothy L. Sayers writes that "the surrender to sin which began with mutual indulgence leads by an imperceptible degradation to solitary self-indulgence". The gluttons grovel in
22225-493: The monstrous, fire-breathing son of Vulcan , was killed by Hercules for raiding the hero's cattle; in Aeneid VIII, 193–267, Virgil did not describe him as a centaur). Dante then meets five noble thieves of Florence and observes their various transformations. Agnello Brunelleschi, in human form, is merged with the six-legged serpent that is Cianfa Donati. A figure named Buoso (perhaps either Buoso degli Abati or Buoso Donati,
22400-424: The movies from what they know from various ecclesiastical and theological traditions". The Catholic Church generally played down Satan and exorcism during late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, but Pope Francis brought renewed focus on the Devil in the early 2010s, stating, among many other pronouncements, that "The devil is intelligent, he knows more theology than all the theologians together." According to
22575-401: The mud by themselves, sightless and heedless of their neighbors, symbolizing the cold, selfish, and empty sensuality of their lives. Just as lust has revealed its true nature in the winds of the previous circle, here the slush reveals the true nature of sensuality – which includes not only overindulgence in food and drink, but also other kinds of addiction. In this circle, Dante converses with
22750-461: The name Satan three times. In John 8:44 , Jesus says that his Jewish or Judean enemies are the children of the Devil rather than the children of Abraham. The same verse describes the Devil as "a man-killer from the beginning" and "a liar and the father of lying." John 13:2 describes the Devil as inspiring Judas to betray Jesus and John 12:31–32 identifies Satan as "the Archon of this Cosmos", who
22925-443: The nature of Fortune , who raises nations to greatness and later plunges them into poverty, as she shifts, "those empty goods from nation unto nation, clan to clan". This speech fills what would otherwise be a gap in the poem, since both groups are so absorbed in their activity that Virgil tells Dante that it would be pointless to try to speak to them – indeed, they have lost their individuality and been rendered "unrecognizable". In
23100-520: The original myths to which they refer, concluded in his treatise On the First Principles , which is preserved in a Latin translation by Tyrannius Rufinus , that neither of these verses could literally refer to a human being. He concluded that Isaiah 14:12 is an allegory for Satan and that Ezekiel 28:12–15 is an allusion to "a certain Angel who had received the office of governing the nation of
23275-433: The other side. Virgil proceeds to guide Dante through the nine circles of Hell. The circles are concentric , representing a gradual increase in wickedness , and culminating at the centre of the earth, where Satan is held in bondage. The sinners of each circle are punished for eternity in a fashion fitting their crimes: each punishment is a contrapasso , a symbolic instance of poetic justice . For example, later in
23450-478: The other: "Why do you waste?" Relating this sin of incontinence to the two that preceded it (lust and gluttony), Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "Mutual indulgence has already declined into selfish appetite; now, that appetite becomes aware of the incompatible and equally selfish appetites of other people. Indifference becomes mutual antagonism, imaged here by the antagonism between hoarding and squandering." The contrast between these two groups leads Virgil to discourse on
23625-440: The paper and/or online coin identification information meaning "compare to". It is common for abbreviations of listings in trusted coin catalogues or sales from certain online auctions to be cited when identifying a particular coin. If the specimen in question is not an exact match but comes close to a known source, cf. may be used. Inferno (Dante) Inferno ( Italian: [iɱˈfɛrno] ; Italian for ' Hell ')
23800-463: The phrase " Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate ", most frequently translated as "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here". Dante and his guide hear the anguished screams of the Uncommitted. These are the souls of people who in life took no sides; the opportunists who were for neither good nor evil, but instead were merely concerned with themselves. Among these Dante recognizes a figure who made
23975-622: The physicians Hippocrates and Galen . He also encounters Avicenna , a Persian polymath, and Averroes , a medieval Andalusian polymath known for his commentaries on Aristotle's works. Dante and Virgil depart from the four other poets and continue their journey. Although Dante implies that all virtuous non-Christians find themselves here, he later encounters two ( Cato of Utica and Statius ) in Purgatory and two ( Trajan and Ripheus ) in Heaven. In Purgatorio XXII, Virgil names several additional inhabitants of Limbo who were not mentioned in
24150-676: The poem, Dante and Virgil encounter fortune-tellers who must walk forward with their heads on backward, unable to see what is ahead, because they tried to see the future through forbidden means. Such a contrapasso "functions not merely as a form of divine revenge , but rather as the fulfilment of a destiny freely chosen by each soul during his or her life". People who sinned, but prayed for forgiveness before their deaths are found not in Hell but in Purgatory , where they labour to become free of their sins. Those in Hell are people who tried to justify their sins and are unrepentant. Dante's Hell
24325-522: The poet obtained three major categories of sin, as symbolized by the three beasts that Dante encounters in Canto I: these are Incontinence , Violence/Bestiality, and Fraud/Malice. Sinners punished for incontinence (also known as wantonness) – the lustful, the gluttonous, the hoarders and wasters, and the wrathful and sullen – all demonstrated weakness in controlling their appetites, desires, and natural urges; according to Aristotle's Ethics , incontinence
24500-495: The power of God. Henry Ansgar Kelly remarks that Satan "comes across as the opposite of fearsome". The Golden Legend was the most popular book during the High and Late Middle Ages and more manuscripts of it have survived from the period than for any other book, including even the Bible itself. The Canon Episcopi , written in the eleventh century AD, condemns belief in witchcraft as heretical, but also documents that many people at
24675-720: The presence of so many rulers among the lustful, the fifth Canto of Inferno has been called the "canto of the queens". Dante comes across Francesca da Rimini , who married the deformed Giovanni Malatesta (also known as "Gianciotto") for political purposes but fell in love with his younger brother Paolo Malatesta ; the two began to carry on an adulterous affair. Sometime between 1283 and 1286, Giovanni surprised them together in Francesca's bedroom and violently stabbed them both to death. Francesca explains: Love, which in gentlest hearts will soonest bloom seized my lover with passion for that sweet body from which I
24850-706: The righteous, but is defeated with fire from Heaven, and cast into the lake of fire . Some Christians associate Satan with the number 666 , which Revelation 13:18 describes as the Number of the Beast . However, the beast mentioned in Revelation 13 is not Satan, and the use of 666 in the Book of Revelation has been interpreted as a reference to the Roman Emperor Nero , as 666 is the numeric value of his name in Hebrew. Christians have traditionally interpreted
25025-419: The sages' teachings, he is generally identified as an entity with divine agency. For instance, the sages considered Satan to be an angel of death (later given the name " Samael "), as God prohibiting Satan from killing Job would imply he would otherwise be able to do so, yet despite this syncretization with a known heavenly body, Satan is identified as the yetzer hara in the very same passage. Satan's status as
25200-668: The same word in the Greek New Testament from which the English word " devil " is derived. Where satan is used to refer to human enemies in the Hebrew Bible, such as Hadad the Edomite and Rezon the Syrian , the word is left untranslated but transliterated in the Greek as satan , a neologism in Greek. The idea of Satan as an opponent of God and a purely evil figure seems to have taken root in Jewish pseudepigrapha during
25375-426: The satan, without using the word itself. 1 Samuel 2:12 describes the sons of Eli as "sons of Belial "; the later usage of this word makes it clearly a synonym for "satan". In 1 Samuel 16:14–2, Yahweh sends a "troubling spirit" to torment King Saul as a mechanism to ingratiate David with the king. In 1 Kings 22:19–25, the prophet Micaiah describes to King Ahab a vision of Yahweh sitting on his throne surrounded by
25550-414: The seventh century AD, was quoted as saying: "Iblis was not an angel even for the time of an eye wink. He is the origin of Jinn as Adam is of Mankind." The medieval Persian scholar Abu al-Zamakhshari states that the words angels and jinn are synonyms. Another Persian scholar, al-Baydawi , instead argues that Satan hoped to be an angel, but that his actions made him a jinn. Abu Mansur al-Maturidi who
25725-519: The seventh circle. Virgil explains the presence of shattered stones around them: they resulted from the great earthquake that shook the earth at the moment of Christ's death ( Matthew 27:51), at the time of the Harrowing of Hell. Ruins resulting from the same shock were previously seen at the beginning of Upper Hell (the entrance of the Second Circle , Canto V). Protected by the powers of
25900-485: The source of "diabolical"). This in turn was borrowed from Greek diabolos " slanderer ", from diaballein "to slander": dia- "across, through" + ballein "to hurl". In the New Testament, the words Satan and diabolos are used interchangeably as synonyms. Beelzebub , meaning "Lord of Flies", is the contemptuous name given in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament to a Philistine god whose original name has been reconstructed as most probably "Ba'al Zabul", meaning " Baal
26075-529: The story of the adultery between Lancelot and Guinevere in the Old French romance Lancelot du Lac . Francesca says, "Galeotto fu 'l libro e chi lo scrisse" . The word Galeotto means ' pander ', but is also the Italian term for Gallehaut , who acted as an intermediary between Lancelot and Guinevere, encouraging them on to love. John Ciardi renders line 137 as "That book, and he who wrote it,
26250-464: The supernatural ruler of the Roman Empire and the ultimate cause of all evil in the world. In Revelation 2:9–10 , as part of the letter to the church at Smyrna , John of Patmos refers to the Jews of Smyrna as "a synagogue of Satan " and warns that "the Devil is about to cast some of you into prison as a test [ peirasmos ], and for ten days you will have affliction." In Revelation 2:13–14 , in
26425-425: The swampy, stinking waters of the river Styx – the Fifth Circle – the actively wrathful fight each other viciously on the surface of the slime, while the sullen (the passively wrathful) lie beneath the water, withdrawn, "into a black sulkiness which can find no joy in God or man or the universe". At the surface of the foul Stygian marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "the active hatreds rend and snarl at one another; at
26600-487: The temptations of Satan. 56:79 warns that Satan tries to keep Muslims from reading the Quran and 16:98–100 recommends reciting the Quran as an antidote against Satan. 35:6 refers to Satan as the enemy of humanity and 36:60 forbids humans from worshipping him. In the Quranic retelling of the story of Job , Job knows that Satan is the one tormenting him. In the Quran, Satan is apparently an angel, while, in 18:50 , he
26775-454: The ten ditches. Dorothy L. Sayers writes that the Malebolge is "the image of the City in corruption: the progressive disintegration of every social relationship, personal and public. Sexuality, ecclesiastical and civil office, language, ownership, counsel, authority, psychic influence, and material interdependence – all the media of the community's interchange are perverted and falsified". One of
26950-430: The terrible winds of a violent storm, without rest. This symbolizes the power of lust to blow needlessly and aimlessly: "as the lovers drifted into self-indulgence and were carried away by their passions, so now they drift for ever. The bright, voluptuous sin is now seen as it is – a howling darkness of helpless discomfort." Since lust involves mutual indulgence and is not, therefore, completely self-centered, Dante deems it
27125-426: The time apparently believed in it. Witches were believed to fly through the air on broomsticks , consort with demons, perform in " lurid sexual rituals " in the forests, murder human infants and eat them as part of Satanic rites, and engage in conjugal relations with demons. In 1326, Pope John XXII issued the papal bull Super illius Specula , which condemned folk divination practices as consultation with Satan. By
27300-582: The time of the Second Great Awakening , Satan's primary role in American evangelicalism was as the opponent of the evangelical movement itself, who spent most of his time trying to hinder the ministries of evangelical preachers, a role he has largely retained among present-day American fundamentalists . By the early 1600s, skeptics in Europe, including the English author Reginald Scot and
27475-540: The time through his unexplained awareness of the stars' positions. The "Wain", the Great Bear , now lies in the northwest over Caurus (the northwest wind). The constellation Pisces (the Fish) is just appearing over the horizon: it is the zodiacal sign preceding Aries (the Ram). Canto I notes that the sun is in Aries, and since the twelve zodiac signs rise at two-hour intervals, it must now be about two hours prior to sunrise: 4:00 a.m. on Holy Saturday , April 9. The Seventh Circle, divided into three rings, houses
27650-415: The two begin their descent from the great cliff in the Eighth Circle: the Hell of the Fraudulent and Malicious. Geryon, the winged monster who allows Dante and Virgil to descend a vast cliff to reach the Eighth Circle, was traditionally represented as a giant with three heads and three conjoined bodies. Dante's Geryon, meanwhile, is an image of fraud, combining human, bestial, and reptilian elements: Geryon
27825-441: The ultimate sin (personal treachery against God), is the Devil , referred to by Virgil as Dis (the Roman god of the underworld; the name "Dis" was often used for Pluto in antiquity, such as in Virgil's Aeneid ). The arch-traitor, Lucifer was once held by God to be fairest of the angels before his pride led him to rebel against God, resulting in his expulsion from Heaven. Lucifer is a giant, terrifying beast trapped waist-deep in
28000-508: The underworld. This mandatory confession makes it so every soul verbalizes and sanctions their own ranking amongst the condemned since these confessions are the sole grounds for their placement in hell. Dante is not forced to make this confession; instead, Virgil rebukes Minos, and he and Dante continue on. In the second circle of Hell are those overcome by lust . These "carnal malefactors" are condemned for allowing their appetites to sway their reason. These souls are buffeted back and forth by
28175-737: The unnamed serpent in the Garden of Eden as Satan due to Revelation 12:7 , which calls Satan "that ancient serpent". This verse, however, is probably intended to identify Satan with the Leviathan , a monstrous sea-serpent whose destruction by Yahweh is prophesied in Isaiah 27:1 . The first recorded individual to identify Satan with the serpent from the Garden of Eden was the second-century AD Christian apologist Justin Martyr , in chapters 45 and 79 of his Dialogue with Trypho . Other early church fathers to mention this identification include Theophilus and Tertullian . The early Christian Church, however, encountered opposition from pagans such as Celsus , who claimed in his treatise The True Word that "it
28350-484: The upper half of the Hell of the Fraudulent and Malicious. The Eighth Circle is a large funnel of stone shaped like an amphitheatre around which run a series of ten deep, narrow, concentric ditches or trenches called bolge (singular: bolgia ). Within these ditches are punished those guilty of Simple Fraud. From the foot of the Great Cliff to the Well (which forms the neck of the funnel) are large spurs of rock, like umbrella ribs or spokes, which serve as bridges over
28525-457: The verse mentioning Anastasius ( "Anastasio papa guardo, / lo qual trasse Fotin de la via dritta" , lines 8–9), confusing the pope with the Byzantine emperor of the time, Anastasius I . Pausing for a moment before the steep descent to the foul-smelling seventh circle, Virgil explains the geography and rationale of Lower Hell, in which the sins of violence (or bestiality) and fraud (or malice) are punished. In his explanation, Virgil refers to
28700-410: The walls of the heavenly city, but was vanquished by the god of the sun . The name is used in Isaiah 14:12 in metaphorical reference to the king of Babylon. Ezekiel 28:12–15 uses a description of a cherub in Eden as a polemic against Ithobaal II , the king of Tyre. The Church Father Origen of Alexandria ( c. 184 – c. 253), who was only aware of the actual text of these passages and not
28875-483: The wisest men of antiquity – surrounded by seven gates, and a flowing brook. After passing through the seven gates, the group comes to an exquisite green meadow and Dante encounters the inhabitants of the Citadel. These include figures associated with the Trojans and their descendants (the Romans): Electra (mother of Troy's founder Dardanus ), Hector , Aeneas , Julius Caesar in his role as Roman general ("in his armor, falcon-eyed"), Camilla , Penthesilea (Queen of
29050-410: The word Satan is Shaitan (شيطان, from the triliteral root š-ṭ-n شطن). The word itself is an adjective (meaning "astray" or "distant", sometimes translated as "devil") that can be applied to both man ("al-ins", الإنس) and al-jinn (الجن), but it is also used in reference to Satan in particular. In the Quran , Satan's name is Iblis ( Arabic pronunciation: [ˈibliːs] ), probably
29225-441: The word satan lacking the article ha- as it is used in the Tanakh as referring strictly to human adversaries. Nonetheless, the word satan has occasionally been metaphorically applied to evil influences, such as the Jewish exegesis of the yetzer hara ("evil inclination") mentioned in Genesis 6:5. The Talmudic image of Satan is contradictory. While Satan's identification with the abstract yetzer hara remains uniform over
29400-494: The world, but originally the culprit was recognized as Cain. The name Samael , which is used in reference to one of the fallen angels , later became a common name for Satan in Jewish Midrash and Kabbalah . Most Jews do not believe in the existence of a supernatural omnimalevolent figure. Traditionalists and philosophers in medieval Judaism adhered to rational theology , rejecting any belief in rebel or fallen angels, and viewing evil as abstract. The rabbis usually interpreted
29575-432: The wrath of Elohim , and the Angel of Yahweh stood in the road as a satan against him." In 2 Samuel 24, Yahweh sends the "Angel of Yahweh" to inflict a plague against Israel for three days, killing 70,000 people as punishment for David having taken a census without his approval. 1 Chronicles 21:1 repeats this story, but replaces the "Angel of Yahweh" with an entity referred to as "a satan". Some passages clearly refer to
29750-446: Was Darkness." The later Church Father Jerome ( c. 347 – 420), translator of the Latin Vulgate , accepted Origen's theory of Satan as a fallen angel and wrote about it in his commentary on the Book of Isaiah. In Christian tradition ever since, both Isaiah 14:12 and Ezekiel 28:12–15 have been understood as allegorically referring to Satan. For most Christians, Satan has been regarded as an angel who rebelled against God . According to
29925-400: Was a pander." Inspired by Dante, author Giovanni Boccaccio invoked the name Prencipe Galeotto in the alternative title to The Decameron , a 14th-century collection of novellas. Ultimately, Francesca never makes a full confession to Dante. Rather than admit to her and Paolo's sins, the very reasons they reside in this circle of hell, she consistently takes an erroneously passive role in
30100-462: Was made from clay ( 7:12 ). Consequently, God expelled him from Paradise and condemned him to Jahannam . Iblis thereafter became a kafir , "an ungrateful disbeliever", whose sole mission is to lead humanity astray. (Q 17:62 ) God allows Iblis to do this, because he knows that the righteous will be able to resist Iblis's attempts to misguide them. On Judgement Day , while the lot of Satan remains in question, those who followed him will be thrown into
30275-470: Was rooted in the work of Satan. In the mid-sixteenth century, the panic spread to England and Switzerland. Both Protestants and Catholics alike firmly believed in witchcraft as a real phenomenon and supported its prosecution. In the late 1500s, the Dutch demonologist Johann Weyer argued in his treatise De praestigiis daemonum that witchcraft did not exist, but that Satan promoted belief in it to lead Christians astray. The panic over witchcraft intensified in
30450-420: Was through this pact that Cain became a Master Mahan . The Book of Moses also says that Moses was tempted by Satan before calling upon the name of the " Only Begotten ", which caused Satan to depart. Douglas Davies asserts that this text "reflects" the temptation of Jesus in the Bible. Belief in Satan and demonic possession remains strong among Christians in the United States and Latin America . According to
30625-443: Was torn unshriven to my doom. Love, which permits no loved one not to love, took me so strongly with delight in him that we are one in Hell, as we were above. Love led us to one death. In the depths of Hell Caïna waits for him who took our lives ." This was the piteous tale they stopped to tell. Francesca further reports that she and Paolo yielded to their love when reading
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