Depiction of Satan in Dante's Inferno - Kayden Poteat

 The depiction of Satan in Dante’s The Divine Comedy acts as an antithesis to many other portrayals of Satan that I’ve seen in media, yet it simultaneously acts as a key inspirational work for depictions that came after it, especially in artwork. 

“He wept with all six eyes, and the tears fell over his three chins mingled with bloody foam. The teeth of each mouth held a sinner, kept as by a flax rake: thus he held three of them in agony.”

Within Dante’s Inferno, the first volume of The Divine Comedy, the protagonist, Dante (self-insert of the author), is guided through the nine circles of Hell by his idol, Virgil, to reach Purgatory and later, Heaven. Dante hilariously also inserts his real-life enemies (haters) into the various circles of Hell and depicts their eternal torment. The eight circles before Treachery are: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, and Fraud. As the circles go further down, the punishments are intended to worsen. 

The final circle of Hell is intended for what Dante viewed as the ultimate sin: Treachery. In other works, Hell is typically depicted as extremely hot and fiery. While Dante’s Inferno does depict this within the other circles, the center of Hell (the ninth circle) is depicted as a frozen lake with the hulking figure of Satan in the center, trapped in ice. Unable to speak, he has three figures in his mouth, eating the heads of those who Dante viewed as the ultimate historical betrayers: Brutus, Cassius, and Judas Iscariot. 

This is an incredibly interesting twist, as rather than being depicted as an all-powerful ruler of Hell, Satan is being eternally punished alongside all other sinners. He is the greatest sinner as he rebelled against God, and thus faces what may be viewed as the worst punishment, as he is now entirely powerless. Lucifer is, of course, typically depicted as a fallen angel, yet I have not typically seen him depicted as entirely without autonomy. 

Within Dante’s Inferno, Satan doesn’t have his typical ability to manipulate or generate evil, yet his presence alone contributes to the torture souls are experiencing. His wings, which once gave him the ability to fly in heaven, now only serve to freeze over the lake, Cocytus, that he and other damned, treacherous souls are trapped in. He thus contributes to his own torment as well. Simultaneously, he also unwillingly engages in the torment of Brutus, Cassius, and Judas by eating them. 

Satan devouring these sinners is reminiscent of The Book of Watchers, which portrayed the Nephilim devouring humans before turning to eating each other. Perhaps this relates to cannibalism as a taboo within society as it is depicted as committing the ultimate sin within both works.