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

St.Augustine in the Inferno It is hard to place St. Augustine within just one of the levels of Dantes hell for his sins were varied and non great. Today many of his sins are commonplace. For example, most people attempt to better their own 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 area of hell, the Vestibule. It is a place for opportunists such as Augustine was before his conversion. It is a place for the nearly mortalless. . . who were neither for God nor Satan, but only for themselves (Inferno, 1295). Augustine neer intentionally hurt anyone, but his actions were led by his instincts to succeed and gain pr aise. These actions included kissing up to the Emperor, his study of law and the art of persuasion, and the mocking of newcomers to his profession. Since to each one of these sins also falls within 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 Jesus Christs existence. Therefore, Augustine can not be placed within this first rotary converter of hell. The second circle of hell, a realm for those who fell 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 encouraged by his family to learn the art of persuasion and making of fine speech when he was only sixteen. He use these skills, which he developed very 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 furore of lust. . . took complete control 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 majority of his life.