Dante's Inferno Group

Question:

mijeejo
mijeejo
Student
College - Freshman

Why does Dante use the number "3" mutiple times in "Dante's Inferno"?

For example the 3 heads, 33 cantos, satan's 3 faces... etc

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Posted by mijeejo on Tuesday October 28, 2008 at 5:38 PM and tagged with dante's inferno, theme, three.

Answers:


  1. gbeatty Teacher
    College - Freshman

    Think in terms of the trinity, and you've got one reason. One of the major mysteries of the Christian faith is how the divinity can be three in one: father, son, and holy spirit. In Satan's three faces, Dante gives us an inverted trinity. Other trios also come from Christian theology. It is not Dante who invented purgatory, which gives a tri-part afterlife, but the larger Christian tradition. Likewise, when he finds himself in the middle of the forest and his life at the start of the poem, he is given a natural triad: the present, the past, and the future.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/inferno/themes

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    Posted by gbeatty on Tuesday October 28, 2008 at 5:46 PM

  2. tintj
    tintj Student
    Community / Jr. College

    three is an important number. dante expresses a lot of religious beliefs and 3 stands for the holy trinity! 3 books with 33 cantos plus the 1 canto as a preface equals 100.

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    Posted by tintj on Thursday December 11, 2008 at 7:12 PM