the one who banished Lucifer in hell after the angel decided to rebel against him, and he is the one who determined the sinners's punishments. According to Dante, God created both hell and the punishments the sinners bore out of justice and compassion, even though he later reveals that he thought that some of the punishments were rather cruel. Dante explains that there are other divine beings that exist and live in heaven, such as the Greek gods and the angels, but these are less powerful than God.

As Dante was one of the few poets of his time who were given the special privilege to read the Bible, he made a lot of references to Christianity, however, he merged it with Greek mythology; this may have happened because of the great influence of the ancient Greek writers of those times. Thus, there are mentions of several of the gods who are described in Greek mythology and literature.

For an epic about Hell, Dante spends much more of his time concerned with humanity than deity. Dante delineates the various human vices and sins that lead people to eternal damnation and the punishment he believes is allotted to them. In particular, he chooses to focus on many of his contemporaries, or other people he believes are worth mentioning in his exploration of Hell, including great people of antiquity, Popes who have failed the world, and rulers of the world.

That’s not to say he omits divinity and deity in his analysis. Certainly, he spends a good deal of time on the precepts of God, the actions of Christ and various saints, and how to emulate these beatific beings.

Dante presents divinity in a dual form: both as distant and impersonal in our affairs and also as close and monitoring. This is somewhat confusing, but he gives a decent idea of how to observe God in his interactions with various saints and angelic beings as well as the stories of both Christ and condemned sinners.

The impersonal, distant God is noted as the purveyor of morality and ethical law. It is this idea of deity to which the individuals in the story are held accountable, and it seems almost as if the sinners are abandoned to their own devices, following their vice without intervention from God. Because of this, the people almost seem as if they have no recourse but to stray from God. At the same time, it is clear from Dante’s initial allegory that God has outlined a righteous path for men to follow. This idea of God seems consistent with Thomas Jefferson’s idea of the Heavenly Clockmaker, who created the world and its rules, wound it up, and left it to function however it would.

The second image of God we get is a closer one, but not necessarily a compassionate one. He shows Christ entering Hell to redeem souls, and he discusses the influence of his sacrifice on those who go on to Paradise, but other than that, a compassionate God is seemingly nonexistent. This is consistent with the prevalent Catholic worldview of the time—a righteous and angry God. The compassionate individuals are typically shown to be the saints, who intercede on humanity’s behalf, such as when Mary entreats Beatrice to send Virgil to guide Dante. Nonetheless, God is shown to be present, and, more important to the story, monitoring our actions and weighing them for judgment.