Student Question
What distinguishes the punishments for sinners in the third ring and the suicides in the 7th circle?
Quick answer:
In Dante's Inferno, the 7th circle punishes the violent, divided into three rings. Suicides, in the second ring, are transformed into gnarled trees and bushes, eternally tormented by Harpies and denied bodily resurrection. In contrast, the third ring houses those who commit violence against God and nature, who suffer in a desert of flaming sand with fire raining upon them. The punishments reflect the nature of their sins and the severity of their transgressions.
In the 7th circle of Dante's Inferno, you will find the violent. The circle has three rings for three levels of sin. The first ring is for those who commit violence against people and property. They are immersed in a river of boiling blood. The centaurs shoot arrows at those who try to escape. In the second ring dwell those who have commited violence against self - specifically suicide. These souls are transformed into bushes and trees, gnarled and thorny, fed upon by the Harpies for all time. They will not know the resurrection of the body. The final ring is for the most egregious sin, violence against God and nature. These sinners reside in a desert of flaming sand with fire raining down around them.
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