Augustine In The Inferno Essay, Research Paper

Augustine in the Inferno

It is hard to place St. Augustine within just one of the levels of Dante s hell for his sins were varied and not great. Today many of his sins are common place. 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 today s fend-for-yourself society. Before Augustine s 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 soulless. . . who were neither for God nor Satan, but only for themselves (Inferno, 1295). Augustine never intentionally hurt anyone, but his actions were led by his instincts to succeed and gain praise. 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 each of these sins also falls within a different realm of Dante s hell, they will be discussed later in this paper.

The second level of Dante s hell, Limbo, does not apply to Augustine because he was baptized and was blessed with the knowledge of Jesus Christ s existence. Therefore, Augustine can not be placed within this first circle 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 Augustine s 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 used 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 madness 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. During his lifetime, he had a multitude of mistresses. One of these mistresses he took because he was unable to wait for a little over a year to have sex before being married to his promised wife. She had to reach the legal marrying age of twelve before they could consummate.

I was unable to bear the delay of two years which must pass before I was to get the girl I had asked for in marriage. In fact it was not really marriage that I wanted. I was simply a slave to lust. So I took another woman (Confessions, 993).

Whether or not Augustine s soul can be placed in the fourth circle of hell is a tough decision. Since he was an opportunist, part of his life was spent attempting to gain as many riches as possible in search of happiness. This would classify him as a hoarder, but seems insignificant among his other sins.

There does not appear to be a place for Augustine s soul in either the third, fifth, sixth, or seventh circles of hell for he did not commit any of the offending sins that would place him within one of these realms.

Circle eight, however, holds several areas in which to put Augustine s soul. In the first bolge, there are the panderers and seducers. Augustine s skill in the use of persuasion earns him a spot here. In the second bolge, there are the flatterers. Again, Augustine s soul reserves a space. One of the sins Augustine speaks of committing is the flattery of the young Valentinian Emperor: I was preparing an oration in praise of the Emperor in which I was to utter any number of lies to win the applause of people who knew they were lies (Confessions, 991). This flattery was given in an attempt to gain praise for himself. Once again, he shows him as an opportunist as well.

Bolge seven is the realm of the thieves. Augustine can be placed here for the petty crimes committed during his adolescent years. This includes the theft of the pears from the pear tree near the vineyard. This crime was committed merely for the pleasure of doing something that was wrong, not for benefit:

I stole things which I already had in plenty and of better quality. Nor had I any desire to enjoy the things I stole, but only the stealing of them and the sin. . . seeking no profit from wickedness but only to be wicked (Confessions, 987).

Bolge eight contains those who abuse their God-given gift of genius. Augustine was blessed with the art of persuasion and used it in sin. He used it to get laid and gain praise. Here, Augustine can also reside for all eternity.

Bolge nine houses several different types of sowers of discord. Augustine fits in with the sowers of discord between kinsmen for he is guilty of the mockery and ridicule of newcomers to his profession. He and his company of Overturners enjoyed making fools of the newcomers for no reason what-so-ever causing discord between the two groups:

They make a butt of some hapless newcomer, assailing him with really cruel mockery for no reason whatever, save the malicious pleasure they got from it (Confessions, 989).

For all his sins, it is very difficult to place Augustine within only one realm of Dante s hell. One could place him in circle eight, bolge nine for his worst sin. However, this sin dominated a very small portion of his life. As Dido was spared being placed in circle seven, round two for the sin of suicide and put in circle two for having given into her lust for Aeneas, I too spare Augustine and place him in a lower level of Dante s hell. Many of his sins were intertwined, and almost all of them lead back to his desire to seize any opportunity to enrich his own life. For this some would place him within the vestibule of hell. However, I believe that his carnal desires filled an equal portion of his life and were the cause of many of his hardships. Since this is the stronger of the two main sins committed by Augustine, opportunity and carnal desire, I am forced to place him in circle two.

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