Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

's '' Inferno'', contrapasso (or, in modern Italian,''Encyclopedia Dantesca'', Biblioteca Treccani, 2005, vol. 7, article ''Contrapasso''. ''contrappasso'', from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and , meaning "suffer the opposite") is the punishment of souls "by a process either resembling or contrasting with the sin itself."Mark Musa, commentary notes in The Divine Comedy. Volume 1: Inferno. Penguin Classics: 1984, pp. 37-38. A similar process occurs in the ''

Purgatorio ''Purgatorio'' (; Italian for "Purgatory") is the second part of Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', following the ''Inferno (Dante), Inferno'' and preceding the ''Paradiso (Dante), Paradiso''; it was written in the early 14th century. It is an alleg ...

''. One of the examples of contrapasso occurs in the fourth ''Bolgia'' of the eighth circle of Hell, where the sorcerers,

astrologers Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions of celesti ...

, and

false prophet In religion, a false prophet or pseudoprophet is a person who falsely claims the gift of prophecy or divine inspiration, or to speak for God, or who makes such claims for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a "true prophet" by some peop ...

s have their heads turned back on their bodies such that it is "necessary to walk backward because they could not see ahead of them." This alludes to the consequences of predicting the future by evil means and displays the twisted nature of magic in general.

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( ; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic. Born in Oxford, Sayers was brought up in rural East Anglia and educated at Godolphin School in Salisbury and Somerv ...

, ''Hell'', notes on Canto XX. This example of contrapasso "functions not merely as a form of divine revenge, but rather as the fulfillment of a destiny freely chosen by each soul during his or her life." The word ''contrapasso'' can be found in ''Inferno'', in which the decapitated

Bertran de Born Bertran de Born (; 1140s – by 1215) was a baron from the Limousin in France, and one of the major Occitan troubadours of the 12th-13th century. He composed love songs (cansos) but was better known for his political songs (sirventes). He ...

declares: (XXVIII.142), which was translated by Longfellow as "thus is observed in me the counterpoise", and by Singleton as "thus is the retribution observed in me." Dante believes that De Born is in the ninth ''Bolgia'' of schismatics for causing

Henry the Young King Henry the Young King (28 February 1155 – 11 June 1183) was the eldest son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine to survive childhood. In 1170, he became titular King of England, Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and Maine. Henry th ...

's rebellion against his father,

Henry II of England Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...

.Mark Musa, commentary notes in The Divine Comedy. Volume 1: Inferno. Indiana University Press, 1996, , p. 380. De Born is decapitated as a contrapasso for his supposed act of political decapitation in undermining a rightful head of the state. Dante inherited the idea of "contrapasso" from various theological and literary sources. These include

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

' ''

Summa Theologica The ''Summa Theologiae'' or ''Summa Theologica'' (), often referred to simply as the ''Summa'', is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a scholastic theologian and Doctor of the Church. It is a compendium of all of the main t ...

'' as well as medieval ‘visions’ such as the '' Visio Pauli'', ', and '' Visio Tnugdali''.

Notes

{{Divine Comedy navbox Inferno (Dante) Italian words and phrases

See also

Notes