st 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 commonplace. 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 lat
Howard E. Hugo, Patricia M. Spacks, Rene Wellek, Kenneth Douglas, and Sarah Lawall. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 1992. 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. 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. "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). 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,
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Approximate Word count = 1167
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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