Canto 4: Limb- The First Circle of Hell
In this Canto, We enter the first circle of Hell. The earlier Canto took place in the Vestibule, the lobby area if you will, of Hell. This canto takes place in Hell itself. The first circle is Limbo, where the "virtuous non-Christians"(page 97) dwell.
The Shades in this circle "have not sinned. but their great worth alone was not enough, for they did not know Baptism, which is the gateway to the faith you follow/ and if they came before the birth of Christ, they did not worship God the way one should"(lines 34-48). The shades, like the ones we encountered in the previous Canto, do not qualify for Heaven. However. there is a difference. these shades lived virtuous lives, they were good souls, they did not sin. Yet they were not baptized so they cannot qualify for Heaven.
I think it safe to say that the author, Dante, believed that only Baptized souls could go to Heaven. This is a issue/question which I think is still being debated in church cirles: will you only get into Heaven if you are baptized?
At PMA, the Original Sin and it effects on us was explained to us by a theology teacher. she said it was like a pan that was branded with a design, and so after that, any pancake you put on it will have that same design, handed down over and over. To Catholics, Baptism occurs at birth or when you are a child because it takes away that stain of original sin. while I'm not saying this is right or wrong, using this analogy means that these shades, while they did not add any other sins(designs)to their pancake, they still have that original design on them and therefore do not qualify for Heaven.
It's not the best analogy in the world, and I'm sure there are a million theologians out there that would disprove my analogy, but I think it's a good way to describe The first circle of Hell. I find this circle interesting, especially when considering how close the shades of the first circle are to ones in the Vestibule. neither group sinned, but while the shades in the Vestibule did not live a bad life, neither did they live a good one. the shades in the first circle, however, were Virtuous, they did live a good life. The two groups are so similar, at least to me, that it's hard to really explain how they are different. Maybe that's the point.
Some lines that I love in this canto help explain this first circle. Being the first circle, it is the best of the worst, if you will. None of these shades are experiencing the kind of torture that we will see in the circles to come. one of these lines that I like is "the sounds of sighs of untormented grief."(line 28). I love this imagine that this line paints, of grief without torment. usually, when I think of grief, I think of not just being sad but being tormented, being haunted. the idea of grief without this haunting it is...a bit hard for me to wrap my head around. It paints this picture of a grief that does not hurt yet you can still feel it.
"cut off from hope, we live on in desire"(line 42). this line is my idea of torture. of hell. longing and longing and desiring and desiring something, without any bit of hope for it. not even delusional or false hope. what can be worse than that?
I feel that in this circle, the first circle of hell, there is a question posed: which is worse: to feel desire without hope but no physical pain, or to be in the other circles where they are punished physically? I think that the first circle is, in many ways, a worse fate than the other circles. But I suppose that is only my opinion. if you are reading this, let me know what you think.
