In just Dante’s depiction of Hell there exists a hierarchy of punishment, showcasing the incrementally extra intense punishments positioned respectively closer to the bottommost heart of Hell. This hierarchy is arranged, and destinations assigned, by the extremity and magnitude of the sin committed. Dante describes a hell dependent all around a retributive justice, in which the punishment is not only correct for the criminal offense, but also is the criminal offense.
Contemplate a bully who, by means of intimidation and abuse, pushes absent prospective close friends. In accordance to Dante’s notion of contrapasso, simply currently being the bully is the punishment for the criminal offense. He is a lonely, friendless person. This is how Dante envisions eternal chastisement.
The most obvious and compelling exhibition of contrapasso in Dante’s Inferno is of Dis, or Lucifer. Lucifer the archangel rebelled in opposition to God. This event arose from his hubristically extreme pleasure. Getting the most significant of sins, a prideful crime towards God finds Dis in the extremely lowest portion of Hell, frozen in just a lake of sewage. The absence of the light-weight of God already restricts the presence of heat, but Dis’ satisfaction motivates him to frequently defeat his wings in an attempt to escape his incarceration. This flapping of his wings rushes a cold wind throughout the lake, making certain his imprisonment for as lengthy as his delight remains. To humble himself would permit the melting of the lake. But hubris hardly ever reorganizes alone into humility.
This counter-struggling is the contrapasso, the crime and punishment of being the legal. This notion perceives justice serving alone without the need of mediation.