Jordan Miller-Surratt Professor Frey Humanities 12400 16 March 2013 Crime & Punishment The epic poem and

divine comedy of Dante Alighieri Inferno depicts the journey of a pilgrim (Dante) lost on the eve of Good Friday who, with the help of Virgil, must find his way back to whence he came. However, the only way for them to get back is to travel through the ten circles of Hell, and while in Hell the pilgrim encounters many demonic beasts on guard as well as the sinners imprisoned in the inferno. As he encounters each of these sinners a majority of them provide him with a speech as to why they think they have been condemned to their particular circle of Hell. However, it is not the words of each sinner that aptly describes their sin, but instead their punishment that truly sheds light on their sin. In the case of Count Ugolino, a man the pilgrim finds in the ninth circle of Hell chewing on the brain stem of Archbishop Ruggieri, it is in his speech that he explains the incident that led to his damnation. However, his eternal punishment is what illuminates his sin, information to which even he does not seem privy. In order to be able to understand his crime and punishment, we must first look at what circle of hell he is in and surmise what put him there. The pilgrim finds Ugolino in the ninth circle of hell, the circle for betrayers, more specifically the part of the ninth circle reserved for those who have betrayed their homeland or party. Although this answers part of our question with regard to Ugolinos crime, it does not directly state what his sin is, thus obliging us to look at Ugolinos s speech to tell us the rest. The

demise of Ugolino was the effect of his [Ruggieri] evil thoughts, trusting him, I was taken and then killed, the sinner tells us (p. 515.16-17). The man also goes onto to say it was not the fact that he died that was cruel, but the manner in which his death occurred (p. 515.19). The cruelty of his death was due to the fact that Ugolino was taken, with his sons and grandsons; together they were locked away from the world only receiving food from a small opening in the door each day. The sinner continues the story of his demise by telling his audience that one day there was no longer any food provided for him and his family, and that the aperture was nailed shut, sentencing the men to death by starvation. He also goes on to describe what his starvation was like, the fact that his sons offered themselves as food for him to eat, as well as pleading to him for help; however, despite any and all effort each man died in the prison, Ugolino last of all to do so. Now that we know Ugolinos story we must surmise from the information given as to what sin he committed that condemned him to an eternity in the ninth circle of Hell. The first thing that we know based on the pilgrims remark is that Ugolino is in the circle of Hell for betrayers, more specifically the part for those who have betrayed their homeland or their party. This leads us to the question: who did Ugolino betray? We know that it must have been someone with whom he was very much familiar as they needed to be a part of his homeland or his party, and that the people betrayed must be relevant to the story that he told of the events leading up to his damnation. Therefore, we can deduce that Ugolino must have been sent to Hell for betraying his sons. Next, the question that needs to be answered is: How? How did Ugolino betray his family? In order to answer this question we must take a closer look at the diction employed by Ugolino in his speech regarding his imprisonment. When he first mentions

being kidnapped, he says that it is the effect of trusting Ruggieri, (p. 515.16-17). Based on his use of the word effect, we can say his apprehension was a consequence of the action of trusting Ruggieri, and due to the fact that his apprehension and the suffering that followed were negative effects, it can be claimed that Ugolino was tricked. The idea that he was tricked stands to reason because we know the man whose brain stem he has been condemned to chew on is his betrayer, and in order to be betrayed one must have a sense of false security that leads to their betrayal. The fact that Ugolino was tricked connects to his primary sin of betrayal because the fact that he was tricked prevented him from protecting his sons, thus allowing him to betray them. Although a seemingly harmless action (being tricked), it had great consequences, something that it appears Ugolino understands as he speaks about his imprisonment. This man appeared to me master and lord, hunting the wolf and his little cubs on the mountain, remarks Ugolino (p. 515.2830). Based on the fact that he uses the metaphor of a wolf and little cubs to describe himself and his family, it is implied that he understands that he had a responsibility to take care of his sons as they were nave and helpless, but because he was tricked by Ruggieri, Ugolino was unable to protect his offspring. Therefore, Ugolinos ultimate sin was betrayal of his children via being tricked and thus prevented from being the best parent that he could be. His sin is even further illuminated and the idea of it solidified due to the punishment that he is to endure for all of eternity in the deepest crevices of Hell. It could be argued that one has no responsibility if they are tricked, and thus by being tricked you are not committing a sin, and while this may be true in some cases it is not true in all, especially that of Ugolino. In order to illustrate this point, let us look at another famous case of trickery causing the victim to commit a sin and be condemned. In

the tale of Adam and Eve, the two live in the Garden of Eden with all of the things that one could desire and no rules except for one: Do Not Eat From the Tree of Knowledge. A seemingly simple enough task, however when the serpent thought to be Satan, arrives he manages to convince Eve to eat an apple from the Tree of Knowledge, resulting in Gods anger and damning of Adam and Eve and all of humanity to be mortal, while also condemning Eve to eternal damnation in Hell. Based on this example we know that Eves situation is the same as Ugolino, what is important is not that the two of them were tricked but that it caused them to do something sinful, in Eves case it was going against the word of God and in Ugolinos it was not protecting his children in favor of following the word of another. Now that a sin has been established, we must look to Ugolinos actions and the punishment he endures so as to be sure that it is the correct sin. Based on the pilgrims previous encounters with the other sinners in Hell, we know that it is not enough to for a sinner to understand their committed sin, but instead each sinner must endure another punishment beyond just being in Hell, therefore we also know that it is Ugolinos punishment to chew on Ruggieris brain stem for eternity. At first look it would appear that this punishment has nothing to do with his sin, and does not enforce any sort of justice. However, as with the rest of the punishments in Dantes Inferno there is a sick and twisted irony behind Ugolinos punishment making sure he gets. As previously established Ugolinos sin is betrayal caused by being tricked by Ruggieri, and in order to understand his punishment we must first look at what it is to be tricked. When someone is tricked it is because they have secured themselves in the false words or actions of another, words and actions that have come from no truth, but instead have been conjured

in the tricksters mind, and it is in that idea that we can see the irony of Ugolinos punishment. Due to the fact that Ugolino committed his sin because he had been tricked, feeding on the lies of his betrayer, his punishment is that he is condemned to literally feed on the mind of his betrayer for eternity, forcing him to relive the action that caused him to commit his ultimate sin and lose everything he held dear. Throughout the pilgrims trip through Hell he encounters many sinners, each of which with a story to tell with regard to how they came to inhabit the inferno, and it is through each story that the pilgrim gains an understanding of each persons sin. However, what really solidifies each sin is the punishment the sinners are made to endure during their eternal damnation. One particular man the pilgrim meets is named Ugolino, and his although unclear at first, is revealed to be the betrayal of his sons due to being tricked by Ruggieri. This idea is made real by the fact that Ugolino is in the circle of Hell for those who have betrayed, but also by the fact that he has been condemned to chew on the brainstem of his betrayer, making him literally reenact the action caused him to be damned for all time.

Sources Cited
1. Alighieri, Dante, Robert M. Durling, and Robert Turner.The Divine Domedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno. 1. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 1997. Print.