Dante's Enferno
...ot escape to a higher or lower level because his sin locks him into the area where he is most appropriately punished. In the case of the Third Circle, the main punishment consists of “rain eternal, cursed, cold, falling heavy” (121). In addition to the rain, “Thick hail and dirty water mixed with snow” (121). The key elements in the punishment of the third circle are the discomfort of the weather, the continuous muck and mire that the sinners are covered in because of the continuous precipitation, and the action of Cerberus, who “has claws for hands; he rips the spirits, flays and mangles them” (122). Each of these punishments matches the sin of gluttony, and Dantes use of imagery in describing them increases the since of anguish and suffering. The precipitation in itself would not be a problem except that it is excessive. Rain is a good and necessary natural phenomenon but when it is not within limits, problems such as flooding and drowning occur. The gluttons’ sin during life consisted not of desire and consuming food, but instead of desiring more food than their bodies required. It is the concept of excess that relates the eternal rain to the nature of the sin of gluttony. The precipitation is a fitting form of punishment in another way. It batters the sinners and gives them no rest. It also dirty even as it falls, so that “ the earth is stinking from this soaking rain” (121). The muck and mire that the sinners have to wade through is symbolic of their filthy habit of over consuming food and drink. A glutton produces a much larger quantity of excrement than an ordinary person. This woul...