Contrapasso is a term used to describe a punishment that is befitting to crime, or here, the sin. We see many examples of Contrapasso in Dante’s Inferno as he travels ever deeper into the depths of hell. Indeed, Dante highlights that the Lucifer himself is an example of Contrapasso as Lucifer’s sin of seeking God’s place as ruler of heaven resulting in him forever ruling over the damned. Here, the sin reflects the punishment as Lucifer aims to raise himself higher and as a result is cast down into the depths of the Inferno, as shown by the image. Dante uses the concept of Contrapasso to express his own views on ethics of various sins, reflecting on the cultural and political state of Italy at the time. Thursday 1 December 2011
What is Contrapasso?
Contrapasso is a term used to describe a punishment that is befitting to crime, or here, the sin. We see many examples of Contrapasso in Dante’s Inferno as he travels ever deeper into the depths of hell. Indeed, Dante highlights that the Lucifer himself is an example of Contrapasso as Lucifer’s sin of seeking God’s place as ruler of heaven resulting in him forever ruling over the damned. Here, the sin reflects the punishment as Lucifer aims to raise himself higher and as a result is cast down into the depths of the Inferno, as shown by the image. Dante uses the concept of Contrapasso to express his own views on ethics of various sins, reflecting on the cultural and political state of Italy at the time. 
Canto Three: The Neutral
Canto 3 illustrates Contrapasso in a subtle way, as the individuals punished have not “sinned”, but are considered neutral; have been undecided throughout life, including forming a relationship with God. Their “neutral” attitude is punished by forcing them to walk in a crowd, following a banner. Here, the banner symbolises a leader, serving as a direct punishment for their indecisive nature. Additionally, Dante describes this section of hell as “the city of desolation”[1], this is often viewed as meaning the sorrowful city. This is further emphasised by Dante calling the souls “lost”, suggesting that they had no direction and are therefore punished. This image below illustrates the crowd of “lost” souls following the banner into the depths of hell, where a devil can be seen. Canto Five: The Lustful
In canto 5 Dante explores the relationship between love and lust. The lustful in hell, whose actions often led them and their lovers to death, are "carnal sinners who subordinate reason to desire"[1] From the examples presented, it appears that for Dante the line separating lust from love is crossed when one acts on this misguided desire. Dante presents Contrapasso here as the lustful are “tossed into a howling wind”[2]. The lovers are thrown into “the black wind”[3] because they were self-indulgent and carried adrift by their passions, they’re punishment is to drift forever. Canto Eighteen: Thais
Canto 18 takes place in the ditches of circle 8 containing the fraudulent souls and is the place in which the flatterers are punished. Their punishment is to be dipped in the excrement of the second ditch. This punishment is related to the sin as the flatterers are deemed to speak rubbish that is no more worthy than excrement and are therefore forced to reside in such filth. This punishment is presented through the sexualized figure of Thais, a prostitute from the classical tradition who falsely praises her "lover”[1]. This image shows the flatterers being punished, face down in the filth. Canto Nineteen: Pope Nicholas III
In Canto 19, Dante gives an example of contrapasso with direct reference to a biblical event. The sinners we see here are guilty of simony; profiting from the buying and selling of gifts from the Holy Spirit such as positions of power or artefacts. Dante comes across a Pope, Nicholas III, one of many buried face down in holes in the ground leaving only their ‘feet and legs up to the thighs’[1]. To add extra discomfort, they had ‘both their soles on fire’[2] as they were slowly driven into the ground. This punishment is contrapasso as it reflects the events of the Pentecost in which the disciples received fire on their heads from the Holy Spirit. The sinners receiving fire on their feet instead is an ironic punishment for abusing the gifts of the Holy Spirit through their simony.
Canto Twenty Eight: Bertran de Born
Canto 28 is the only canto in which Dante uses the term contrapasso in the ‘Inferno’. In the final line of this canto, the sinner who is experiencing such a punishment states his awareness of this irony. The sinner in question is Bertran de Born, a noble who plotted with Prince Richard and his brothers against their father, King Henry II. Born describes how in life he ‘severed persons thus conjoined’[1] when he broke the bonds between a father and his sons, therefore his punishment in Hell is to carry his own head ‘severed … from its starting point here in my body’[2]. This physical representation of his act is arguably the clearest example of punishment reflecting sin in the ‘Inferno’ as there is little subtlety surrounding the link between the two.[1] Dante, “The Inferno”, Anchor Books, Trans. Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander, Canto 28, Line 139
[2] Dante, “The Inferno”, Anchor Books, Trans. Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander, Canto 28, Lines 140-141
Canto Thirty Two and Thirty Three: Ugolino and Ruggieri
Ugolino feasting upon his enemy’s head in cantos 32-33 shows contrapasso for both involved. The man whose head is being eaten, Ruggieri, left Ugolino and his family to starve to death in a tower and ironically is now being eaten by the person he allowed to die through hunger. Ugolino’s place in Hell was earned through his alleged crimes against his political party and city, and his placing above Ruggieri is a small gift of revenge. However, it seems that his real torment is the tarnishing of his earthly reputation as he attempts to bargain with an unsympathetic Dante to restore his name. This scene shows contrapasso both in the role reversal of the two men and in the nature of Ugolino’s method of revenge.
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