a bit of explication

The Divine Comedy can be viewed as a symbolic literary journey, but it's impossible not to look at the work in terms of its orthodoxy (supporting the doctrine and dogma of the Church in the middle ages).

Modern readers may blanch at the idea of Limbo with its unbaptized infants and virtuous pagans. After all, what did they do that was so wrong? Of course the answer is nothing, and Dante tries to place them in an area that is less suffering than sighing. They will not find the path leading them to a Christian heaven because they are not, simply put, Christian. The post-Vatican II Church is more inclusionary, arguing that there is nothing that suggests categorically that the unbaptized will not find their ways to heaven, but Dante's work reflects the beliefs of the Chuch of his time and place.

The logic of Inferno is very simple--the punishment fits the crime, and individuals are responsible for their choices and actions. Of course there are bits of illogic in the book (why, for example, is Dido tormented with the lustful and not deeper down in hell with the suicides? Dante seems soft on Romans and romance), and some sins may seem more or less serious to us than they appear in the book. Nevertheless, there is logic in the idea that the lightest punsishments are applied to those things that people have least control over (animal urges) and the severest punishments are given to those who maliciously, deviously, consciously, willfully plot against people, nature, God.

The book is much more than a treatise on crime and punishment, however. It is a rich tapestry of history, mythology, literature, even psychology. A close reading of the first three cantos reveals the variety of style and idea in the book.

Canto I

The book opens with Dante, half way along his journey, lost in a wood after wandering from the path. He is menaced by a leopard, a lion, and a she wolf. He is rescued by the poet Virgil who says the path is blocked and that they will have to find the way out. Virgil says that he will guide Dante as far as he can, and then Beatrice will take over the role of guide.

On a purely literal level the story has drama; there are plenty of conflicts and plot twists. Still, it's much richer when read allegorically.

Dante is 35--half way through his journey of life. The path he's left is the path of righteousness, and the three beasts represent those things that cause humans to stray from "the way"--avarice, malice, fraud. Now lost in a wood of confusion, unable to resist the vices, Dante is helped by Virgil (symbolizing the heights of human reason). Reason will help Dante find his way back on the path, but, ultimately, it will not take him all the way to "Peter's gate" (770), heaven. Beatrice (divine love, faith, grace) is necessary for the final journey.

Also of interest in the canto is the characterization of Virgil as the inspiration for Dante, as his poetic as well as intellectual guide. And there's the seeming unfairness of Virgil's exclusion from heaven:

...the King of Time,
who reigns on high, forbids me to come there
since, living, I rebelled agains his law.   (769-70)

And just what was this rebelliousness?

I was born, though late, sub Julio, and bred
in Rome under Augustus in the noon
of the false and lying gods.   (768)

Virgil was born too early; he died just before the time of Christ and, therefore, could not be saved.

On page 769 Dante suggests that envy is the root of all problems in the world. This has a double sense to it: there's the pridefulness that can be likened to hubris as people try to reach heights that are unreachable to them; there's also a harkening back to the envy of Lucifer who attempted to usurp God's primacy, and there is the fall in the garden as the humans Adam and Eve acquire knowledge of good and evil which was reserved for God and the angels. That overreaching is a source of suffering in literature from many cultures.

Canto II

While the style of Canto I is conversational, Canto II is much loftier, more formal. This is a marked contrast to the vulgar, graphic Canto III which will follow. In general, the style matches the material. The more thoughtful, contemplative sections tend to be formal; the parts describing earthy scenes are casual, even low.

This second canto has a lot of background exposition. Virgil sets up the basic geography of Hell, Purgatory, Heaven in the first canto; here he explains that human reason is not enough to reach Heaven; the virtues of enlightenment, compassion, contemplation/self-denial will aid people on their way, and divine love is a gift that finally allows people into paradise.

Dante continues on a motif from The Aeneid by revealing the history of the rise of the Holy Roman Empire (much the same as Virgil shows the rise of the earlier Roman empire on the face of Aeneas's shield).

Unlike Virgil's epic, Dante gives us a different sort of hero:

But I [Dante]--how should I dare? By whose permission?
I am not Aeneas. I am not Paul.
Who could believe me worth of the vision?   (771)

This is not a story about the quests of larger-than-life heroes; it's the journey of a regular person travelling through a regular life. Dante's hero is meant to be us. And the greatest obstacle facing the hero is not a hydra or a cyclops or a threatening whirlpool; it's

...cowardice
that bears down many men, turning their course
and resolution by imagined perils.   (772)

It takes great force of will and God's grace, says Virgil, to overcome the weaknesses that humans so readily give in to.

Canto III

In this canto we first see the punishment-fits-the-crime rule of Hell, though Dante and Virgil have not actually entered hell yet.

This is the realm of the fence sitters--people who won't commit to one side or another, who wait to see who will win and then fall in with them.

Not even Hell wants these people. At least the people in Hell are committed to something. Even if it is sin, the sinners have taken a stand; they represent the powers of the damned. The fence sitters are hated by both sides because they are too cowardly to support either side.

Here you might find the folks who support Pascal's Wager. Simply stated, Pascal argues:

Suppose there is a God, and I don't believe in Him?
I would be damned for eternity.

Suppose there is not a God, and I do believe in him?
I will likely live a virtuous life and will have lost nothing.

It is, therefore, better to believe than not because I have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Now this is more sophistry than it is genuine belief. Stating belief isn't enough in orthodox religion; there has to be actual belief. Pascal just wants to be on the winning team without actually making a real committment.

Punishment in this murky realm is to be stung, covered in filth, chasing flags this way and that. The symbolism is clear; the people are stung by their odious choice and have no real direction in the world or the afterworld.

There are some additional items of note in Canto III.

The whole of The Divine Comedy works on various levels and offers varied style along with elaborate plot development. As each book works to the heart of its subject--Hell, Purgatory, Heaven--the poet is shown examples of, and reaches deeper awareness of, the basic laws of his faith.