sun, while ignorance is represented by the cave, its limited vision and darkness within. The prisoners represent ignorant members of society who are content to believe that what they see is all that exists. Fear of change is represented by the prisoners an

gry reaction towards the freed, enlightened prisoner. Dante's Inferno is a detailed description of sin and its relationship to degrees of punishment. As stated in the text, "...for the face was reversed on the neck, and they came on backwards, staring backwards at their loins for to look before them was forbidden." (Ciardi, pg. 175) This quote describes the punishment for fortune tellers. In life the fortune tellers foresaw the future. In death they are doomed to exist with their heads on backwards and their eyes overflowing with tears so that not only could they not see what was happening in front of them, but they could not see at all due to these copious amounts of tears. Similarly, each sin had its own logical punishment,!

and each group of sinners received the same punishment, with only a few exceptions. Such an exception can be found in Canto XXlll when Caiaphas lies crucified on the floor while the other hypocrites walk around him in circles. He is set apart because he counseled a Roman to crucify Jesus. While the sinners represent man's imperfections, Virgil symbolizes human reason. Throughout the poem, Virgil uses logic and reason to convince the monsters to allow him to gain passage to the various circles of Hell. The use of characters and mentors is distinct in each piece. "The Allegory of the Cave" presents few

Some topics in this essay:
Allegory Cave, Dante's Inferno, Islam Dante, XXlll Caiaphas, Plato Dante, Virgil Dante's, Dante Farinata, Farinata Tegghiacio, , Inferno Dante, allegory cave, plato's allegory, dante's inferno, characters mentors, plato's allegory cave, fear change, nameless faceless, ciardi pg, dante criticizes, islam dante, ignorance knowledge,