History YMMV / TheDivineComedy

** That Dante's Circles of Hell correspond to the SevenDeadlySins. The Seven Deadly Sins are not only extra-Biblical, they didn't exist in Dante's day. There were actually ''eight'' "Deadly Sins" at the time, they don't perfectly correspond to the current widely-accepted seven, and Dante doesn't even use them as a framework for his version of Hell except in very BroadStrokes. He ''does'' have eight Circles of Hell plus Limbo, where the virtuous pagans live in eternal spiritual mediocrity without being tortured, but they better correspond to Dante's own esoteric ordering of sins: sins of incontinence (failures of self-control like Lust, Gluttony, and Greed), sins of violence (Wrath being the closest to the sins of incontinence, Heresy being violence against God's word and church, and Violence being cold-blooded, premeditated killing and therefore the worst of the three), and sins of deceit (Fraud and Treachery), which he considered the worst and, by virtue of being the closest to Lucifer, the sins that bring one furthest from the divine truth that is God.
** On a related note, the idea that Pride is the greatest of all sins. While some idea that Pride was the cardinal sin from which all other sins emanate is pretty old, older than Christianity even (just ask the Greeks about "hubris"), Dante doesn't even devote a circle to "vainglory," the closest analogue to the sin of pride as it's understood in modern spiritual contexts, since it doesn't properly fit into his esoteric ordering of the sins. That said, there is an argument to be made that he ''does'' depict many of the damned's sins and crimes as the results of their overwhelming arrogance causing them to defy God, with those in the deepest levels destroying themselves because they were self-deluded enough to proclaim themselves AboveGoodAndEvil, so he isn't entirely discarding pride as a causal factor either.

** Telling someone they will burn in the 9th circle of hell is an insult reserved for people others truly hate, or a joking response to a [[DisproportionateRetribution minor thing someone does.]] [[note]]In practice, this fits best if it's in reaction to [[TreacheryIsASpecialKindOfEvil a betrayal of some kind]].[[/note]]

** Telling someone they will burn in 9th circle of hell is an insult reserved for people others truly hate, or a joking response to a [[DisproportionateRetribution minor thing someone does.]] [[note]]In practice, this fits best if it's in reaction to a betrayal of some kind.[[/note]]

** Applying equally to this work and to ''Literature/VitaNuova'', Beatrice is universally assumed to be Beatrice "Bice" Portinari, the daughter of local banker and philantropist Folco Portinari, who lived close to Dante's house. Thing is, Dante ''never'' explicitly identifies Beatrice with Bice Portinari in either work, rather it was his son Pietro and Creator/GiovanniBoccaccio who first said she was one and the same. Coupled with the almost complete lack of historical documents on Bice Portinari's life -- most of her "biography" having been inferred from Dante's works -- there remains a large enough margin of uncertainty about her identification with Beatrice. And no, Beatrice/Bice Portinari wasn't Dante's wife either: they were both married to different people.

** For those who don't share a medieval Catholic vision of the afterlife, or medieval Catholic ideas of right and wrong, the punishments can come across as DisproportionateRetribution in the extreme. And it is very controversial in some of the acts Dante considered as sins, but viewed by most modern-day people as matters of biology (like homosexuality) or mental illness (like hoarding and suicide); things that deserve compassion rather than condemnation. If Dante wrote today how these people should be tortured forever, he would be cancelled to the Tenth Circle himself, and bring endless accusations of GodIsEvil (like in [[Literature/InfernoLarryNivenAndJerryPournelle Larry Niven's Inferno]]). But it is important to note (as alluded to below) that the ''Comedy'' is an allegorical poem, not a theological work, and is therefore more an expression of Dante's thoughts and [[ArtisticLicense creativity]] than of the beliefs and teachings of Catholicism in the Middle Ages. Also, Modern Catholic dogma now subscribes to the doctrine of "Eternal Separation" (the suffering of Hell is [[SelfInflictedHell mental]], there is no torture but the despair and isolation of being deprived of God's love, which is closer to what Dante actually believed) and even says people who commit sins out of mental illness [[InsanityDefense usually aren't culpable]], as they aren't acting under their true free will.The doctrine of Purgatory has similarly been changed in modern times: rather than a place of physical torture, the only punishment is having to wait to go to Heaven and meet God.

** The entire concept of Limbo. If you haven't committed any sins and lived before Christ was born, or instead an unbaptized child, it meant that you cannot access Heaven. You aren't punished or tortured there, but you'll spend eternity in spiritual mediocrity separated from God. Limbo was notably a controversial theological concept even in Dante's day and was largely undefined, giving Dante a significant amount of creative freedom in the way he depicted it. Certain decisions (making it a Circle of Hell, for example) are bound to read poorly to a modern audience.

** That Dante's Circles of Hell correspond to the SevenDeadlySins. The Seven Deadly Sins are not only extra-Biblical, they didn't exist in Dante's day. There were actually ''eight'' "Deadly Sins" at the time, they don't perfectly correspond to the current widely-accepted seven, and Dante doesn't even use them as a framework for his version of Hell except in very BroadStrokes. He ''does'' have eight Circles of Hell plus Limbo, where the virtuous pagans live in eternal spiritual mediocrity without being tortured, but they better correspond to Dante's own esoteric ordering of sins: sins of incontinence (failures of self-control like Lust, Gluttony, and Greed), sins of violence (Wrath being the closest to the sins of incontinence, Heresy being violence against God's word and church, and Violence being cold-blooded sadism and therefore the worst of the three), and sins of deceit (Fraud and Treachery), which he considered the worst and, by virtue of being the closest to Lucifer, the sins that bring one furthest from the divine truth that is God.

** Telling someone they will burn in 9th circle of hell is an insult reserved for people others truly hate, or a joking response to a [[DisproportionateRetribution minor thing someone does.]] [[note]]This is sort-of CommonKnowledge fact, read above [[/note]]

** The big one: the idea that [[EvilIsBurningHot Dante's vision of Hell is a place of overwhelming fire and heat]] is so common that it's literally embedded in the English language as a synonym for "overwhelming fire and heat." There are certainly parts of Dante's Hell that fit that bill, but overall the Inferno takes on many forms, some of them [[EvilisVisceral visceral]] and [[BloodyBowelsOfHell horribly organic]], some of them [[EvilIsNotWellLit dark and gloomy]], and some, including the deepest and most awful Circle, [[EvilIsDeathlyCold blisteringly cold]]. Part of the reason the ''Inferno'' has lasted as long as it has is because it is an incredible work of the imagination, not a repetitive description of ever more intense heat.

** The 9th circle of hell is seen as the place where the most evil people go, someone like Hitler. It's sort of that, but only in the [[ValuesDissonance time period it was written]]. The ultimate sin and what got you in the 9th circle was treason in the story. While today it would be still be seen as a sin, it would not be anywhere close to the worst one (a modern work would usually have the ultimate sin either be [[HairTriggerTemper Wrath]] or {{Pride}})[[note]]Pride doesn't even have its own dedicated circle in the story, and Wrath has two with anger and violence. [[/note]]. By the rules of the story, someone like Hitler, or really any genocidal dictator, would end up in either anger or violence, not the 9th circle. Once again, a heavy amount of ValuesDissonance is at play here.

** Dante's whole hierarchy of sins with regards to the CirclesOfHell seems rather odd at some places to the modern reader. Most of all, he considers fraud to be ''worse than genocide'', as mass murderers are in Circle 7 and frauds are in Circle 8. However, once you understand the era where Dante lived in (the Feudal Era, the so called "Age Of Chivalry"), it becomes FridgeBrilliance. Every aspect of feudal society was based on oaths of fealty, of swearing UndyingLoyalty to one's lord/benefactor/friend, and all oaths or contracts are sworn in the name of God. Thus, fraud, and especially [[TreacheryIsASpecialKindOfEvil treason]], would probably be considered the worst kind of sins, as it is literally [[AnarchyIsChaos the destruction of societal order]] and sending a fuck you to God Himself. This leads to an unusual case of Values Dissonance '''within''' a case of Values Resonance. The Ninth Circle punishes [[TreacheryIsASpecialKindOfEvil treachery]] against [[MurderInTheFamily kindred]], [[TheQuisling country]], [[SacredHospitality guests]], [[TheUsurper lords]], and [[TheHeretic God]]. While non-religious readers and cultures may not care about the last one, the other four are almost universally reviled. The Dissonance comes from the order they're placed in. For instance, not many modern readers would consider betraying a guest worse than betraying your family.
** The entire concept of Limbo. If you haven't committed any sins and lived before Christ was born, or instead an unbaptized child, it meant that you cannot access Heaven. Limbo was notably a controversial theological concept even in Dante's day and was largely undefined, giving Dante a significant amount of creative freedom in the way he depicted it. Certain decisions (making it a Circle of Hell, for example) are bound to read poorly to a modern audience.

** The 9th circle of hell is seen as the place where the most evil people go, someone like Hitler. It's sort of that, but only in the [[ValuesDissonance time period it was written]]. The ultimate sin and what got you in the 9th circle was treason in the story. While today it would be still be seen as a sin it would not be any where close to the worst one (a modern work would usually have the ultimate sin either be [[HairTriggerTemper Wrath]] or {{Pride}})[[note]]Pride doesn't even have its own dedicated circle in the story, and Wrath has two with anger and violence. [[/note]]. By the rules of the story, someone like Hitler, or really an genocidal dictator, would end up in either anger or violence, not the 9th circle. Once again, a heavy amount of ValuesDissonance is at play here.

** 9th circle of hell is seen as the place where most evil go, someone like Hitler. It's sort of that, but only in the [[ValuesDissonance time period it was wrttien]]. The ultimate sin and what got you in the 9th circle was treason in the story. While today it would be still be seen as a sin it would not be any where close to the worst one (a modern work would usually have the ultimate sin either be [[HairTriggerTemper Wrath]] or {{Pride}})[[note]]Pride doesn't even have its own dedicated lair in the story, and Wrath has two with anger and violence. [[/note]]. By the rules of the story, someone like Hitler, or really an genocidal dictator, would end up in either anger or violence. Once again heavy amount of ValuesDissonance is at play here.

** 9th circle of hell is seen as the place where most evil go, someone like Hitler. It's sort of that, but only in the [[ValuesDissonance time period it was wrttien]]. The ultimate sin and what got you in the 9th circle was treason in the story. While today it would be still be seen as a sin it would not be any where close to the worst one (a modern work would usually have the ultimate sin either be [[HairTriggerTemper Wrath]] or {{Pride}})[[note]]Pride doesn't even have its own dedicated lair in the story, and Wrath has to with anger and violence. [[/note]]. By the rules of the story, someone like Hitler, or really an genocidal dictator, would end up in either anger or violence. Once again heavy amount of ValuesDissonance is at play here.

** 9th circle of hell is seen as the place where most evil go, like someone like Hitler. It's sort of that but only in the [[ValuesDissonance time period it was wrttien]]. The ultimate sin and what got you in the 9th circle was treason in the story. While today it would be still be seen as a sin it would not be any where close to the worst one on (a modern work would usually have the ultimate sin either be [[HairTriggerTemper Wrath]] or {{Pride}})[[note]]Pride doesn't even have its own dedicated lair in the story[[/note]]. By the rules of the story someone like Hitler, or really an genocidal dictator would end up in either anger or violence. Once again heavy amount of ValuesDissonance is at play here.

** Telling someone they will burn in 9th circle of hell is an insult reserved for people others truly hate, or a joking response to a [[DisproportionateRetribution minor thing someone does.]] [[note: This is sort-of CommonKnowledge fact, read above]]

* CommonKnowledge: Applying equally to this work and to ''Literature/VitaNuova'', Beatrice is universally assumed to be Beatrice "Bice" Portinari, the daughter of local banker and philantropist Folco Portinari, who lived close to Dante's house. Thing is, Dante ''never'' explicitly identifies Beatrice with Bice Portinari in either work, rather it was his son Pietro and Creator/GiovanniBoccaccio who first said she was one and the same. Coupled with the almost complete lack of historical documents on Bice Portinari's life -- most of her "biography" having been inferred from Dante's works -- there remains a large enough margin of uncertainty about her identification with Beatrice. And no, Beatrice/Bice Portinari wasn't Dante's wife either: they were both married to different people.

** Dante also places clear limits on the spiritual powers of the Papacy: excommunication cannot damn a person who sincerely repents (though they will be in Purgatory for a very long time), the Pope cannot preemptively absolve someone of a sin he tells them to commit, and only sincere prayers of good people (not purchased indulgences) can speed up a soul’s progress through purgatory. The latter issue in particular would be a major element in the Reformation two centuries later.

** Referring to the series as history's most notable self-insert fanfiction.

* UnintentionallySympathetic:
** The people in Limbo, as they aren't even sinners but just lived in the wrong time and place (or didn't get baptized), and while they are not actively tormented, they still missed out on Heaven through no fault of their own. This is actually pointed out multiple times by Dante, who remarks in-universe how unfair this feels.
** While Piccarda Donata went to Heaven, she is stuck on the lowest "level" (The Moon) for breaking her vows as a nun, even though she was forced into an ArrangedMarriage and had no choice in the matter. While the poem says she's [[DiedHappilyEverAfter content with her fate,]] it seems rather unfair (particularly to [[ValuesDissonance modern readers]]) that she got put in the lowest level of Heaven for something that wasn't her fault.

** Vergil disappearing and having to go back to Limbo at the end of ''Purgatorio''. He and Dante do not even get to properly say goodbye.

** The story of the suicides, particularly the one who committed suicide after being imprisoned for a false charge, are especially tragic because of their deformed state in Hell.

* FirstInstallmentWins: The ''Inferno'' is the best known and most adapted of the poem's three canticles, probably for its NightmareFuel and its most earthly subject matter.

** Dante's whole hierarchy of sins with regards to the CirclesOfHell seems rather odd at some places to the modern reader. Most of all, he considers fraud to be ''worse than genocide'', as mass murderers are in Circle 7 and frauds are in Circle 8. However, once you understand the era where Dante lived in (the Feudal Era, the so called "Age Of Chivalry"), it becomes FridgeBrilliance. Every aspect of feudal society was based on oaths of fealty, of swearing UndyingLoyalty to one's lord/benefactor/friend, and all oaths or contracts are sworn in the name of God. Thus, fraud, and especially [[TreacheryIsASpecialKindOfEvil treason]], would probably be considered the worst kind of sins, as it is literally [[AnarchyIsChaos the destruction of societal order]] and sending a fuck you to God Himself. This leads to an unusual case of Values Dissonance '''within''' a case of Values Resonance. The Ninth Circle punishes [[TreacheryIsASpecialKindOfEvil treachery]] against [[MurderintheFamily kindred]], [[TheQuisling country]], [[SacredHospitality guests]], [[TheUsurper lords]], and [[TheHeretic God]]. While non-religious readers and cultures may not care about the last one, the other four are almost universally reviled. The Dissonance comes from the order they're placed in. For instance, not many modern readers would consider betraying a guest worse than betraying your family.

** For those who don't share a medieval Catholic vision of the afterlife, or medieval Catholic ideas of right and wrong, the punishments can come across as DisproportionateRetribution in the extreme. And it is very controversial in some of the acts Dante considered as sins, but viewed by most modern-day people as matters of biology (like homosexuality) or mental illness (like hoarding and suicide); things that deserve compassion rather than condemnation. If Dante wrote today how these people should be tortured forever, he would be cancelled to the Tenth Circle himself, and bring endless accusations of GodIsEvil (like in [[Literature/InfernoLarryNivenAndJerryPournelle Larry Niven's Inferno]]). But it is important to note (as alluded to below) that the ''Comedy'' is an allegorical poem, not a theological work, and is therefore more an expression of Dante's thoughts and [[ArtisticLicense creativity]] than of the beliefs and teachings of Catholicism in the Middle Ages. Also, Modern Catholic dogma now subscribes to the doctrine of "Eternal Separation" (the suffering of Hell is [[SelfInflictedHell mental]], there is no torture but the despair and isolation of being deprived of God's love, which is closer to what Dante actually believed) and even says people who commit sins out of mental illness [[InsanityDefense usually aren't culpable]], as they aren't acting under their true free will.

* AcceptableReligiousTargets: Islam is presented as a false schism of Christianity by Dante, which was a common misperception of Islam that existed throughout the Christian world in the Middle Ages. The 20th Century would bring a better understanding of the religion based on its primary sources, as well as a far less orientalist perspective of non-Christian religions.

** The sons of Count Ugolino, for their father's crimes, were trapped in a tower with him and starved together over the course of weeks. Despite their pleadings, their father failed to speak to them for the entire duration of their death's, even when they desperately pleaded for him to eat them to survive. Ugolino himself says that if this story fails to bring tears to your eyes, nothing will.

** Given that this is ''the'' poem which created the Italian language, many lines have entered into common parlance. A popular one is "Non ragioniam di loro, ma guarda e passa" ("Let us not discuss about them, but look and keep going"), originally said by Virgil about the Indecisive, often with BeamMeUpScotty applying (e.g., "Non ti curar di loro...", "Do not care about them").