The Three Deadly Animals

Dante’s “Inferno” is a divine comedy about Dante’s attempt to get to Heaven to see Beatrice and God. However in order to get there he must overcome the obstacles within himself and the one’s throughout his journey. His work is also an epic poem that uses allegories, imagery, and realism that enables Dante to show the audience the true path; the journey thru hell that becomes the journey thru life.

In Canto I Dante finds himself lost in the dark woods because he has not been paying attention of where he was making his journey. He not only is physically lost, but he spiritually as drifted off the right path and has become a sinner of a deadly sin. Along his journey he encounters three fierce and ferocious animals that shock Dante and cause him to fear and lose hope of ever getting back on the right path, the path to God. The loss of hope is by far the most grave sin anyone could commit in Dante’s mind. Despair and lack of hope is one’s ticket to hell.

Dante uses a distinct pattern in the poem and has a recurring system of stanzas. The repetition of the number three is used in the actual construction and is also used in the description and symbolism in the poem’s plot. The leopard, lion, and she-wolf that Dante comes across in Canto 1 are a symbol that plays a significant role in Dante’s journey. As important as these three animals are, there is no exact definition to what that they truly symbolize. Some readers claim that they stand for lust, greed, and pride; however I think differently. I would agree with most that the three animals represent a sin. They foreshadow the events that lye ahead of the journey for Dante. I other words, when you veer off onto the wrong path you will be tempted by sin because you do not have God on your side. The temptations of sin will only get worse and if you do not quickly get on the right path you will eventually lose all hope and become a victim of sin that may place you in the pit of hell.

Dante divided the levels of hell into the not-so-bad towards the top and the worst sinners of all at the bottom. The worst three are the violent, the frauds, and the betrayers. In opinion, the lion represents violence, the leopard represents on who lacks willpower, or a betrayer, and the she-wolf stands for malice and fraud. The lion is described as a beast “raging with hunger”, which sets up an image in my mind of roaring lion violently lurking for food. The she-wolf who is “gaunt and wasted beyond belief” was thin and ferocious and motions represent malice, like any beast would. The leopard “all tremor and low and gaudy pelt” is a quick-footed beast that stops Dante in his path, about to attack, and with the effect of the other animals causes him to turn back to where the son is lost.

The three animals suggest the lowest three levels of hell. They also represent sins in one’s life that can be corrected with the regain of hope. This definitely is related to Dante’s journey in the future by showing what he will see in the deepest levels of hell. If he does not get back onto the path where he can see the sun he will be tempted by sins and most likely end up in one of the lowest levels of hell. All of the animals, sins, block the path of Dante and he can not fight the sin he must run in the opposite direction.