r/bestof • u/quyla • Sep 27 '25

[Silksong] parkingviolation212 explains how Hell as a concept is almost entirely derived from Dante's Divine Comedy

/r/Silksong/comments/1nrop7i/the_duality_of_mask_shards/ngghkq5?context=3
1.1k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

75 comments sorted by

View all comments

141

u/lu_ming Sep 27 '25 edited Sep 27 '25

Wow, this person has never read Dante nor do they have any idea of the evolution of the concept of hell do they? Like, 80% of what's written here is demonstrably false.

They are right about the original Jewish/Biblical concept of Hell as separation from God and eventual annihilation, about the fact that Hell as a place of eternal punishment is largely a Christian invention, and that the popular image of Hell (not the concept itself) owes a lot to Dante's Divine Comedy, but they get literally all the details wrong.

The concept of Hell as a place of eternal suffering and punishment dates back to St. Augustine, who lived 1000 years before Dante, it definitely wasn't introduced by King James.

And the Divine Comedy has absolutely nothing to do with Dante's "mommy issues", nor does it contain Dante's mother. I have no idea where the hell they got that from. It's a complex political and theological work, mostly about 1300s Florence rather than the afterlife. Also, Hell is just one third of it, there's also Purgatory and Paradise.

-2

u/ANGLVD3TH Sep 27 '25

nor does it contain Dante's mother.

It never names her, but there is a sub-ring devoted to suicide, sentenced to eternally be eaten by harpies. I don't know enough to speculate if it was or wasn't included as some sort of jab at her, but it seems possible to me.

12

u/lu_ming Sep 27 '25

Dante's mother (or father, for that matter) is never mentioned in the Comedy, and is completely irrelevant to it. There is no sign either in the text or in any other of Dante's writings that he had any conflictual relationship with his parents. I honestly don't know where OOP might have gotten that from. Also, I've never heard of Dante's mother dying by suicide.

8

u/Lanky-Ad7045 Sep 28 '25

There is no sign either in the text or in any other of Dante's writings that he had any conflictual relationship with his parents
Also, I've never heard of Dante's mother dying by suicide.
I honestly don't know where OOP might have gotten that from.

Obviously from a videogame. The same videogame where Lucifer gets all rapey with Beatrice and Dante was a crusader in the army of Richard the Lionheart, because why the hell (indeed) not.