# 4 levels of hell **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-levels-of-hell/183881 "2003-06-23T22:17:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@Peach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peach)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-levels-of-hell/183881/1 "2003-06-23T22:17:02Z")
in the movie “The Others” there is talk of the 4 levels of hell. i couldn’t make out what they were saying…and am curious. Anyone know what they are? one of them is - Purgatory ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-levels-of-hell/183881/2 "2003-06-23T22:23:44Z")
According to Dante’s Inferno, there is more than 4 layers. I’m pretty sure there are 9, but as for the names for each one, I couldn’t tell you. If you’re interested enough, you could probably manage to find an English copy of Dante’s Inferno somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-levels-of-hell/183881/3 "2003-06-23T22:34:47Z")
Or read ‘Inferno’ by Larry Niven (and possibly Jerry Pournelle) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-levels-of-hell/183881/4 "2003-06-23T22:35:34Z")
[GO HERE](http://www.arches.uga.edu/~redman/hellintro.html) , follow the path down, & you shall decend into Dante’s Inferno, an immortal poet’s vision of Hell. Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here (and please, wipe your feet). ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-levels-of-hell/183881/5 "2003-06-23T22:45:15Z")
Are you sure your heard correctly? Dante’s _Divine Commedy_ is often mentioned as having four levels of _perspective_ or _interpretation_: literal, allegorical, moral, and mystical. However there are three (not four) sections of the work: _Inferno_ (hell), _Purgatorio_ (purgatory), and _Paradiso_ (heaven). Each of those sections have multiple “levels” of descent or ascent: _Inferno_, for example, has nine circles descending into the pit of hell, while _Purgatorio_ has seven tiers climbing up its mountain. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-levels-of-hell/183881/6 "2003-06-23T22:46:57Z")
If it’s of any help, [here’s a map of Dante’s hell.](http://www.atsweb.neu.edu/uc/s.cassavant/DanteOut.html) This version of Hell is divided into two major sections, and I quote, > [@](#): > > Dante divides hell into two halves, Upper Hell (or Incontinence), and Lower Hell (or Malice). Incontinence is the refusal to use reason to moderate a natural instinct, like love or hunger. An indivdual committing an act of malice, on the other hand, has no intention to do good, and thus is immune to reason. Oddly enough, as in the Map of Hell that I linked to, Hell is indeed divided into four sections—Two sections for **Incontinence** , one for **Simple Fraud** , and the deepest level for **Compound Fraud** (i.e., Traitors). ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-levels-of-hell/183881/7 "2003-06-24T00:55:16Z")
Though technically, Dante’s hell isn’t cannoical. No church I’m aware of feels that hell is really structed in such a way, or at least the way Dante describes it(Centaurs and popes in hell are not exactly the kind of things that jive with the church). Still an excellant read though. ---
**Author:** ![Motog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Motog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motog)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-levels-of-hell/183881/8 "2003-06-24T02:06:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HPL \* > \*\*Though technically, Dante’s hell isn’t cannoical. No church I’m aware of feels that hell is really structed in such a way, or at least the way Dante describes it(Centaurs and popes in hell are not exactly the kind of things that jive with the church). > > Still an excellant read though. \*\* Though I don’t have it here, I clearly remember that my copy states that Dante’s classification and hierarchy of sins etc was consistent with catholic church doctrine at the time. But you’re right to say that the physical description wasn’t something that was part of doctrine. From memory, Dante draw on a lot of sources including ancient Greek and Roman legend and contemporary folklore for his model of hell. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-levels-of-hell/183881/9 "2003-06-24T02:45:32Z")
I still love the idea that all of this time the center of Hell has been thoroughly frozen over. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-levels-of-hell/183881/10 "2003-06-24T02:49:21Z")
Among the sources of his Divine Comedy, Dante extrapolated the discussions of evil and virtue (and their requisite punishments and rewards) as expressed by Thomas Aquinas in his _Summa Theologica_. As **Motog** notes, the descriptions are (allegorically) consistent with accepted Catholic speculation of the period.