The answer should be one page total. Answer each question separately.
1. How have the offenders in Circle 8 further degraded their faculties of reason and
will? To what extent is this further degradation reflected in Dante’s populating these
circles with demons instead of classical figures like centaurs and harpies?
2. In our legal system, violent crimes are much more serious than “white-collar”
crimes such as those featured in ditches 3 and 5; in many states, murder is a capital
crime punishable by death. However, Dante considers the sins of Circle 8 worse
than the sins of Circle 7; why? Why does Dante place Ulysses (Odysseus) in ditch 6
of Circle 8, instead of in Phlegethon in Circle 7? Do you agree or disagree with
Dante in the way that he ranks the seriousness of violent vs. white-collar crimes?
3. According to Dante’s system of assigning sinners to specific circles, which circle
would be the most appropriate location(s) for Bill Clinton and Monica
Lewinsky? (If you prefer, substitute Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels.) What
about Bernie Madoff and Jeffrey Skilling (if you don’t already know who these men
are, look them up)? Where would politicians like Andrew Cuomo and Jim Jordan
go? If you like, choose an additional politician, celebrity, or otherwise well known
person who you think would fit somewhere in ditches one through eight in Circle
Eight.
