"I AM THE WAY INTO THE CITY OF WOE.
I AM THE WAY TO A FORSAKEN PEOPLE.
I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL SORROW.
SACRED JUSTICE MOVE MY ARCHITECT.
I WAS RAISED HERE BY DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE,
PRIMORDIAL LOVE AND ULTIMATE INTELLECT.
ONLY THOSE ELEMENTS TIME CANNOT WEAR
WERE MADE BEFORE ME, AND BEYOND TIME I STAND.
ABONDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE" (18).
Dante as an author writes the inscription on the First Gate of Hell to convey that God has created Hell himself instead of Satan. It shows that though Hell is a dismal and sorrowful place, it also serves a purpose according to God.
God created Hell for the people because He believes that the sinful need and wish for the punishment that will be given to them in Hell. God loves all people, even sinners, enough to show them their errors. His punishments are meant to show His wisdom and knowledge, depicting that he knows that people need a substantial ] and relative punishment. His links between the sins and the punishments are meant to make people think both during life and death about their actions and their consequences.
The diction, such as "Primordial Love," is foreign to the usual concept of Hell. Many believe that Hell was created out of hate and sin, not the love of God. Since this love is sypposedly present since the beginning of time itself, the passage conveys that God knew people would need punishment. God's punishment of the sinners is His way to show His love for the wicked, as the wicked need to learn the error of their ways. By punishing them, He shows that he knows what the people need, even if it seems like the last thing they would want.
Throughout he book, we can see that the sinners have some sort of contentness in Hell, as if they have truly accepted that this is where they're supposed to be. Virgil is accurately able to describe this feeling by saying "Divine Justice transforms and spurns them so / their dread turns wish: they yearn for what they fear" (22). This especially exhibits the feelings of the sinners as they are being reprimanded for their wrongdoings. The acceptance shown they have is because each and every one of them can sense this as a part of God's love and wisdom. They eagerly await their place because it comes from a higher and positive power.
Hell is a place for eternal punishment to be served as time does not affect Hell. Because a person condemned to Hell will never ascend, they have no hope to do so. Despite this, Hell is a sort of Holy place for being created by God. Though this goes against most modern day theories, Dante presents this new version of Hell with
an expressive and foreshadowing inscription on the very gates to the realm.
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