Although there seem to be similarities between Dante’s vision of Satan and his vision of God, Satan is actually an inversion of the Trinity and God. There are also significant differences between the two visions, which are essential to understanding this inversion.The most obvious instance of inversion is Dante’s construction of the world of his Divine Comedy. A simplified version of this world looks like this:EMPYREAN (God)PLANETSPURGATORYHELLSATANFrom this depiction, it is obvious that God and Satan are at opposite ends of the world. However, similarities between the two are equally obvious. How can this be?A closer examination reveals that only the language is similar. Dante uses emotions and images to describe his experiences with these two divinities. The language actually highlights the differences between them, as will be seen later.The most significant pseudo-similarities and inversions are within the individual texts. The first instance is the climactic difference between God’s realm of the Empyrean and Satan’s realm of Lake Cocytus. Cocytus is a cold, frozen place. (Dante, Hell, XXXIV, 12) Contrasted with this in Paradise is God’s realm of light and warmth. (Dante, Paradise, XXXIII, 27) The realms and the deities themselves are opposites; Cocytus and Satan are material (Dante, Hell, XXXIV, 29), where God and the Empyrean are not. (Dante, Paradise, XXXIII, 114)Emotions play a strong role in both realms. The basic emotions that Dante feels in each realm are opposite. He describes the pit of Hell as “sorrowful,” (Dante, Hell, XXXIV, 25) but experiences “bliss” in the Empyrean. (Dante, Paradise, XXXIII, 10) Both emotions have an extreme effect on Dante. In Hell he is “powerless to express” his fear. (Dante, Hell, XXXIV, 24) His experience in Paradise is more pleasant; he is “fixed in wonder” rather than paralyzed with fear. (Dante, Paradise, XXXIII...
