Dante's Inferno is a classic work by the Christian author, depicting his fictional journey through the hierarchical levels of Hell in the year 1300 AD . As Dante travels through the underworld, he stops at every step of condemnation, often speaking to some of the pitiful sinners, learning of their crimes and the punishments to which God has condemned them for eternity. The sinners Dante chooses to address are usually real people, well known in Dante's 14th-century Florence for their political importance or for their infamous transgressions. These conversations add a depth of realism to the otherwise fantastical and imagined journey that is Inferno. One of these sinners with whom Dante speaks is Farinata degli Uberti, a Florentine nobleman during his lifetime and leader of the Ghibelline faction, a pro-imperial political party; however, in death, Farinata wallows in the sixth circle of Hell, where heretics reside. Dante was loyal to his family's party, the Guelphs, a party that desired papal supremacy; however, Dante has more sympathy than hatred for the man who “loves his noble country more than he hates his Florentine enemies” (Sinclair, 141). Dante ignores the injustices the Ghibellines committed against the Guelphs and, instead of hating this man for some of his worldly actions, honors him for his pure love for Florence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayDante, in Canto X of Inferno, is approached by Farinata's shadow and is immediately asked: ““ Who were your ancestors? " (135). Dante identified himself as a Guelph and quickly the man and the shadow engaged in an argument over Florentine politics. Farinata expressed his acrimony towards the Guelph party by saying, "they were fierce enemies of me, my ancestors and my party, so that I dispersed them twice” (135) Farinata refers to the exile of the Guelphs from Florence in 1248, their return in 1251 and the second time. expulsion of the Guelphs in 1260 after the battle of Montaperti (translated as "hill of death") Farinata had in fact himself been expelled from Florence in 1258. Despite this episode, Farinata refused to accept defeat. control of the neighboring Florentine rival, Siena, which allied itself with King Manfred of Sicily. Together they formed a force of over 20,000 soldiers. The Guelphs, however, had the most numerous forces, organizing all the men. from Florence aged between 15 and 70 and calling on reinforcements from several neighboring cities, the Papal States and the Guelphs exiled in Siena. On September 4, 1260 – the bloodiest day of the Italian Middle Ages – the Guelphs and Ghibellines clashed near Montaperti, shedding so much blood into the nearby Arbia River that it turned red. Bocca degli Abati, a man later seen in Canto XXXII, in the ninth circle of Hell, was a Ghibelline who fought for the Guelphs until turning on them in the middle of battle and mutilating the standard bearer of the Guelphs. Guelphs. The Ghibellines were victorious and were brought back to Florence by Guido Novello and Farinata. This triumph, however, was short-lived. In 1266, two years after Farinata's death, the Guelphs returned to Florence and issued several decrees to exclude the Uberti family from Florence. Dante allows Farinata post-mortem self-defense in Hell; Farinata begs, “Tell me why this people are so merciless against my parents in all their laws” (137). Dante blames Montaperti, replying: "'the rout and the great massacre which stained the Arbia red are the cause of such devotions'" (137). Farinata defends himself by saying: “Inthat, I was neither alone nor without a cause”” (137). When the Ghibellines, in open council, favored the destruction of Florence after Montaperti, Farinata remarks to Dante that "'I was alone...the only man to defend her before them all" (137). Obviously, most Guelphs ignored this fact in 1266 when they banished the Uberti family, and even later in 1283 when Farinata and his wife were retrospectively convicted of heresy. Dante, on the other hand, does not deny Farinata the credit he deserves for his role in saving Florence. Dante treats Farinata with great respect, addressing him in the polite form of vous ("vostri" [canto x: 51]) and even referring to him as "magnanimo" (canto x: 73), which, translated literally, means "virtuous, great-souled man". Dante depicts Farinata, a man many of his contemporaries viewed with disdain, as a humane loyalist who "loves his 'noble homeland' more than he hates his Florentine enemies" (Sinclair, 141). The sympathy comes from Dante's personal political views which “were neither Guelphs nor Ghibellines in the common sense of the term. to struggle with each other, bring each back to his proper function” (141).In addition to a deep love for Florence, Farinata and Dante are united by their similar experiences of expulsion from the city The Guelph party. , after regaining power, divided into white Guelphs and black Guelphs Dante sided with the less radical white faction and was sent to Pope Boniface VIII to ask him to curb his tyrannical abuses of power; power. At this time, the Black Guelphs took great power in Florence and forced Dante into exile. Dante, like Farinata, only wanted to do what he thought would be most beneficial to his city-state, but he was penalized for it. During their conversation, Farinata predicts Dante's coming exile and failure to reconcile with the city, saying: "But not fifty times will the face of the lady who reigns here light up again before you know for yourself how hard this art is” (137). Dante compares the passage of time before his exile to Proserpina, queen of the underworld, metaphorically giving her opinion on the reign of Pope Boniface VIII. By sympathizing with a Ghibelline ruler and denouncing the pope's rule, Dante proves that loyalty to Florence, not loyalty to a selfish ruler or to an arbitrary faction, should be the pinnacle of one's political goals. Because of their shared experiences and loyalties for Florence, Dante extends mercy to a man who should rightfully be in a lower circle of Hell. Farinata was infamous for leading the battle that cost more than 14,000 lives. Logically, Farinata should be sentenced to the first bolgia of circle seven, where the "'tyrants who have given their hands to blood and plunder" reside (161). These shadows boil in a river of blood; an image reminiscent of the Battle of Montaperti, when the Arbia River turned red from massive bloodshed. The Seventh Circle is home to notorious warriors such as Alexander the Great, the northern Italian dictators Ezzelino and Obizzo, Guelf and Ghibelline respectively, and Attila the Hun, all men who mounted their armies with evil and greedy intentions of power. Farinata differed from these men in one important respect: he fought to regain control of Florence. Farinata did not fight to expand an empire and did not enjoy torturing those subordinate to him; Farinata fought for his pure political beliefs, believing he was doing what was best for Florence. Dante, placing Farinata in the sixth 2004.