ethical system of the Inferno, as set forth in Canto
xi., corresponds to Aristotle's threefold division of
things to be morally avoided: Incontinence, Bestial-
ity, Malice. Dante equates Bestiality and Malice
with the Ciceronian Violence and Fraud, by which
injury is done. Thus there is the upper Hell of sins
proceeding from the irrational part of the soul, di-
vided into five circles. The lower Hell of Bestiality
and Malice is the terrible city of Dis, the true king-
dom of Lucifer, in which, after the intermediate sixth
circle, come three great circles, each divided into a
number of sub-divisions, and each separated by a
chasm from the one above; the seventh circle of Vio-
lence and Bestiality; followed by two circles of Malice
--the eighth of simple fraud, and the ninth of treach-
ery. There is much dispute as to how far Dante fur-
ther equates this division with the seven capital sins
recognized by the Church. Although actual deeds
are considered in Hell, rather than the sinful propen-
sities that lead to them, it seems plausible to recog-
nize in Incontinence the five lesser capital sins: Lux-
ury, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth (though the treatment
of this sin in the Inferno is questionable), and Anger;
and to regard the whole of the three circles of the
city of Dis as proceeding from and being the visible
effects of envy and pride, the sins proper to devils
according to St. Thomas,--seen in their supreme de-
gree in him whose pride made him rebel against his
Maker, and whose envy brought death into the world.

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