Purgatory (once you're in, of course) is shown as a progression through the deadly sins, where each is expunged one by one
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It suggests a sort of ranking: the first to be purged is Pride, because without humility you can't overcome any other sin
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Pride is also notoriously the primal sin, the sin of the devil--it's the worst sin, the first to be dealt with
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Moving up the mountain, Envy is the next to go, then Wrath, then Sloth, then Greed, then Gluttony, and lastly Lust--the mildest offense
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It seems a bit self-serving to call Lust a "mild offence," but it's also the highest circle of Hell involving any active punishment
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So here's where the asymmetry comes in. As you descend into Hell, it starts off like a reverse Purgatory--Lust, then Gluttony, then Greed
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After Greed, there is no circle for Sloth--it skips straight to Wrath. After Wrath, it stops following deadly sins entirely.
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So what's this all about? Sloth is described as "deficient love;" it seems like its sinfulness is mainly in inhibiting virtue.
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An excess of sloth--radical indifference--doesn't merit a special penalty in Hell, on the contrary, it means you're not even bad enough...
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...to be admitted to Hell in the first place. You're doomed instead to join the crowds outside Hell, chasing the banner of self-interest.
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So if Sloth is punished in ante-Hell, what about Envy and Pride? Welcome to Inner Hell, inside the walls of Dis.
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Dante's treatment of Inner Hell suggests that Envy and Pride (which even in my untrained mind are closely related) are especially wicked...
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...because of the terrible variety of expressions they have. All manner of sin springs from them. Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery.
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For these deeper circles, Dante is faced with such a variety of evil that he has to set up sub-circles in each (except heresy).
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Violence is too broad--so there is violence against others, then against self, then against God.
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Fraud is such a vast category that Dante sketches out ten distinct bolgia, some of which have more than one kind of fraud in them.
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And finally, Treachery--the single WORST expression of Pride and Envy--even this, he breaks into four smaller categories.
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Betrayal of kin, then country, then guests, and finally benefactors. Satan's treachery against God is the most dramatic example of the last.
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So, this is good news. Resist Pride and Envy and you'll be avoiding the worst kinds of sin, and better able to resist the other kinds.
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But don't be complacent either--you don't get brownie points for sin A instead of sin B. Even the slightest sin is rebellion against God.
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The only reason to "rank" sins at all is to make it see how each one begets others, and how you can work backwards away from them.
End of conversation
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