On Reading The Inferno: A Theme of Sin, A Question of Punishment, and a Fainting Dead Away

Within the province of Western cultures, and more specifically, among those cultures bearing historically an inherent Judeo-Christian basis of morality in the governance of its people, we see a profound concern for definitions of sin and prescriptions of appropriate punishment. Stemming from the opening verses of the Bible, and seen in nearly every episode in both its components, The Old (the Judaic Torah) and New (Christian) Testaments, the reader can witness the mechanism of how sin is dealt with, more often than not by an angelic agent or by God Himself, summarily dispatching the justice called for in the determined tenets of the belief system. "Eye-for-an-eye" (Torah, Leviticus 24-20) is one such formidable precept, or to be more exact, punishment, which has a perverse link with another edict, in that one is to 'do unto others as he would have them do unto him.' (New Testament, Luke 6:31) All in all, we, as Westerners, have prescribed for us a foundation of morality and ethics that is meant to range through our lives, our culture and, some would say, lead us to heaven. Indeed, such a matrix of faith and doctrine has served as a fertile ground for authors, thinkers and artists ever since such tenets had become major teachings and parameters - for thousands of years. Western philosophy is based on these ideals, and how we deal with sin and punishment has been a perpetual theme in Western thought