The Archetypal Symbol of The River of Blood

Dante and Virgil arriving at the river of blood with Centaur

In Round One of Circle Seven, the sin of its inhabitants is violence against their neighbors. The punishment for this sin is to be forever immersed in the boiling river of blood. Dante uses the river of blood as a symbol for the sin itself, as blood is representative of violence. The river is a symbol of the sin in the sense that in their lives they sinned in immersing themselves in the causing bloodshed of their neighbors, so in death they are forcibly immersed in bloodshed. Except in death they are forced to be the victims of violence's pain. The sinners feel the result of their selfish choices for eternity. Dante says, "Oh ignorant, self-seeking cupidity which spurs us so in the short mortal life and steeps us so through all eternity!". (112) They are immersed in their sin of causing bloodshed due to their own selfishness in choosing violence.

Centaur, Chiron, and Pholus watching over the sinnners,
shooting them with their bows if they lift themselves out of the river

As the blood itself symbolizes the result of the sin, Dante uses the river of blood in many other ways to show the sin and its punishment. The river is very deep in some areas and very shallow in others. The deepness of the area in which a sinner is placed depends on the severity of the violence of which the person has committed. Their are shallower areas for less severe crimes and much deeper areas for violence which is considered very severe. Centaur describes a part of the river of blood as, " I would have you know that on the other, the bottom sinks anew more and more, until it comes again full circle to the place where tyrants stew"(115). For tyrants, who committed a lot of violence, their area of the river was very deep compared to other parts, Dante says, "Some were allowed to raise the head and all the chest from the river" (114). These were the ones who committed violence on smaller scales than others. Also, the sinners cannot relieve themselves from the boiling water by lifting themselves above the water, they must stay at their designated depth. Chiron and Pholus make sure of this. Dante describes this regulations as, "They run by that stream in thousands, snapping their bows at any wraith who dares to raise himself out of the blood more than his guilt allows" (113). In this circle, the river of blood is used as a punishment and is clearly an archetypal symbol of the sin of violence as well as its many levels of severity.