Observations placeholder
Dante - Inferno [anger]
Identifier
014652
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Uncontrollable rage, anger, lashing out verbally as well as physically is a system of the underworld. This sort of anger is contrasted in Dante's Inferno with violence.
Violence is anger with malice – intention to harm and hurt another.
Anger of this sort is simply an uncontrollable burst of rage with little malice intended, in fact there may well be no thought given to it at all, it may simply be a gut reaction to something that has annoyed you.
But anger can do harm, it can do harm to the person who is angry by making them actually feel worse - anger doesn't actually solve anything - and many an angry outburst verbally has hurt another. Certainly a person is most unlikely to respond to anyone who is angry with anything like a constructive solution – patience and moderation usually achieves far more, however, angry you may be inside.
'Speak in haste regret at leisure'
A description of the experience
Dante – The Divine Comedy INFERNO I
CANTO
They struck each other and not only with their hands
But with their heads and chests and with their feet
Biting each other to pieces bit by bit
The good Master said 'Son, now you see
The spirits of those who were overpowered by anger