The Pouches of the Inferno

As always, The Inferno continues to become more and more interesting as I read further.  In this section, Dante and Virgil are transported by a monster to the Eighth Circle of Hell.  What is extremely interesting about this circle of Hell, is that it is divided into pouches consisting of different types of sinners receiving different types of torture.  A reoccurring event throughout this epic is that almost every circle and pouch has something to do with the Catholic church and its faults in history. Many of the individuals that Dante speaks with tell stories of accepting bribes as a leader, selling others for money and using people. The majority of these pouches in the Eighth Circle consist of those who committed "ordinary fraud".  These pouches have seducers, flatterers, the Simoniacs, those who use unholy powers, barterers, hypocrites and thieves. Thus far, Dante and Virgil have only reached the seventh pouch out of ten pouches.  I am very interested to learn about the other three pouches we have not encountered in the reading yet. Some of the punishments in this section, such as the sinners standing in human excrement or the horrific sight of the snake becoming one with a sinner's soul are absolutely disgusting and creepy.  Dante does any excellent job painting a picture in the readers mind of this grotesque version of Hell.  I have never thought that in depth about the wretched place, however, after reading The Inferno I definitely can picture it being very similar to the circumstances so vividly described.