• Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.49-76
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• 2022

This study is to illuminate the problem of shadows and evil appearing in contemporary events in the midst of a period of upheaval through Inferno of Divine Comedy. First, the concept of shadow and evil were briefly summarized in analytical psychology and discussed the importance of considering the concepts with the empirical aspect of relativity and ethics in the field of psychotherapy. The 14th century, the age of Dante, was the embryonic period of the Renaissance beyond the end of the Middle Ages. It was when Dante, who was writing Divine Comedy, had to take off his persona forcibly and live in exile. In a nutshell, it was a transition period for both the individual and the collective. The dark forest is a nigredo, darkness and chaos we face in this transition, but it can be a place of transformation and rebirth. The three beasts (leopard, lion, and she-wolf) encountered in the forest can be considered as the instinctual images that Dante ignored and alienated, which the medieval Christian world had suppressed and eliminated. Especially at the collective level, as destructive instincts, ferocious beasts roam throughout society when a crisis breaks dominant laws of values. The three beasts of Inferno appear as phenomena of shadows and evil. The aspect of leopard was explored Cerberus and Chiaco(pig) as a symbol of greed, and the lion, Farinata as the form of violent passion. The aspect of the she-wolf was examined as Geryon, a deceitful monster with a beast nature hidden behind goodness, the giants in the frozen lake of Cocytus, and Branca D'Oria, who betrayed and murdered the country and family. Inferno reveals the "state" of being trapped when one yields to the evil hidden within oneself and falls into prey.