As Cold As Hell Trivia Quiz

Answer: Virgil

Limbo. The first circle of hell is hardly hellish at all; it contains fields and even a castle. This circle is reserved for those who lived relatively sinless lives but did not (or could not) accept Jesus as their savior. The wisest non-Christians live in the castle, and include the likes of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Euclid, Saladin, and Virgil. Virgil was the classical poet who guided Dante through the circles of hell.

Answer: lust

Lust. If unfit for Limbo, people are judged by Minos to one of the inner circles of hell. Lust is the mildest of sins, but a sin nonetheless. Those judged guilty of lust are condemned to be swept to and fro by the winds of a storm. Much as in life, those consumed with lust are destined to be restless for eternity.

Answer: Cerberus

Gluttony. Those who are obsessed with consumption are guarded by none other than the ravenous Cerberus. They are forced to lie in slush, cold and blind. Though surrounded by many like themselves, the gluttonous are oblivious to all but themselves.

Answer: prodigals and misers

Greed. Greed works both ways, creating misers in one direction and spendthrifts in the other. The two groups forever spar in the fourth circle, using "wheeling weights" that they push with their chests. The greedy are watched over by Plutus, the god of wealth.

Answer: fight in the River Styx

Anger. The angry are forever condemned to fighting. Residing in the marshy river Styx, the angry constantly fight each other along its surface. Many who do not lie below the surface, unable to experience joy.

The fifth circle marks the end of the self-indulgent sins, and those who manage to be condemned to deeper circles face much harsher punishments.

Answer: heresy

Heresy. Epicurus and his followers advocated a life of materialism. Despite not particularly making people miserable, their hedonistic view of life and mortality of the soul is heretical when compared to heaven and hell. Heretics of all sorts, even popes, are immured in flaming tombs.

Answer: Yes

Violence. Violence expresses itself in many ways, and suicide is violence against one's self. Those who commit suicide become bushes and are tormented by harpies. Violence can also be expressed against other people, and against God. Punishments for the violent include immersion in boiling rivers, being hunted by dogs, and condemnation to a desert of fire, depending on the particular type of violence expressed.

The seventh circle of hell is guarded by the Minotaur.

Answer: Boniface VIII

Fraud. It takes special effort to be condemned to the eighth circle of hell, and that effort is fraud. The fraudulent are condemned to ten bolgia (ditches of stone), depending on the type of fraud, and are punished in various ways. Some of the notable residents of the eighth circle include Popes Nicholas III, Boniface VIII, and Clement V, all contemporaries of Dante, and all implicated in simony, the act of paying to receive sacraments.

Answer: betrayal of a special relationship

Treachery. Fraudulence alone is not enough for treachery; one commits treachery by betraying a trusting relationship. The punishment for treachery is encasement in ever-deepening layers of ice. The four rounds of treachery are named after Cain, Antenor, Ptolemy, and Judas.

Answer: ice

Satan. Satan lies at the very center of hell, and is trapped in ice like all those who commit treachery. He has three faces and six wings. Two of his faces chew on Brutus and Cassius, for their betrayal of Julius Caesar. The middle face chews on Judas, for committing the most infamous betrayal of all-time.