Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The concept that the
punishment of an individual'ssoul inHell corresponds to thesin that person committed on earth.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Only the members of the Dante Club, as the first American Dante scholars, realize this connection, and once they discover the contrapasso they must figure out why that particular contrapasso or punishment was chosen for that victim, since Dante creates a highly differenciated range of punishment.
Matthew Pearl Discusses His First Novel, The Dante Club 2010
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Are there elements of contrapasso in The Dante Club?
Matthew Pearl Discusses His First Novel, The Dante Club 2010
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Dantes concept of contrapasso in that ... punishments must arise from the crime itself, not from the damage it has caused.
Matthew Pearl Discusses His First Novel, The Dante Club 2010
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It's a hellish cycle and a form of modern contrapasso
The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed ANDREW CLARK 2011
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It's a hellish cycle and a form of modern contrapasso
The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed ANDREW CLARK 2011
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It's a hellish cycle and a form of modern contrapasso
The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed ANDREW CLARK 2011
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The walls of the damned -- complete with circle-appropriate lamentation -- are a nice touch, but I would've liked to see a little more contrapasso.
Destructoid Conrad Zimmerman 2010
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Dal suo principio ch'é n questo troncone cosi s'osserva in me lo contrapasso. "
Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward II Charlotte Mary Yonge 1862
avivamagnolia commented on the word contrapasso
Contrapasso is the process by which souls serve penance in Dante's "Inferno" according to the nature of their sins in life.
A literal translation would be "counter-suffering".
An example of this would be in Canto XX, where the fortune tellers and diviners walk backwards for eternity, with their heads turned around to face behind them, and their eyes blinded with tears.
~Wikipedia
January 17, 2009
bilby commented on the word contrapasso
A free translation would be "counter-suffering". A literal translation would be "counter-step".
January 17, 2009
Prolagus commented on the word contrapasso
Contrappasso in modern Italian.
Bilby: I actually think it's from Latin patior, "I suffer".
January 17, 2009
rolig commented on the word contrapasso
Prolagus, how is it used in Modern Italian?
Aviva, the image from the Inferno is remarkable.
January 17, 2009
Prolagus commented on the word contrapasso
Well, the same way, more or less. All Italian high school liceo students study La Divina Commedia for three years, so it's a very popular concept.
January 17, 2009
rolig commented on the word contrapasso
The same way? You mean to describe somebody whose walking backward, weeping, with their face turned in the direction they're walking. Does this happen a lot in Italy?
January 17, 2009
Prolagus commented on the word contrapasso
Doesn't that happen everywhere? You always consider "normal" what you grow up with.
January 17, 2009
rolig commented on the word contrapasso
You know, I misread the original comment and, misled by Bilby's interpretation of the word, really did think this meant "walking backwards" and couldn't understand the "suffering" part of it. But now I see it describes what in English we might call comeuppance or just deserts.
January 18, 2009