Dante's Satan

In Dante's Inferno, Satan is portrayed as a giant demon, frozen up to the waist in ice at the center of Hell.

As Satan beats his wings, he creates a cold wind that continues to freeze the ice surrounding him and the other sinners in the Ninth Circle.

Dante illustrates a less powerful Satan than most standard depictions; he is slobbering, wordless, and receives the same punishments in Hell as the rest of the sinners.

Here, these condemned souls, frozen into the ice, are completely unable to move or speak and are contorted into all sorts of fantastical shapes as a part of their punishment.

The answer to the question of how Satan wound up in the bottom of the pit in Dante's Inferno lies in Christian theological history.

Some interpretations of the Book of Isaiah, combined with apocryphal texts, explain that Satan was cast from Heaven, and fell to earth.

[5] Satan, the angel, was enamored of his own beauty, power, and pride, and attempted to usurp God's divine throne:[dubious – discuss] I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.

According to Dante, the pit the Pilgrim climbs down to reach the center of Hell is literally the hole that Satan made when he fell to earth.