ninth circle
Deepest infernal pit
The ninth circle is the deepest level of Hell in Dante's *Inferno*, reserved for traitors frozen in a lake of ice.
In casual use, it describes the worst possible place or situation: This commute is the ninth circle of rush hour.
The phrase implies not just suffering but the most extreme degree of it.
- InfernoLiterary journey through damnation
- HellUnderworld of torment
- frostThin ice coating
- sinViolation of divine law
- treacheryDeliberate violation of trust
Divine Comedy · Judas Iscariot · canto · frozen lake · Dante · betrayal · deception · guilt · Virgil · Lucifer · Brutus · ice · frozen wasteland · Cassius · remorse · punishment · divine retribution · Christian theology
ninth circleParadise
Realm of eternal bliss
Mount Purgatory · Paradiso · highest heaven · seventh heaven
ninth circleheaven
Sky or bliss
paradise · eternal bliss · salvation · divine grace · eternal peace
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