Lucifer's punishment in Dante's Inferno is highly symbolic punishment. Lucifer is forced to chew three sinners, Brutus, Cassius, and Judas. In life, these three people betrayed Julius Caesar and Jesus, respectively. In his life, Lucifer betrayed God. As a true angel, Lucifer was beautiful. During his fall, he was made hideous. This change is shown through Dante saying, " As he is hideous now, and yet did dare, To scowl upon his Maker, well from him, May all our misery flow." As a part of the hideousness, Lucifer has three heads. In addition, Lucifer is crying and flapping his wings in an attempt to escape the ice in which he is imprisoned. This only serves to trap him more as the wind from his flapping wings freezes his tears and the blood of the betrayers he is chewing on. This all makes sense when taken symbolically. As his original crime was to have the pride to believe that he could run the universe better than God was, the pride was taken away. Lucifer was made to look as ugly as he was once beautiful. The quote ties together these two ideas, the pride and beauty, by saying that Lucifer was beautiful and marred his face with pride by scowling at God. The three heads form an inverse of the Holy Trinity, as that was who Lucifer betrayed. Being forced to chew on betrayers is the same as forcing Lucifer to eat his own kind. This shows that he is like them, but worse. The Middle Age mindset also makes an appearance to explain the symbolism for the last part of his punishment. Lucifer is frozen in a sea of his own tears, which were frozen by his attempts to escape. This shows that it does not matter how sorry he is, for he committed to great a sin to ever be let free, and his grief is only worsening his punishment. His attempts to be free are also in vain and, in fact, make the situation worse. The blood of the sinners contributing to his prison show all of the blood that was spilled in his attempt to be better than God and the coldness of the ice shows that as he was cold enough to God in life to betray Him, he shall be frozen in death. All of this adds to the idea that Lucifer's punishment in the Inferno is highly symbolic.
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