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Longfellow’s Inferno print places Epicurus among the heretics in open tombs

Nineteenth-century public English Inferno, including Longfellow’s 1867 version now on Gutenberg, transmits Dante’s placement of Epicurus with those who deny the soul’s survival, punished in open tombs. In the causal graph this event strengthens Political Polarization, a driver that weakens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

Nineteenth-century public English Inferno, including Longfellow’s 1867 version now on Gutenberg, transmits Dante’s placement of Epicurus with those who deny the soul’s survival, punished in open tombs.

Context

Christian polemic made atomist mortality a party badge. The canto is literature and also a durable sectarian caption. Polarisation here is confessional, not a parliament score.

Epicurus is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Why it matters

A printed heresy-caption is a cohesion cost for anyone later teaching mortality without a church licence.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Epicurus

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.24 · verified

    Garden founder as named in later editions and finds. Printers, excavators, and editors publish the instrument.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactLongfellow’s Inferno print places Epicurus among the heretics in open tombs
    2. strengthensDriverPolitical Polarization
    3. weakensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.45 · Effect from 1 January 1867 · verified

    A printed heresy-caption is a cohesion cost for anyone later teaching mortality without a church licence.

    • Having a say in government

      via Political Polarization

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.2 (weight 0.45 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Political Polarization

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.2 (weight 0.45 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Dante, Inferno (public-domain English)Project Gutenberg · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — EpicurusEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorEpicurus
  2. contributed toFactLongfellow’s Inferno print places Epicurus among the heretics in open tombs
  3. strengthensDriverPolitical Polarization
  4. weakensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Longfellow’s Inferno print places Epicurus among the heretics in open tombs. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/ep-dante-inferno-heretics

https://factrail.ai/facts/ep-dante-inferno-heretics

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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