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Dante's Inferno
"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate", or "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" - Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321.
Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet, writer, philosopher, and all around intellectual, who was very influential in world literature, and was for Italy was Shakespeare was for England, and Goethe for Germany. Born in approximately 1265, he is best known and remembered for his epic work La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy), which consisted of three books, Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradisio (Heaven), which were written between 1308 and his death in 1321.
Of particular interest to us, in Hell, is the first of these three, Inferno. On this page, we will pay homage to one of the greatest poets in history, and feature and discuss his visions for Hell.
Below are some links to websites on the subject of this immortal work:
The World of Dante.
Archive of Famous Poets - Dante.
As portrayed in Dante's universe, there are nine circles of Hell. They are as follows:
First Circle of Hell. Limbo.
Second Circle of Hell. Lust.
Third Circle of Hell. Gluttony.
Fourth Circle of Hell. Avarice.
Fifth Circle of Hell. Wrath.
Sixth Circle of Hell. Heresy.
Seventh Circle of Hell. Violence.
Eight Circle of Hell. Fraud.
Ninth Circle of Hell. Treachery.
"Dante and Virgil in Hell", by Eugene DeLeCroix (1798-1863), circa 1822. Louvre Museum.
Illustration of Dante's Inferno, Canto 6, by Giovanni Stradano.
Illustration of Dante's Inferno, Canto 8, by Giovanni Stradano.
Illustration of Geryon, from The Divine Comedy, by Gustave Dore.
Dante's guide rebuffs Malacoda et al, Canto 21, by Gustave Dore.
