Dante's Hel

"Dante's Hel" by Dante Alighieri is the first part of a 14th-century narrative poem. A fictionalized Dante, guided by the Roman poet Virgil, journeys through Hell's nine concentric circles. Each circle holds souls punished according to their sins—violence, fraud, betrayal—in torments that mirror their earthly transgressions. As allegory, this descent represents the soul's recognition and rejection of sin on its path toward God. The journey begins in a dark wood and leads ...