Dante's Inferno - Reading Diary A

For the week 13 reading diary, I chose to read Tony Kline's translation of Dante's Inferno. I had heard of Dante’s Inferno and the Divine Comedy several times before, but I had never read them and I did not really know anything about them. The story was very interesting from the very beginning, when Dante came across a she-wolf that was blocking his path through the forest. Then he saw the poet, Virgil, who explained that the she-wolf had escaped from hell and would only be defeated by a greyhound that would one day come and send the beast back to hell. Dante then proceeded to follow Virgil on a journey that would lead him through eternal space where he would see spirits in the worst of all pain, but he would then have a choice to climb to the Lord’s city. When Dante is passing through the gates of hell, he comes across the spiritually neutral- the people who were not let into heaven or hell. They were sadly moaning because they had no hope of death and they were envious of every other fate. Eventually, Dante and Virgil reached Charon, the ferryman of the dead. Dante then enters the first circle of hell- Limbo. Limbo is where those who are free of sin, but were not baptized go. For this, they are in Limbo between heaven and hell. The two then come across some of the most famous poets, Oedipus, Ovid, Horace, and Lucan, and together they all enter a castle where many famous heroes and heroines reside, as well as Aristotle and other philosophers. Including so many famous people in this story makes it really interesting. I think one of the most engaging things about this tale is the imagery, though. Dante does such a great job describing the setting as well as his feelings as he is passing through the circles of hell.

(Drawing of Dante and the famous poets in Limbo. Source: Wikimedia)