The Inferno by Dante
It was once said that our modern-day notions of hell are directly taken from Dante’s fictional account of his journey into the center of the inferno. As you read, I want you to notice how increasingly violent, heartless, and curious Dante becomes. He leaves the right path and must journey toward Satan in order to find the right path. The anti-climatic ending indicates I think, that the devil was with him the whole time — that Satan did not show up at the end but was with him when he took his first step in the wrong direction.
This allows us to think about Satan and human nature very differently.
Is curiosity the first step toward doom as we see in The Inferno? How does the devil work to get us to stray off the right path? Are Dante’s vivid descriptions of the various torments of the damned yet another sign that Dante was, perhaps, enjoying the trek toward Satan, thereby indicating that Dante’s journey was somewhat of indulgence in sin?
