Wow! This is an amazing, extremely imgainative poem.
I wondered as I read whether this could be considered the predecessor of today's tales of person's descending to Hell and writing their stories to make a few bucks. I suppose the difference there is the tremendous literary value and the historical look into the religious mindset of Dante's time.
This text was written over 700 years ago, I must commend Mark Musa for rendering a translation very accesible to modern readers while still possessing the spirit of the piece.
The book is a little scary at times, but then it can tend to be somewhat boring as he trudges through each layer of Hell. The characters Dante meets throughout also demonstrate the writer's command of history up to his time. Sorry Homer, Plato, Socrates, Achilles, Cassius. It makes you think. Word of warning...do not build your understanding of Hell as portrayed in the Inferno. It is important to remember that it is an imaginative work. Dont miss this one.
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