Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Turning Up the Heat

We will soon begin discussion of Dante's Inferno, and some of you might find this visual guide to Hell useful.

Of course, merely getting in order the circles of Hell and the sins in each circle is just a small step in getting into this important work. Dante deals with much, much more than creating particularly delicious torments for sundry sinners.

Even so, obtaining a sense of the structure of the epic will help one get oriented to the larger themes and issues the work deals with. The symbolism of Dante's descent provides the artistic structure for exploring the nature of sin.