Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy, in 1265. At that time Italy was divided into city states, and Florence itself was routinely divided between political factions. Dante himself fought in a battle against political enemies in 1289. Dante chose the side of the White Guelphs and was elected to the city's Council of Priors in 1300; his victory was short-lived. Upon the city ceding power to the Black Guelphs, Dante was 

 from Florence in 1302 under threat of execution. He never returned, dying in exile. Dante's fictional journey in 

 can be read with parallels to his real-life exilic journey.

The story begins with Dante getting lost in the woods on Maundy Thursday. He intends to climb a mountain but encounters three wild beasts who threaten him; as he wonders what to do, Virgil, the author of the Latin epic 

, appears. Starting on Good Friday (the Friday before Easter, traditionally honoring the day Christ was crucified), Virgil leads Dante into hell. On the shores of the river of the dead, Dante sees many people who are neither in heaven, hell, nor purgatory, including someone who was most probably a pope. Once in hell proper, Virgil guides Dante through the 

. Along the way, Dante will be threatened by various demons, but Beatrice has interceded for him in heaven, and his faith does not fail. He and Virgil escape at dawn.

Lust: Self-explanatory. Dante encounters Achilles, Paris, Tristan, 

Gluttony: Where those who overindulge exist. Dante encounters ordinary people here, not characters from epic poems or gods from mythology. The author 

 took one of these characters, Ciacco, and incorporated him into his 14th-century collection of tales called "The Decameron."

The poets move on to the third circle, the Gluttons, who are guarded by the monster Cerberus. These sinners spend eternity wallowing in mud and mire, and here Dante recognizes a Florentine, Ciacco, who gives Dante the first of many negative prophesies about him and Florence.

 are threatened by the Furies when they try to enter through the walls of Dis (Satan). This is a further progression in Dante’s evaluation of the nature of sin; he also begins to question himself and his own life, realizing his actions and nature could lead him to this permanent torture.

In the third round of Circle VII, a desert wasteland awash in a rain of burning snowflakes, Dante recognizes and speaks with Capaneus, a famous blasphemer. He also speaks to his beloved advisor and scholar, Brunetto Latini. This is the round held for the Blasphemers, Sodomites, and the Usurers.

Dante's Inferno II

 is a very important piece of literature written by 

Limbo: Where those who never knew Christ exist. Dante encounters ​

, Aristotle, Julius Caesar, and more here.

Greed: Self-explanatory. Dante encounters more ordinary people but also the guardian of the circle, 

, the mythological king of the Underworld. This circle is reserved for people who hoarded or squandered their money, but Dante and Virgil do not directly interact with any of its inhabitants. This is the first time they pass through a circle without speaking to anyone, a commentary on Dante’s opinion of greed as a higher sin.

Dante's Inferno I

The poets then enter Circle VIII, which contains ten chasms, or ditches. The first chasm houses the Panderers and the Seducers who spend eternity lashed by whips. The second chasm houses the Flatterers, who reside in a channel of excrement. The third chasm houses the Simonists, who are plunged upside-down in baptismal fonts with the soles of their feet on fire. Dante speaks with Pope Nicholas, who mistakes him for Pope Boniface. In the fourth chasm, Dante sees the Fortune Tellers and Diviners, who spend eternity with their heads on backwards and their eyes clouded by tears.

At the fifth chasm, the poets see the sinners of Graft plunged deeply into a river of boiling pitch and slashed at by demons.

At the ninth chasm, the poets see a mass of horribly mutilated bodies. They were the sowers of discord, such as Mahomet. They are walking in a circle. By the time they come around the circle, their wounds knit, only to be opened again and again. They arrive at the tenth chasm the Falsifiers. Here they see the sinners afflicted with terrible plagues, some unable to move, some picking scabs off of one another.

In the second round, Antenora, the sinners are frozen closer to their heads. Here, Dante accidentally kicks a traitor in the head, and when the traitor will not tell him his name, Dante treats him savagely. Dante hears the terrible story of Count Ugolino, who is gnawing the head and neck of Archbishop Ruggieri, due to Ruggieri's treacherous treatment of him in the upper world.

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Dante's Inferno II

Dante's Inferno I

Dante's Inferno III

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