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Dante Explorer
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A journey through the afterlife of Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise with Dante. It includes illustrations and summaries of each world with commentary.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'poetry'
The Frozen Lake of the Damned
Dante compares the lake of ice in Hell to a huge sheet of glass. The first area they encounter is called Caina, after Cain who killed his brother in the book of Genesis. Here they see thousands o...
The Floor of Hell
Dante and Virgil continue to walk through the filthy dark air, and Dante sees what he believes are the towers of a city in the distance. Virgil tells Dante that these are not towers, but giants, see...
The Falsifiers
In the middle of Dante’s discussion with the Achemists, two other souls run up. Dante watches in horror while one of them sinks his teeth into the sinner Dante was speaking with and drags him a...
Meeting with the Alchemists
As Dante and Virgil approach the next valley, they are accosted by a disgusting stench accompanied by shrieks of pain. They then see thousands of souls sprawled out, dragging themselves through the ...
Carnage in Hell
Dante and Virgil arrive at the next circle of Hell and look down into the valley at a site of carnage. Dante describes these souls who are dismembered and disfigured, comparing them to those of all ...
A Monk Gone Bad
Another sinner in a flame approaches Dante and Virgil. This sinner is Guido Da Montefeltro. Guido was a captain in a rival army to Dante’s party, who later became a monk. As a monk, Guido con...
A Chat with a Pope
Dante and Virgil enter a rocky area filled with holes. Sticking out of these holes are twitching legs and feet with flames coming off them. This is the circle of the Simonists, those who sold church...
Journey to the Pit of Hell
Dante leaves the usurers and rejoins Virgil where he is instructed to mount the back of the monster Geryon. Dante and Virgil take a terrifying, slow, spiraling trip down to the next level of Hell. T...
Which Translation Should I Read?
Choosing which translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy to read is a very subjective and personal decision. Any translation involves balancing the meaning, feel, and artistry of the work, normally ...
A Beginners Guide to Dante
Reading Dante’s Divine Comedy for the first time can be confusing. The poem includes references to classical literature, medieval theology, Italian politics, and literary issues that scholars a...
The Moneylenders
Out of the pit where Dante’s belt was thrown rises a terrifying monster with the head of a man, the body of a serpent, and the tail of a scorpion. This is Geryon, who “swims” throu...
The Teacher from Hell
As the group of the souls of the sodomites run by, one of them approaches Dante and Virgil. It is Dante’s old teacher, Brunetto Latini. The two have a brief discussion and Dante learns that th...