The+Long+Road+Home...

"//He first, I second, without the thought of rest// //we climbed the dark until we reached the point// //where a round opening brought in sight the blest//

//and beauteous shining of the Heavenly cars.// //And we walked out once more beneath the Stars."//

//-Inferno Canto XXXIV II. 139-141//



The Divine Comedy takes us through Hell, Purgatory and finally into the realm of Heaven. It is an unparalleled work of literary excellence that will last as long as human beings survive to read it. The lessons we take from the words of Dante resonate in the hearts and minds of any who have ever questioned the nature of human morality and the mystical journey that is simply, the life we live.

What was the special distinction between the lower and upper levels of The Inferno?

What was the significance of Satan being placed in the center of the Earth, in the Ninth Circle?

When Dante awakes in //The Dark Wood// at the beginning of //The Inferno//, how does he say he came to be there? Is this answer indicative of how he lived his life?

How in //Dante's Inferno// are sinners punished according to what sins they committed? Look at the whirlwind in circle II for Lust, and the continuous wallowing of filth in Circle II for The Gluttons. What connection can be made?