It is the Thursday before Good Friday, that Dante the Pilgrim comes to his senses in the dark wood, the worldly life of sin. All of the following day he spends trying to find his way out of the place; he attempts to climb a sunlit mountain and is forced back down by three beasts; a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf, that block his ascent. Then, suddenly, the shade of a man appears on the scene. The figure is the shade of Virgil, who offers to lead the Pilgrim out of the dark wood by another way. Virgil has been sent to guide the Pilgrim to safety by the blessed Beatrice. The only way to escape from the dark wood is to descend into hell.

At sunset on the eve of Good Friday, Virgil and Pilgrim enter the Gates of Hell, and all that night and the next day they descend until they reach the gigantic figure of Lucifer. Before

Virgil leads Dante up to the Gate of Hell, where they read a foreboding inscription. As soon as they enter, Dante hears innumerable cries of torment and suffering. These are the souls, Virgil explains, of those who "lived without disgrace and without praise" (III.36). They are now in the Ante-Inferno, within Hell and yet not part of it, where the shades of the cowardly and the lukewarm reside. They are punished by being made "envious of every other fate" (III.48). That is, they have a home in neither Hell nor Heaven and have neither fame nor infamy on Earth. They are bitten continually by flies and wasps.

Here, they see a pack of souls running constantly from one side of the pouch to the other. On both ridges, demons with great whips scourge the souls as soon as they come into reach, forcing them back to the other side of the pouch. Dante recognizes an Italian there and speaks to him. He is Bolognese and is punished here because he sold his sister to a Marquis. This is the pit of Panders (pimps) and Seducers, those who deceive women for their own advantage. Moving on, the two poets also see the great Jason of the Golden Fleece, who seduced Hypsipyle and then abandoned her.

they reach Lucifer they pass through the three divisions of hell. The pilgrim takes careful notice of each region, the type of sin punished, the sinners and the nature of the punishment. Virgil acts as his guide and clears his doubts about all that they come across.

We see three major themes emerging in the Inferno again and again. First, there is the eternal justice of God, which gives each sinner his due by punishment for the sins that he committed in life, thus, the punishment always fits the crime. Second, there is the eternal glory of Rome, as the head of the "separate

Some common words found in the essay are:
Circle Hell, Gates Hell, Dante Pilgrim, Ante-Inferno Hell, Seducers Pouch, Circle Pouch, God's Kingdom, , Circle Evil-Pouches, Golden Fleece, dark wood, punishment fits, circles hell, leads dante, virgil leads, sins committed, virgil leads dante,
Approximate Word count = 1189
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)