Dante, a Christian poet living during a Christian age, sets out to write a poem about his fictionalized version of Hell. I believe Dante’s initial intent, beyond poetic creativity, is to be an instructional wake-up call to the misbehaving Christians of his day. As his horrors unfold, Dante finds himself faced with his own standards of living. Dante wonders if he satisfies the Christian doctrine and, if he does not, is he in danger of being punished in Hell (his own version) after death.

What is the standard for Heaven – goodness?

The Ten Commandments are “religious and moral requirements of Jews given to Moses by God on Mt. Sinai…universal principles” (Cambridge Encyclopedia 1053).

According to the Holy Bible, the Ten Commandments are:

3) Misuse of God’s name is prohibited

5) Parents’ must be honored…obeyed

10) One cannot covet neighbors’ goods

Similar to Dickens’ Scrooge in the Christmas Carol, Dante inadvertently designs his own wake-up call. He is filled with: concern, guilt, fear. Will it be Heaven he wonders? Or will it be Hell? According to Dante’s own version, Hell is horrible, hopeless, eternal. Now Dante’s Inferno gets personal.

Why should one care? “And following its path, we took no care/To rest, but climbed…Some of the beautiful things that Heaven bears/Where we came forth, and once more saw the stars” (XXXIV: 136-140).

“He said, ‘For the corresponding, philosophy/Serves in

Fatherland: there where/I possibly have wrought excessive harm”

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