The first part of Dante's epic poem The Divine Comedy, revealing the
eternal punishment reserved for such sins as greed, self-deception,
political double-dealing and treachery
Describing Dante's descent into Hell midway through his life with Virgil
as a guide, Inferno depicts a cruel underworld in which desperate
figures are condemned to eternal damnation for committing one or more of
seven deadly sins. As he descends through nine concentric circles of
increasingly agonising torture, Dante encounters doomed souls including
the pagan Aeneas, the liar Odysseus, the suicide Cleopatra, and his own
political enemies, damned for their deceit. Led by leering demons, the
poet must ultimately journey with Virgil to the deepest level of all.
Portraying a huge diversity of characters culminating in a horrific
vision of Satan, the Inferno broke new ground in the vigour of its
language and storytelling. It has had a particular influence on
Modernist writers and their successors throughout the world. Printed in
English with facing pages in Dante's Italian, this edition offers
commentaries and notes on each canto by Robert Kirkpatrick.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of
classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700
titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works
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notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as
up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
