OSHER 775 - Dante's Inferno

"The Inferno" is the first section of the epic poem known as the Divine Comedy. The poem by Dante Alighieri, completed in 1320, is an allegory of the soul's journeythat describes the pilgrim Dante's voyage through nine descending circles of Hell and, in its second and third sections, through Purgatory and Heaven. One of the great works of the human imagination regarded as a masterpiece almost from its publication, few poems depend so much on knowledgeable guidance and background. For this we will rely on the acclaimed new translation of the Inferno by Robert and Jean Hollander, with its extensive explanatory notes.