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==Denizens of Hell==
==Denizens of Hell==
===Sinners===
===Sinners===
As he and Virgil travel through Hell, Dante speaks to many of the people he meets there. Each circle is home to a multitude of sinners who are punished there, but the ones Dante identifies are mainly taken from antiquity, the [[Bible]], and Florentine and Italian history.
As he and Virgil travel through Hell, Dante speaks to many of the people he meets. Each circle is home to a multitude of sinners who are punished there, but the ones Dante identifies are mainly taken from antiquity, the [[Bible]], and Florentine and Italian history.
Some notable encounters are:
Some notable encounters are:
* [[Ulysses]], who is punished in the eighth circle for his role in the [[Trojan War]] (Dante sympathised with the [[Trojan]]s as the ancestors of the founders of [[Rome]])
* [[Ulysses]], who is punished in the eighth circle for his role in the [[Trojan War]] (Dante sympathised with the Trojans as the ancestors of the founders of [[Rome]]).
* Brunetto Latini, a teacher of Dante's, who is punished for his homosexuality in the seventh circle.
* [[Mohammed]], who is punished as a sunderer in the eighth circle. As the founder of [[Islam]], his is blamed for leading many people away from Christianity. However, not all Muslims are treated so badly - some are allowed a place in Limbo, which means they committed no sin other than lacking the correct faith.
* Various [[Pope]]s - Dante took an extremely dim view of what he saw as the corrupt nature of the [[Church]] at the time.
===Demons and monsters===
As well as the shades of humans, Hell is home to a number of supernatural creatures. Some of the punishments are carried out by demons, for example a demon with an enormous sword mutilates the sunderers in the eighth circle. In addition, each circle is guarded by a creature who personifies the sins punished there:
* '''Minos''', mythological king of [[Crete]], guards the second circle (lust). He is depicted as a monstrous creature with a tail, who has the task of assigning new arrivals in Hell to their allotted place.
* '''Cerberus''' the ravenous three-headed dog guards the third circle (gluttony).
* '''Plutus''', the personification of wealth, guards the fourth circle (greed). He speaks the unintelligible phrase 'Pape Satan, Pape Satan aleppe!', which has caused much debate among scholars as to its meaning.
* '''Phlegyas''', another mythical king, is the ferryman who carries Dante across the Styx (circle of anger).
* The '''furies''' are seen on the walls of the City of Dis before Dante and Virgil gain entry to the circle of heresy.
* The seventh circle (violence) is guarded by the [[Centaur]]s.
* Geryon, depicted as a strange beast with a handsome face and scaled body, carries Dante and Virgil down into the circle of fraud.
* Many giants, included [[Nimrod]] and the [[Titans]], stand around the edge of the lowest circle. The [[Titans]] committed treason by waging war against the gods, while Nimrod committed treason against God by building the [[Tower of Babel]] (he now speaks a language that none can understand).
== In Popular Culture ==
== In Popular Culture ==
A 2002 best-selling mystery novel by Matthew Pearl, ''The Dante Club,'' is a piece of historical fiction set in [[Boston]] in 1865. It is based partly on real events; the [[Dante Club]] was real, the mystery story is not. At the time, not many people in the [[United States]] knew [[Italian]] or Dante's work. A group of writers formed a club to translate Dante's work and promote his importance. Three of them were [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]], [[Oliver Wendell Holmes]], and [[James Russell Lowell]]. Like Dante's work itself, it has frightening and gruesome scenes, but is rich in historical background.
A 2002 best-selling mystery novel by Matthew Pearl, ''The Dante Club,'' is a piece of historical fiction set in [[Boston]] in 1865. It is based partly on real events; the [[Dante Club]] was real, the mystery story is not. At the time, not many people in the [[United States]] knew [[Italian]] or Dante's work. A group of writers formed a club to translate Dante's work and promote his importance. Three of them were [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]], [[Oliver Wendell Holmes]], and [[James Russell Lowell]]. Like Dante's work itself, it has frightening and gruesome scenes, but is rich in historical background.