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To: Sultan who wrote (10336)	2/21/2003 1:51:01 PM
From: HG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13015

Inferno is part of The Divine Comedy which was written in early late 13 to early 14 century. Until Christianity, the religions with their pagan Gods had emphasised Fate, which is really tragic in that it shows humans incapable of anything on their own. Christianity emhasised free will and hence the name Comedy (as opposed to tragedy). The Divine Comedy explores afterlife - Heaven and Hell, which are further divided into Hell (Inferno) - for non believers of Christianity, Purgatorio - where sins can be purged and souls redeemed. And heaven (Paradiso) which is for good Christians. Hence the three parts - Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso. The topology and the geography of the places is very well explained as in there are various circles for various 'sins' and 'good deeds'. The story is about this Pilgrim <Dante himself> who is taken on a tour by the ghost of Virgil to Inferno and Purgatorio and by a lady called Beatrice to Paradiso and while there, meets the famous people of this world, including Virgils own creations, in various parts of heaven and hell, enduring their punishments or rewards. Since the epic was written in 13th century, and no one except Christians were allowed in Dantes Purgatory or Heavens, you can understand where your Prophet and my Saints went and what Dante, a devout Christian, found them doing there :) Virgil, Socrates, Aristotle, all great figures are in Inferno. :) The three volumes are great as a literary read, Dante shines with his imaginative storytelling skills....other than that it is a black and white representation of human existance - like any religious read its flawed in its assumptions.