Hell is structured as a funnel-shaped pit reaching the center of the Earth, formed by the fall of Lucifer. Sinners are punished according to the nature of their crimes, with the severity increasing as the poets descend.
The poem is an allegory representing the journey of the soul toward God. It is composed in terza rima , a three-line rhyme scheme Dante pioneered. Dante's Inferno
Dante Alighieri (c. 1265–1321), often called the "father of the Italian language". Hell is structured as a funnel-shaped pit reaching
Dante, lost in a "dark wood" at age 35, is prevented from ascending a sunlit mountain by three beasts (a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf). The spirit of Virgil appears to guide him through Hell and Purgatory as the only path to salvation. The Nine Circles of Hell It is composed in terza rima , a