Part One: The Inferno

Dante with Virgil as his guide begin their descent into Inferno, through the Gates of Hell. We hear one of the lines best known from the Divine Comedy: "Abandon All Hope, You Who Enter Here."

Discover Dante's motivation for writing, the power of The Divine Comedy, and the meaning of the character who travels through Inferno to Purgatory to Paradise.

Explore the despair and anger Dante felt after being unjustly exiled from Florence, and how his exile and the death of Beatrice Portinari motivated his writing — and ultimately the creation of The Divine Comedy.

Dante and Virgil descend to the Third Circle of Hell, where they encounter those condemned for Gluttony. The character Ciacco describes the misery of his condition and explains that greed — or avariciousness — is the sin that corrupts everything.

Explore the historical background of medieval Florence from 1216 to Dante's birth in 1265, dramatic details of Dante’s childhood, education and early literary and political career, culminating in his exile in 1302, and his decision to begin The Divine Comedy in 1306.