1. Where is Dante at the beginning of the poem? How did he get there? Can he be dreaming? Have you figured out his age yet?

2. He says he was "midway through the journey of our life." What did you understand by his choice of the word our instead of my?

3. Why does Dante need to go deep into Hell to get back on the right path? What is keeping him from the path? If his goal is to reach the top of the hill, why must he first go down to get up there?

4. "Never yet a living person left (hell) once entering." Will Dante be the first? Is he living, does he still have his body or is he too a shade?

5. Why is the poet Virgil in Hell? What keeps him from Heaven? His poem, The Aeneid is one of the roots of the Inferno. Have you read it? Can you tell us something about it? How does Virgil come to be Dante's guide?

1. What is the difference between pity and mercy? Can you find examples in the opening cantos?

2. Have you experienced trepidation about our journey into Hell? How does Virgil convince Dante to continue when fear overcomes him?

3. What do you know of the three Heavenly ladies concerned about Dante's well-being? If we had read Paradiso first, would we be familiar with them? What do their names mean?

4. Who was Paul, the "Chosen Vessel"? Why is he significant to Dante now?

5. The inscription on the Gates of Hell says that Hell was made before mankind was created. What purpose did it serve?

6. What is the banner that unites the first group Dante encounters? Is theirs a contrapasso punishment directly related to the sin? Who does Dante recognize here?

7. Is it a good sign to Dante that Charon refuses to ferry him across the Acheron? What lies on the other side? Why are the souls so damned eager to get on the boat?

8. How is Hell as a "city" reinforced in Canto IV? Who are the "blind" residing within the gates? What is their punishment? What is Dante's reaction to their plight. Your own?

9. Some have managed to exit this level despite the inscription on the gates. Does this suggest that more may be pardonned in the future? Who are they and how did they get out? How does Dante the Author get around the problem of naming all of the Israelites who were probably rescued?

10. How did Virgil manage to leave Limbo to go to Dante? What is the significance of Dante's "hidden question" to Virgil in this Canto? How did Virgil respond?

1. What is Minos' job at the entrance to the Second Circle of Hell, where the real punishment begins? Who is he? What qualifies him for the job?

2. Why is Dante interested in speaking to Francesca and Paoli? What is his reaction to her story? Do you sense that she is being truthful?

3. Why are Francesca and Paoli in the Second Circle? What is the nature of their sin? How is their punishment related to the sin?

1. As Dante and Virgil cross the River Styx, the soul of Filippo Argenti, one of the Wrathful, rises from the water. What is Dante’s response to this shade, and why is Virgil so pleased with how Dante acted?

2. What do you think about Dante thanking God for granting his wish to see the weeping wretch further tortured and punished? Compare this to the pity he felt for the sinners in higher circles?

3. Why is it so much more difficult this time for Virgil to get Dante through the city gates of Dis, the capital of Hell? Were you stunned when Dante appealed directly to us, his readers to consider his feelings when Virgil left him alone at the gate? (line 94)

1.What are the three categories of Hell Virgil describes to his pupil while waiting for the stench of Circle 7 to subside? Can you find the logic in the division? Why are the Incontinent placed outside the walls of Dis? Why are the Fraudulent at the very bottom?

2. Two sinful cities are mentioned by Virgil, Sodom and Cahors. What can you find about Cahors?

3.What is the significance of Virgil's answer when Dante asks him to "untie the knot"? (Usury?)

1. Why does burning sand seem appropriate for those who are violent against God, Nature, and Art? Do you understand the punishment of the Blasphemers and how it relates to their sin?

2. Will you share your translation describing the rhythmic dance of the sinners?

3. Does the disdainful Blasphemer, Capaneus seem at all repentant?

4. As the Inferno continues, Virgil seems more and more human, as well as very concerned for Dante’s well being. What evidence do you find in this canto?

5. What is significance of the Old Man of Crete and his tears? Is he Dante's creation?

1. How do you picture the topography of this circle? Is it as treacherous as Circle VII - or worse? (what does Maleborge mean?)

2. Is the punishment the same for both Pimps and Seducers? (Is this the first time we have met devils down here?)

3. Dante asks Venedico C., "how did you get yourself in this pickle?" (What does your translation say?) What did he do? Have we met any sinners who were hiding their faces before this?

4. How is the punishment for Flatterers appropriate? Who was Thaïs? What was her sin?

1. It is said that Dante is at his coarsest in Bolgia V & VI. Can you cite examples of his grotesque humor? How does this reflect his attitude towards Graft?

2. How do Grafters compare with Simonists? Why is their punishment appropriate? (What are "grappling hooks"?) What is your impression of the Malbranche? What is the combined effect of the shipyard/cooking similes and these fiends?

3. What is the big earthquake referred to here? What effect does it have on the landscape of the Malborge? Is it ironic that Virgil must now suspend Reason and trust Grafters? What is Dante's state of mind?

4. Where do you see evidence of Dante's battlefield experience? Why does he mention it here in connection with the "army" of the Malbranche?

5. "In church with saints - with rowdy good for nothings in the tavern." How does this old proverb set the tone, and describe the march with the ten fiends?

6. Who are the "Italians" who represent Graft in this Bolgia? What was their sin?

7. How does the Navarese repeat the sin for which he is consigned here in the first place? Is this the first time we have seen a sinner actually performing the sin?

8. Do you see the role of devils and sinners interchanging here? Do you think we will see more of this as we descend towards the bottom? What is the irony in the last scene as Dante and Virgil leave their "escorts" behind?

1. What does the extended simile at the start of this canto convey? Does the simile, which refers to the peasants in Spring bring a small relief into the narration?

2. "The man who lies asleep/ will never waken fame," Virgil admonishes Dante. What man does Dante the Poet have in mind? Is fame important to Dante?

3. What is the punishment for the thieves that Dante sees first? How is it appropriate?

4. What is the legend of the Phoenix? How does it relate to the overall theme here?

5. Why is Dante surprised to find Vanni Fucci in this bolgia? What happened in his home town of Pistoia? What prophecy does he predict for Dante? Why?

6. Vanni Fucci “makes a fig” with both his hands at God. What does this mean? What earlier sinner are you reminded of?

7. What happened in Vanni Fucci's home town of Pistoia that so infuriates Dante?

8. Why do the thieves that Dante meets in this canto constantly have their shapes changed? Are the three forms of metamorphosis related to different forms of theft?

9. What classical authors does Dante imitate? Why does he claim superiority over them?

1. Why is the scene Dante comes upon in the 9th bolgia so much more shocking than the eighth? Who are the first two shades he meets, Mahomet and Ali? Can you find a connection between The Divine Comedy and Mohammed's Koran?

2. How is Mahomet's punishment translated in your edition, "I saw someone ripped open from his chin to..." ? Can you explain the contrapasso nature of his punishment?

3. For what sort of discord were Pier da Medicina, Curio and Mosca condemned to this bolgia? How does Dante even the score with Mosca?

4. Who was Bertran de Born, what did he do, and how was his the "perfect contrapasso"? (Did you know that this is the only time in the entire poem that Dante describes punishment as contrapasso?) Can you find Dante's source for the contrapasso concept?

5. Why is Virgil in a hurry to cover the "twenty-two miles" around this Circle? What is Dante's response to Virgil's rebuke for wasting time staring into Bolge 9? (Who is Geri de Bello?)

6. How does Bolgia 10 resemble a hospital as alluded to in the simile of Maremma? What is the punishment for the "patients" of the first zone of this bolge?

7. Who are the two Italians with whom Dante speaks? Does he know them? Why was Alchemy considered such a terrible sin? Is this the crime for which they were executed?

8. "Was there ever a race more vain than the Sienese?" Why does Dante hold Siena up for derision? Do the shades have a message for the living?