The Inferno, the first part of the Divina Commedia, written around 1307 to 1314, is the masterpiece of Dante Alighieri. The story tells of a pilgrim Dante, not to be confused with the writer Dante, and his journey through hell to the base of the mountain of purgatory. Along the way, Dante accompanied by Virgil (human reason), meet many of Dante's political rivals and many mythological creatures and sinners from throughout history. In the end, the travelers climb down Satan's back, through the center of the earth and find themselves inside mount Purgatory. Dante develops many themes throughout the adventures of these travelers. The Inferno is a work that Dante used to express his ideas on God's divine justice. Because of this, Dante was one of the most popular poets in the world when he died in 1321. Dante develops this theme with skill unparalleled even today. In an essay by Friedrich Von Schelling, the Inferno is described as, "the most objectively terrible [part] in its subject matter, so it is the strongest in expression and the strictest in diction, sombre and full of dread in its very choice of words" (21). He even invented a new rhyme scheme, terza rima, to use throughout his epic work. Dante develops the theme of God's divine justice through the punishments the sinners receive, his own personal journey through hell and the power God has given the characters that help Dante along the way.
             The characters that help Dante through hell exemplify God's divine justice because God knows it is right that Dante be showed the way to enlightenment. The first help Dante receives from God is that of Virgil. In Moss and Wilson's Literature and it's Times, the point is made that, "By associating himself with Virgil, Dante is perhaps making a claim for the comparable importance of his own work as a celebration of a Christian empire"(178). Little did Dante know that his works have been ...