Dante's epic in a new, magnificent, and delightful hardcover edition. In Inferno, Dante describes his descent into Hell, accompanied by Virgil, who guides him. Hell represents a cruel underworld where desperate figures are condemned to eternal damnation for committing one or more of the seven deadly sins. As he descends through nine concentric circles of increasingly agonizing torture, Dante encounters damned souls, including the pagan Aeneas, the liar Odysseus, the suicide Cleopatra, and his own political enemies, who are condemned for their deceit. Guided by grinning demons, the poet must ultimately journey with Virgil to the deepest point of all. For only through the encounter with Satan at the heart of Hell can he truly understand the tragedy of sin.