1) Besides Homer, with what other writer do our editors rank Dante at the summit of world literature?
2) The Inferno we are reading is a key part of the larger work, The Divine Comedy. What kind of influences do our editors credit for shaping a positive side to a Middle-Age world which Dante experienced as “vicious” and “corrupt”?
3) Who were the Ghibellines and he Guelfs” as the “Blacks” and the “Whites” and what did Dante think the country needed to address its “political” and sometimes “spiritual evils”?
4) Who was Dante’s “first love” and why did it never get off the ground, so to speak?
5) What role does Virgil play in this epic poem and why was Dante drawn to him?
6) How did Dante view the powers of church and state?
7) In hell, who is one of the “righteous pagans” and for what reason is he in hell?
8) To what do the editors refer when mentioning the motto “They got what they wanted.”?
9) Who does Dante portray as the worse sinners in hell, and why?
10) In what artistic manner does Dante create the eternal nature of hell, present and future?
