The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
Created . Updated .This is going to be my journal of notes, thoughts, questions, and answers as I read through The Inferno. The plan is to read one Canto most days, reflect and write about it before consulting supporting materials. Updates I make after looking at other sources will be clearly marked. This is more for me; I want to be able to tell the difference later between my initial thoughts and what I learned from other sources.
Resources
I'll add to this list as it grows.
- The Inferno. Dante Alighieri, Anthony Esolen (translator).
- Ascend: The Great Books Podcast
2/18/2026
Read Canto 1 this morning when I got up. I got right into the peom, skipping the Introduction. I'll come back to the Introduction when I finish the book. I like that this edition of the book has the Italian and English on facing pages; though I don't know Italian, it's nice to know it's there.
Canto 1
Synopsis: Dante wakes up in a strange wilderness, sees a mountain, and encounters a leopard, a lion, and a wolf. He gets past the first two, but the wolf shakes him to the core, and he flees. He meets Virgil, who proposes a journey through Hell and Purgatory, after which he will need a new guide because Virgil cannot make the journey to Paradise himself.
Thoughts: Canto 1 went pretty quickly. Here are some notes:
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I feel like there is some symbolism behind the leopard, lion, and she-wolf, but I'm not sure yet what it is.
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Virgil, speaking about the she-wolf, says:
Many a living soul takes her to wife
and many shall, until the Grayhound comes,
he who will make her die in misery.I'm not really sure what he means here that many people take the she-wolf to wife, or what the Grayhound is. It seems that the fate of the she-wolf is decided, but I'm not following the symbolism. It seems that the Grayhound is perhaps some contemporary Italian politician, but I'm hoping there's actually a theological meaning here.
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Right after talking about the Grayhound, there are references to people I don't know: Camilla, who died; and Nisus, Turnus, and Euryalus.
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Why is Virgil shut out of Paradise? He says himself that he rebelled against God, but I don't know his story, and wonder if he we'll learn more about the guide, or if Virgil was chosen because he would be familiar to the reader, and we will be expected to know his story.
2/19/2026
Canto 2
Synopsis Dante's courage fails him. Virgil recounts how he came to help Dante---the Blessed Virgin saw his trouble, informed St. Lucy, who went to Beatrice as she reclined with Rachel (Jacob's wife). Beatrice flew to Virgil, who she knew would be the best guide for Dante.
Thoughts For some reason, the passage where the Blessed Virgin sees Dante's distress, and the following passage where Beatrice is talking with Virgil brought tears to my eyes. It just reminded me that the Cloud of Witnesses is constantly rooting for us, looking for ways to intercede on our behalf, and come to our aid.
I read through the Canto once without notes, but after seeing the richness of Esolen's notes last night, I immediately went back for a second pass with the notes. It's occurring to me that the Cantos really aren't saying much in the literal sense, but the symbolism and descriptive richness is saying volumes, only a little of which I'm picking up on.
2/20/2026
Canto 3
Synopsis Dante passes through the gate of hell, and encounters the souls of the small-souled. These damned souls lived lukewarm lives; realy, the never lived at all. They will not be admitted to Heaven or to Hell, for to admit them to Hell would be to give glory to the other souls there, for at least those souls did something, at least that's how I read it. They are tormented by stinging flies and wasps, and their blood mingles with tears drops to the ground as food for maggots.
Then they get to the river, and meet Charon, who tells Dante he can't come, but Virgil tells him to be quiet, and that Dante is to be allowed admittance. Dante gets in the boat full of damned souls, then there's an earthquake, and he passes out from fear.
Thoughts I'm probably going to see myself in all these sections of Hell, though I hope not. This anteroom to Hell, full of the small-souled, resonated with me. It's not ambition or position (there's a Pope mentioned as being here). Pope Benedict XVI's remark, "The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness", came to mind as well here. Greatness is loving greatly, daring to live your life.
2/22/2026
I read Canto 4 yesterday and Canto 5 this morning.
Canto 4
Synopsis Dante and Virgil go to the first ring of Hell, where people who were great in life, though did not know God, dwell in neither joy or happiness. This is where the unbaptized dwell, as well as the great pre-Christian philosophers, scientists, poets, and thinkers. This is the place from which Virgil was called to guide Dante. Dante asks if anyone has ever been taken from here to Paradise, and Virgil answers with his eyewitness account of the harrowing of Hell, when Christ lifted up Adam, Moses, the patriarchs, and many others. We first meet up with the great poets, Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan. Virgil makes the fifth of this group, and they welcome Dante (not one for false humility) as sixth.
Thoughts Reading about Virgil's account of Christ coming to Hell and freeing Adam and the others to whom Heaven was shut was moving. This is a place in Hell where light is permitted to shine, in honor of the great lives these poets, philosophers, and thinkers had led, even though they did not know God. My thought yesterday that I would identify with the denizens of each ring was soon proved false, as I cannot claim to have lived a great life. Also, being baptized, I wouldn't end up here anyways; either a higher or, God forbid, lower place awaits me.
Canto 5
The second ring of Hell is reserved for those who fell to the sin of lust. These people are constantly blown around by a wind, never being able to stand still. Like the way their actions were blown by their will, unchecked by reason, during life. There are many historical figures here, but the focus is on two people from Dante's era, who he also wrote about in a separate work: Francesca and Paolo. We hear about how they were reading about Lancelot and Guinevere, and were tempted into adultery, were caught by Francesca's husband, and murdered by him. It all has the ring of excuse-making though: flowery words about love, but really not wanting to take responsibility for their actions. Esolen's notes are again great here, calling this excuse-making out, and referencing St. Thomas Aquinas's remarks about the will being subject to reason.