The Divine Comedy
Dante, Alighieri Inferno begins with Dante lost in a dark wood, assailed by beasts he cannot evade, and unable to find the straight way to salvation. Conscious that he is ruining himself and that he is falling into a dark place, Dante is at last rescued by Virgil, and the two of them begin their journey to the underworld. Allegorically, the Inferno represents the Christian soul seeing sin for what it really is, and the three beasts represent three types of sin...