Dante's "Inferno".

Dante Alighieri wrote "The Inferno" as a warning to his peers to turn from their sinful ways; anguish is all that is in store for those who are corrupt. This ground-breaking work painted a vivid picture of hell as an evil, inexplicably torturous place. Dante travels through the nine circles of the underworld with Virgil, a fellow poet, as his guide. "Therefore, for your own good, I think it well you follow me and I …

…views on the afterlife put into a poem. Because of a clear sense the moral standards of society were nowhere near God's standards; Dante took it upon himself to paint a vivid picture of the consequences of a sinful life. I feel that while Dante does not portray hell biblically, he does so symbolically; using memorable analogies to convey his universal theme: anguish is all that is in store for those who do not repent.