Circle Two: The Lustful

Lustful people spend eternity in a dark damp whirlwind. The second circle is the real beginning of hell. Here we see the principle of retribution: sinners tossed and whirled by winds as in life they were helpless in sexual things. This is poetic justice. I still think that this still seems better than following a flag while being stung by wasps. There are a lot of famous people here: Cleopatra, Helen, Tristan.

Circle One: Limbo

1st circle: Limbo. Reserved for the souls of the just people who never knew Christ, and those (especially infants) who died without baptism and never committed a sin. Here Dante encounters the ancient philosophers and poets. Another group that fell between the ecclesiastical cracks are those who died before Christ made the scene. Never having experienced God's word in the form of door-to-door missionaries, they just kind of hang around and sigh about the fact that while not being tortured for all time is nice and all, it's not as nice as heaven. The poets in Limbo include the Classical Poets Homer, Ovid, Lucan, and Horace.