Heathcote Williams

'Abandon all hope you who enter here' (Lasciate ogne speranza voi ch'intrate)

Dante’s Hell is one of the most remarkable visions in Western literature. An allegory for his and future ages, it is, at the same time, an account of terrifying realism. Passing under a lintel emblazoned with these frightening words, the poet is led down into the depths by Virgil and shown those doomed to suffer eternal torment for vices exhibited and sins

Dante’s vision, The Divine Comedy, has profoundly affected every generation since it first appeared in the early 14th century. The box set contains the trilogy of The Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise, plus a biography of Dante – A Life of Dante – which puts the very personal nature of his poetry into perspective.

Unabridged in a new translation by Benedict Flynn

The Inferno

“Abandon all hope you who enter