Dante Alighieri's “Inferno”, written in the 14th century, is the first part of Dante's epic poem, the “Divine Comedy”. “Purgatorio” and “Paradiso” followed. “Inferno” was an allegorical tale of Dante as he descends through the nine levels of Hell with his guide, the Roman poet Virgil. As Dante travels through the levels, or concentric rings of Hell, he begins to have a new understanding of religion and also begins to question his own morals and ethics. In the first rings, Dante feels great pity for the tortured souls he sees. However, when he reaches the inner rings, he is less inclined to pity sinful souls, and eventually realizes that to pity those in Hell is to demonstrate a lack of understanding. This is because divine justice is infinitely perfect and sinners receive punishment in proportion to their sins. The gloomy suffocate in the mud, the angry attack each other, the greedy are forced to eat excrement, and so on. Dante refused to believe that every sinner is destined to suffer in the same Hell regardless of the severity of their sins. This highlights one of the main themes of “Inferno”: the idea that God's justice is perfect. Harsh as it may seem, this punishment is completely deserved by the sinners. Dante uses this poem to convey how he views human evil and how he classifies and judges all types of evil. To obtain this classification and judgment, Dante makes use of rigid Christian doctrinal values. In other words, the worst sins do not necessarily violate human happiness or harmony on Earth, but instead interrupt God's will in Heaven. Dante, for example, considers violence a lesser sin than fraud. This is because fraud is more opposed to the will of God; God was... middle of paper... s. This is very different from the popular conception of Satan during the Renaissance which can be seen in Giotto di Bondone's painting, "The Last Judgment". Giotto gives Satan a dominant role in Hell and portrays him as very violent and gruesome. Dante's Inferno changes the way people think and view Satan. For example, painters William Blake and Nardo di Cione depict Satan as he appears in “Inferno.” Dante greatly influenced both the Renaissance understanding of Satan and also Christian theology in general. In conclusion, Dante Alighieri's "Inferno" is an allegorical epic poem that had a great impact on the Renaissance view of Hell and Christianity in general. This metaphorical narrative is full of symbolism and political commentary. This poem had a huge impact on religion during the Renaissance and on the way people think in general.