Introduction: Written during the 14th century, Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri 's Divine Comedy which questions the meaning of human freedom, responsibility, and identity. It tells the story of the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet, Virgil. The poem depicts hell as nine concentric circles of torment. Dante, as a Florentine, a poet, a lover, and a religious believer, struggled with the question, “Who am I” in each facet of his life before coming to a moment of vision that wholly transformed him as a person. Dante 's poem, as beautiful as it is, is also terrifying. It 's sad. It 's elative. It 's something that gives us a way of seeing salvation. As we think about art and we think about beauty and the role that this poem plays in our lives, it enables us to explore the full range of human emotions in relationship to this poem. We often hear that art imitates life. Art shows us who we are. And that 's why we enjoy it. It helps us see our good experiences and our not so good experiences. It helps us express our emotions. And together with that recognition of ourselves, we have now a celebration, literally. We have a celebration of ourselves as human beings. The beauty of art helps us recognize and enjoy what gives our lives, as human beings, meaning and value. Sometimes it 's pleasurable. Sometimes it 's painful. But whenever art is beautiful, it is beautiful because it shows us what 's real. So what 's this reality that