THE BEST Poem Ever WrittenDante’s Divine Comedy can rightly be called the best poem ever written, praised through the ages by a pantheon of writers and scholars. Romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850) referred to Dante’s crowned “visionary brow.” Irish novelist James Joyce (1882-1941) stated “Dante is my religious food!” Pope Benedict XV (1854-1922) called Dante “probably the most eloquent vocalist of the Christian idea.” Actually the 20th hundred years literary critic T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) about Dante’s Inferno: A Study on Part I from the Divine Comedy famously wrote that “Shakespeare and Dante separate the world between them, there is absolutely no third.”However today this great poem is often dismissed by contemporary scholars for its unabashed Catholic theology and deep religious vision. Shrug from the unfounded disdain of the skeptics and find out for yourself the true grandeur, Christian nature, and sheer artistry of Dante’s Divine Humor.Your Expert GuideJust as Dante needed Virgil to lead him through the bowels of Hell, you also need a true and trustworthy guidebook. Dr. Anthony Esolen acts as your Virgil in this course around the Inferno, the 1st canticle from the Divine Humor. An expert who has taught Dante to university students for more than twenty years, Teacher Esolen can be the preeminent modern translator of the entire Divine Comedy from the original Italian.The 9 Circles of HellWith Teacher Esolen you are going to enter the terrible gates of Hell and progress level by infernal level to its diabolical depths. Teacher Esolen places a particular focus on the play of the poem, leading you through each canto in succession. On the way, you will learn:Dante’s astonishing human being and theological insightsThe future of manHow to find our way out from the wilderness of sinThe romantic relationship between love and knowledgeThe essential unity between body and soul.Professor Esolen can a lot more than satisfy your curiosity about Hell and the fate of the damned. He’ll reveal in all its starkness the horror of sin, and awaken in your heart a desiring divine love.