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I'm about halfway through his first (insert word for part of a trilogy) of the Divine Comedy. Though it's a difficult read--archaic language aplenty, and the rhymes don't translate from Latin--I'm really enjoying the imagery. It's fascinating to me the way Dante represents each sin with a fitting punishment in hell and how there are a plethora of sins to commit. No wonder people in the medieval times were so afraid of everything!

Anyways, Virgil accompanies Dante the Poet through hell since he had already recorded his own journey through hell. I am aware that Aristotle also had documented a trip through well that precedes Virgil. I was lead to believe that the reason why this book was to important in the history of literature was because it was the first piece of literature that fleshed out hell so to speak. However, it appears to the contrary that two authors beat him to it as Dante is aware of. I realize that the Catholic Church incorporated a lot of Dante's work, but I do feel it diminishes the respect and ignorant awe I held of Dante knowing that he wasn't the first to originate many ideas about hell.