A pilgrim, lost in a dark wood, finds rescue when a distinguished classical poet, dispatched at the behest of a heavenly woman, offers to guide him through the realm of the damned. They descend through ordered circles that disclose vivid punishments corresponding to moral failings, and they encounter mythic figures and recent personages who articulate human culpability. The narrative blends striking visual detail with theological and political reflection, using allegory to examine justice, responsibility, and the soul’s need for purification, and it functions as the opening segment of a larger allegorical voyage toward moral restoration.