Cantos 16, 17, and 18 revolve around interactions with violent sinners from the recent political conflicts in Florence, Dante’s home city, and the city from which he was permanently exiled, shortly before he began work on the Comedy. What is the purpose of a poem aspiring to universality being laced with references to particular, local people – people who would have been long forgotten had they not appeared in Dante’s poem (as opposed to say, Greek mythic heroes, or Caesars). Why does Hell have such a political quality – especially given how central and inescapable politics is to human life and human goodness, as Dante conceives of them.

We also consider how politics relates to love, desire, and human freedom. And the difference between effective rhetoric and lying. And the difference between lying and writing poetry. And if Hell is just the ideal city with all God’s grace removed. And if Hell is a political domain or not. And we talk about Francesca again! And there’s also more talk about sodomy!