1) When you hear the word, “afterlife” what comes to mind? What do you think about or envision?
2) Why do you think there are so many interpretations and renditions of the afterlife- in art, in movies, in poems, in religions, etc. Why do you think people think about it so much?
3) What is the relationship between mankind and the divine?
4) In Canto III When Dante asks Virgil for an explanation of the inscription above the Gate of Hell, Virgil says, “For we have reached the place of which I spoke, / where you will see the miserable people, / those who have lost the good of the intellect” (16-18). What does this tell you about how you get to hell? Are you surprised to see intellect mentioned here? Why or why not?
5) Why do you think Virgil is Dante’s guide through hell? If you had to pick someone to guide you through a version of the afterlife, who would you pick and why?
6) In Canto V, it is clear Paulo and Francesca are in a hell that is a result of their choices. What do you think of the idea that hell is a result of what we chose? Even if you do not believe in a hell or an afterlife, is there something to be learned from this concept?