The lines inscribed above the gates of hell stand out to me the most in Dante’s Inferno. The first thing that Dante reads are these lines, as he and Virgil pass into the Ante-Inferno before the river Acheron. They represent the voice of Hell making it an entity, a force not to be reckoned with. The words declare the city of Hell’s origin, nature and true purpose. It foreshadows the horror yet to come. Th inscription describes Hell as a city. This defines the geographical aspect of the poem. Hell is a g contained area bound by walls and containing a large population of souls. It serves as a gruesome and horrific counterpart to Heaven. Virgil describes Heaven as the city of God. Secondly, the inscription shows Hell