Beatrice descends from Heaven into Limbo to ask Virgil to protect Dante from 3 wild beasts. She gives him the mission to guide Dante through Inferno and Purgatory.
Dante and Virgil watch Minos judging the arriving sinners. They arrive to the 2nd circle of the lustful. Dante speaks with Francesca, who tells him why she and her lover Paolo ended up in the circle of the lustful.
Dante and Virgil arrive to the 3rd Circle, where the gluttons pay for their sins in the mud and under a heavy rain. They meet the sinners and Cerberus, a three-dog head, which tortures the sinners by biting them and throwing them around.
Dante and Virgil get on board of Phlegyas' boat, who transport them over the river Styx to the 5th Circle, where the wrathful sinners are submerged under water.
Dante and Virgil arrive to the other side of river Styx to face DIS wall. They confront the furies, then demons block the gate to the 6th Circle of the heretics. God's Messenger appears and opens the gate for them.
Dante and Virgil enter Dis and the 6th Circle, where the heretics pay for their sins in tombs of fire. Dante speaks to Farinata, who warns Dante about his exile from Florence.
Structure of Hell: Lower and Upper Circles. The wall of Dis divides Hell into lower and upper circles. The upper circles of Hell are the 1st to, and including, the 5th circle. The lower circles are from the 6th to the 9th circle.
Dante and Virgil meet the Minotaur, the guardian of the 7th Circle, who Virgil has to calm down so they can move on. They arrive to the 1st Ring, where the Centaurs throw arrows to the sinners in the Phlegethon river of boiling blood.