The Guardian view on Dante: heavenly wisdom for our troubled times | Editorial

On the 700th anniversary of the great poet’s death, his Divine Comedy carries a powerful message for modern culture warriors

Seven hundred years after his death, updating Dante’s Divine Comedy continues to be an enjoyable pastime. What, for example, would Minos, the mythological judge in Inferno, make of Boris Johnson? Snake-tailed and scowling, Minos sits at the mouth of hell, assessing sinners before sending them to their appropriate location in the nine circles of torment. Popes, emperors and Dante’s personal enemies are all blown downwards to their just deserts by a bitterly cold wind.

For Mr Johnson, the upper circles, where sins of passion and unrestrained appetite are punished, might seem a natural home. Alternatively, remembering the notorious ‘‘£350m for the NHS” Brexit pledge, the eighth circle – where falsifiers and promoters of schism languish – could be a good fit.