The monumental sculpture by Auguste Rodin.
The Gates of Hell are the physical link between the mortal realm (That was to say the living world) and Hell itself. This was the second level of the game where Dante met Virgil for the first time and used an Asterian Beast to open the gates into Limbo. Here, he also met the minor demons and tormented shades.
Trivia
- The Gates of Hell in the game are modeled directly off the famous "Gates of Hell" sculpture by the French artist Auguste Rodin. In turn, the original sculpture was directly inspired by the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.
- The full inscription on the Gate of Hell goes as follows:
"Per me si va ne la città dolente,
Per me si va ne l'etterno dolore,
Per me si va tra perduta gente.
Giustizia mosse il mio alto fattore:
fecemi la divina potestate,
la somma sapienza e 'l primo amore.
Dinanzi a mi non fuor cose create
se non etterne, e io etterno duro.
Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate."
Translation:
"Through me is the way to the city of woe,
Through me is the way to eternal pain,
Through me is the way to a lost people.
Justice moved my great Creator
Divine Power made me,
the Supreme Wisdom and the Primal Love.
Before me nothing else was created
nothing but the eternal, and I last eternally.
Abandon all hope, you who enter here."
- Interestingly enough, Charon recites some of the words inscribed on the Gate from the original epic.