Preface

Eternal life is long. Without aging, it is not as exciting. Here in Hell, I am stuck as middle-aged. Life's milestones keep us going down the path happily. Before I died, the thrills of life made it so exciting. I wrote poems, drank in excess, and traveled. I only treated myself with the highest of quality goods. Every action had to happen at that exact moment, and I never thought of the next day. I lived life in excess, but now I live in a world where I can't replicate those feelings. Nothing has any rush because the clock could run out at anytime. Before any day could be your last, and it kept life exciting. I worked for my country and gave to the gods- trying to do whatever I could. People also listened to me in the Republic. They thought I was intelligent and influential. My opinion mattered and I could make change with my suggestion. My life without these luxuries is the worst.

I live in the second best world- shut out of Heaven because I was born too early and celebrated paganism. Here in the first circle of Hell, I am denied anything of great quality. I miss nice clothing and great food. Nothing tastes as good as it did when I was alive.

Everyone here also was considered special, so suddenly I am normal? Aristotle, Plato, and Hippocrates are my neighbors. Years ago, I would be excited about their minds so close, but I am now denied any type of praise because of them--they think my stories are silly and that their that guessing games and science are better. Because they arrived before me, that has been the general tone for my experience, for they treated me in this manner since I arrived. It has been miserable for my sentence thus far is what I assume is a couple hundred years, and they have dissuaded others from becoming my friends.

In the afterlife, I have continued writing stories. I quickly finished the Aeneid and moved on to writing down people's stories to preserve them. I have been investigating Hell- it is much different than I thought it was going to be. I jot down the regrets of those who lay in the icy slosh and who fight on the River Styx. My curiosity or loneliness from alienation keeps me from wasting away and turning into nothing. If I have eternal life, while it is not the best, at least I can use it. The stories I find are depressing but it keeps me going, knowing that I am lucky. My punishment is not painful, but it is not just. However, I have been writing for a while and am running out of stories. There are more people from my generation in Hell than the newer ones. I guess Christianity is growing in popularity or vice is out of style.

I do technically deserve to be here, for I did not live a life following Christ. I lived before him! So I am appealing my current situation. I cannot live like this for forever. Ignorance should be an excuse for my crime. These conditions are a miserable punishment when I did not know I was doing anything wrong. First, I must go to the Devil and state my case, then he will decide whether to send my case to G-d for the final verdict.

Overall, life would improve if something interesting would happen in Hell.