Dante compares the lake of ice in Hell to a huge sheet of glass. The first area they encounter is called Caina, after Cain who killed his brother in the book of Genesis. Here they see thousands of sinners frozen in the lake, with only their neck and heads protruding from the ice. This is the area reserved for those who have sinned against their own family. In a bizarre scene, Dante accidentally kicks the head of one of the sinners and ends up berating him and pulling his hair out in a rage. Most of the characters in this scene are politicians and families from Florence.

Dante the poet describes the extreme cold and wind, cold enough to freeze tears and produce the constant sound of teeth chattering. As Dante and Virgil progress they enter into one of the most famous scenes in the Inferno, two sinners frozen in one hole, one sinner gnawing and eating the head, hair, brains, and scalp of the other.  …continue… …or go back…