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The meaning and origin of the expression: Abandon all hope ye who enter here

Abandon all hope ye who enter here

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What's the meaning of the phrase 'Abandon all hope ye who enter here'?

'Abandon all hope ye who enter here' is the supposed inscription at the entrance to Hell.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Abandon all hope ye who enter here'?

The expression 'Abandon all hope ye who enter here' is first found in Dante's Divine Comedy.

Abandon all hope ye who enter here.The 1814 translation into English by the Reverend H. F. Cary is the origin for this phrase in English, although he gave it as the less commonly used 'All hope abandon ye who enter here'.

Through me you pass into the city of woe:
Through me you pass into eternal pain:
Through me among the people lost for aye.

Justice the founder of my fabric mov'd:
To rear me was the task of power divine,
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.

Before me things create were none, save things
Eternal, and eternal I endure.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.

Dante Alighieri wrote this allegorical epic poem between 1306 and 1321. Virgil is the guide who takes the reader through the author's examination of the afterlife, which travels through the Inferno (Hell), the Purgatorio (Purgatory), and the Paradiso (Heaven).

In the story the motto is inscribed above the gates of Hell.

Hell itself is described as consisting of nine concentric circles, which mark a descending scale of sins that humans are capable of:

1. Limbo
2. Lust
3. Gluttony
4. Greed
5. Wrath
6. Heresy
7. Violence
8. Fraud
9. Treachery

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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