Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) is the author of The Divine Comedy, an Italian epic poem whose first part is popularly referred to as Dante's Inferno. In the Inferno, the author narrates his journey through Hell, which has the following inscription above its gate: Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate (Abandon all hope, ye who enter here). Treguard quotes this line in slightly inexact translation after dungeoneer-to-be Cliff (Team 2 of Series 3) materialises in the antechamber:

"I'm sometimes tempted to say 'Abandon hope, all ye who enter here', but that's hardly likely to encourage a positive attitude."

I suppose that would have made it the Dantechamber.

One of the Weeping Doors in Series 4 advised a dungeooner to "abandon 'ope". It has also been suggested that the final scene between Mellisandre and Team 3 of Series 4, in which dungeoneer Nicky was obliged to give the maid a certain clue object in exchange for very little, could be summed up with the phrase 'Abandon rope, all ye you enter here'.

Thank you to Canadanne for this additional connection:

'Edmund Dehn [Giant, Gumboil, Igneous, Automatum] played Dante in a 1995 documentary ... It's called 'Strange Landscape: The Circles Of Light' and is available on Vimeo with the director's blessing.'

[Earlier version: 2014-10-13 17:47:41]

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