He was not the only one Job in the bible ask God to send him to "hell" or Sheol, or to rest in peace in death.

There is nothing more laughable than going to Hell. What could be more fun?

I assume you're referring to the Divine Comedy. I don't think he *wants* to. He basically gets lost, is rescued by Virgil thanks to the intercession of Beatrice, and gets taken on a guided tour of Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, where he meets her.

Dante also went to purgatory and heaven as well so it is not just a hell thing.

Masochistic tendencies, maybe?

he is trying to make money as an author

Dante's Inferno was not about going to hell. It was an allegorical tale about the politics and people of the day.
The reason that he goes to hell has little importance compared to the thing that he experiences and the people he meets going through the levels of hell.

It was an allegorical "visit", so he could see how spiritual reality relates to earthly life.

I heard that he wrote his 'Divine Comedy' as a way to release (or deal with) some angst he had b/c he was kicked out of his home town in Italy for drawing attention to something the Pope was doing/involved with. The different levels of Hell were described so that he could say what would happen to each of his betrayers.

Agree with:
PrairieD...who posted above:
he is trying to make money as an author
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The Greeks used the masks of comedy and tragedy/happiness and sadness to symbolise theater.
Dante used the contrasts of heaven and hell.
The Greeks were into Greek religious theater; Dante was into Italian religious theater.

Dante Alighieri (the poet, the person) was a critic of the politicians and religious leaders of his time and used his master work to give thumbs up or down by finding them (or other persons who lived before his time) in Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven. He choosed to do so writting his fictional journey to Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. So, He did not wanted to go to Hell but to show us his opinions that (for examples):
* Poet Horace and philosopher Socrates should be in the Limbo (less painfully section/circle of Hell) because they did not meet Jesus and were (again Dante's opinion) not sinful.
* Pope Nicholas III deep down in Hell (8th circle, 3rd subsection)
* Crusader Cacciaguida degli Elisei, great-great-grandfather of Dante is shown at the Heaven (5th Sphere)
From wikipedia:
"In Northern Italy's political struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines, Dante was part of the Guelphs, who in general favored the Papacy over the Holy Roman Emperor. Florence's Guelphs split into factions around 1300: the White Guelphs, who opposed secular rule by Pope Boniface VIII and who wished to preserve Florence's independence, and the Black Guelphs, who favored the Pope's control of Florence. Dante was among the White Guelphs who were exiled in 1302 by the Lord-Mayor Cante de' Gabrielli di Gubbio, after troops under Charles of Valois entered the city, at the request of Boniface and in alliance with the Blacks. The Pope said if he had returned he would be burned at the stake. This exile, which lasted the rest of Dante's life, shows its influence in many parts of the Comedy, from prophecies of Dante's exile to Dante's views of politics to the eternal damnation of some of his opponents."

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