Why Dante? Lemme tell ya'

Dante is the ideal character for "Dante's Inferno" because he is the perfect example of everything he witnesses. It's as though his future is being shown before him. As he ventures through each level of hell, Dante notes either internally or externally that he is a sinner to each as well. His lust sits with Beatrice, his hypocrisy in his political views and so on. Dante is easily relatable in that as a reader, we don't really know much about him. He holds basic, broad personal traits in that he feels sympathy for the dying souls, but happiness from the torture of those he dislikes. Furthermore, he holds himself on a pedistool, thinking himself a highly ranked poet and philosopher among Homer and Socrates. Finally, because it's Dante's personal hell, he creates a hell that is pertinent to himself only. In this case, it's the hell of a man who's just like everyone else. It's not a stab at the humorous hell of a rock star being stuck in a room with Hannah Montana, but rather a hell that would/could pertain to any average person reading it.