The Inferno, by Dante Alighieri, translated by Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander (Doubleday, 614 pp., $35)

When two lesser angels fail to recognize Milton's Satan, he replies scornfully, "Not to know me argues yourselves unknown." Culturally, Dante could say the same thing.

There is a kind of succession among the major translations of Dante. John D. Sinclair's prose version of The Divine Comedy (1939-1948) has been the one most in general use. It is perfectly serviceable, ...