The animated miniseries Over the Garden Wall was well-received by fans and critics because of its witty yet macabre stylings and position as an autumnal viewing staple. Created by Patrick McHale, the series chronicles Wirt and his younger half-brother Greg as they journey to find their way home through treacherous woods called the Unknown. Their goal to survive the forest has similarities to Dante's Inferno, the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem The Divine Comedy, in which the author is guided by the poet Virgil through Hell.

The characterization in Over the Garden Wall often offers key parallels to those featured in Inferno. Wirt's appreciation for poetry and focus on his thoughts rather than action is nearly identical to Dante's quirks, in addition to their shared fondness of a girl. Greg's place as Virgil, a bard-like companion for his brother, is clear. Greg exhibits Virgil-esque bravery toward the Unknown, despite his unawareness of what lies ahead (as opposed to Virgil having a great deal of knowledge), leading his brother further into its depths, as Virgil did with Dante. Even Beatrice, the adorable but feisty avian companion, has numerous shared aspects with her literary counterpart. Beatrice's origin is canonically inspired by the Inferno character, who originally is Dante's lost lover and a guide through Paradisio. While the show's interpretation of Beatrice guides them through the Unknown, citing her purpose for being honor-bound to Greg for saving her, the winged chaperone's intention is discreetly nefarious at first.

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Over the Garden Wall and Dante's Inferno Share Uncanny Similarities

Within the depths of the Unknown lies the Beast, an evident allusion to Lucifer. From his deceptive nature to those he encounters, to his appearance of being a creature with numerous horns and faces, their similarities are unmistakable. Lucifer is able to take on a shadow-like presence throughout all levels of Dante's Inferno, and in addition to the Beast's shrouded visage, he too is present throughout the series in the form of the small, dark turtles. The Beast's need to keep the lantern burning with the Edelwood trees (made from the souls of lost travelers) is similar to Lucifer's hunger to devour souls as well.

While the friendship between the siblings takes center stage, Dante's apprehension is echoed time and time again through parallels in the series. Wirt and Greg find themselves lost and uncertain of how they arrived there (much like Dante). As they begin their trek home, they encounter a Woodsman who cautions them that a Beast within the woods is the death of hope, a likely reference to the infamous inscription above the gates of Hell that read “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” An appropriate warning, given their perilous journey ahead, with each episode mimicking a particular level of the Inferno. Wirt and Greg soon encounter one version of the Beast, in the form of a wolf, much like Dante's encounter with a she-wolf within the Inferno. Thanks to Greg's aid, they free the dog from its possession of the Beast and enter into the true depths of the Unknown. While that may seem like more than enough to pay homage to Alighieri's classic, the parallels to the nine circles of Hell are much deeper than that.

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Episode 2, First Circle: Limbo

Pottsfield Residents with Pumpkin Heads in Over the Garden Wall

As the travelers first arrive in Pottsfield in "Chapter 2: Hard Times at the Husken' Bee," they are taken aback by its slightly bizarre nature and rituals, feeling that something overall is amiss. Upon arriving at the barn filled with a harvest celebration, a potential allegory to the souls waiting to be 'harvested' from Limbo by Christ for salvation. As they observe, one of the citizens remarks to Wirt that he looks like he's arrived a little too early, and that folks don't just pass through Pottsfield. This exchange is a reflection to Pottsfield's Limbo-esque nature, which is reflected throughout the episode in reference to how most don't leave once they visit. Their disruption of the festivities comes at a price, as they are sentenced to labor in the fields for a few hours by Enoch, the gigantic pumpkin mayor (who is later revealed to be an adorable black cat). Enoch's presence has a number of potential meanings, most likely being a nod to King Minos, the judge of the underworld who sentences souls to the varying levels of Hell, given similarities in dialogue as well as the snake-like imagery of Enoch's streamers.

As they work away tirelessly, Wirt contemplates staying in Pottsfield, lamenting on its simplistic appeal, a temptation those who encounter Limbo face in knowing that the peace of solitude is perhaps more appealing than the danger that inevitably lies ahead in Dante's Inferno. Eventually, they complete their tasks as the townsfolk continue their ritual of unburying their fellow skeletons, giving greater meaning to the name of the town, which is a reference to a type of mass grave for the impoverished.

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Episode 3, Second Circle: Lust

Miss Langtree and Jimmy Brown in gorilla suit in Over The Garden Wall

"Chapter 3: Schooltown Follies" finds the group discovering a schoolhouse filled with animals. The school teacher, Miss Langtree, has an obsession with her lost love, Jimmy Brown. She conveys her heartache through song to her class and the travelers, fixating on her longing as opposed to instructing her pupils. This obsession distracts Langtree enough that she continues to lose track of her other priorities and responsibilities, something her father continues to have to work to resolve to keep the school afloat. Eventually, Langtree and Brown are united at last (after a dreadful three days apart), able to celebrate their love during the benefit concert that inevitably saves Langtree's neglected school from its closure.

Episode 4, Third Circle: Gluttony

Greg standing on a table with plates in Over The Garden Wall

Just like in the third circle of Hell, it's constantly raining in the fourth episode of Over the Garden Wall. The tavern in itself is gluttonous in nature, often represented as a place of debauchery and indulgence. Wirt tries to enter the building, only to be blocked at first by a large sheepdog, a possible nod to the three-headed dog known as Cerberus found in this level. While Wirt is preoccupied with getting directions from the townsfolk, Greg is continuously seen bringing food to their table, but no one in their party ever takes a bite. Each pub patron gloats about their livelihoods, which could be interpreted as a form of boastful gluttony. The group misinterprets Wirt's intentions with finding Adelaide, derailing their efforts somewhat to obtain the directions they seek. Eventually, they depart from the tavern and steal Fred the talking horse, and rescue an unconscious Beatrice near the Woodsman, further fueling their belief of his ill intent.

Episode 5, Fourth Circle: Greed

Greg walking with Endicott and Fred the Horse in Over The Garden Wall

Coming upon a luxurious manor in "Chapter 5: Mad Love," Wirt and Greg pretend to be the nephews of the wealthy Quincy Endicott, a tea baron who lives alone in his paranoid eccentricity. Their goal is to hopefully obtain two cents from the senile man, so that they may cross the river on the ferry. This is an obvious reference to mythology's Charon, the ferryman who transports freshly deceased souls across the River Styx, the divider of the realms of the living and the dead. Endicott makes it clear that his motive throughout life has been obtaining wealth and flaunting it in his luxurious, ever-expanding mansion. Hilariously, his manor is so ridiculously massive that he doesn't realize until the end of the episode that the spectral woman he's fallen in love with is actually his neighbor and tea industry rival, whose lavish property shares space with Enticott's, much to both of their ignorance. Later in the miniseries, it's revealed that Endicott was a ghost, with Wirt hiding behind his headstone as he attempts to avoid Sara and the others.

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Episode 6, Fifth Circle: Anger and The City of Dis

Angry frogs yelling in Over The Garden Wall

As the travelers make it to the ferry to cross the river in Episode 6, they are forced to sneak on after Greg throws the coins into the fountain in the previous episode. However, in Dante's Inferno, its leads do not in fact have to pay to cross the river either. The ferry is filled with well-to-do frogs, who Wirt and Greg eventually play music for. Anger is present as the police frogs try to capture the travelers, as well as the disruptions that ensue during the pursuits. Wirt also angrily addresses his frustration with Beatrice. Like in Inferno, this level's focus is souls wallowing miserably in the mud of the River Styx, much like the frogs do toward the very end, to a more joyful degree.

Toward the latter part of the episode, Beatrice returns to Adelaide, unexpectedly followed by Wirt and Greg. Adelaide's home, with its strings and scissors, is a fairly blatant homage to the Moirai, aka Fates, at the gates of the City of Dis. The Fates ironically decide the future of souls, depicted with thread and shears. Fortunately, Wirt and Greg are able to escape Adelaide's capture and continue their journey onward.

Episode 7, Sixth Circle: Heresy

Auntie holds a magic bell in Over The Garden Wall

Inferno's level of heresy has a significant link to the condemnation of witchcraft (a subject familiar to AMC's Mayfair Witches), wherein souls are sentenced to continually be burned alive. Both elements are evident throughout Over the Garden Wall's seventh episode, with both Lorna and Auntie Whispers sharing similarities to a Puritan aesthetic within the Salem witch trials that is wildly appealing to Hocus Pocus fans. Aspects of their household point to some sort of practice, including the cauldron filled with turtles.

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Episode 8, Seventh Circle: Violence

Greg with a canon in Over The Garden Wall

In Over the Garden Wall Episode 8, Wirt and Greg are floating on another river of boiling blood that souls are forced to swim in, likely a parallel to Dante's Inferno's Phlegethon. Upon reaching the shore, they encounter another forest of twisted Edelwood trees, which viewers learn are made of people. This is a blatant reference to the forest of suicides in the seventh circle of Inferno, where the souls become trees for harpies to nest in. Wirt eventually begins to be entrapped in a tree as he gives up hope, much like the souls who were transformed in this circle. Violence is also prevalent within Greg's dreamscape, where he finds himself at war with the north wind.

Episode 9, Eighth Circle: Fraud

Terrified Greg and Wirt are caught by police in Over The Garden Wall

Wirt's attempts of appearing to be someone he isn't proves his fraudulent behavior. He not only tries to put on a façade for Sara, but it's also revealed that everyone present is, in a sense, a fraud, with their Halloween costumes. Thieves are also sent to this level of the Inferno, a parallel with Greg's act of stealing a rock from Mrs. Daniel. The fate of souls in this circle is being thrown into a pit of darkness, or in a sense, the Unknown. Not only do Wirt and Greg fall downwards off the railroad tracks, but Wirt even prefaces the night's events by talking himself up about approaching Sara, and going "into the Unknown."

Episode 10, Ninth Circle: Treachery

The beast in Over the Garden Wall

Like the deepest circle of Dante's Inferno, most of Over the Garden Wall Episode 10 is frozen and cold, with an overpowering wind that causes difficulty for the travelers to approach the Beast. Souls in this level are trapped under the ice from the neck down and unable to move, and Greg's fate mirrors this. The Beast's deception throughout the series is much like Lucifer's deceit, tricking those along the way to convince them to fuel his spirit to keep him alive. Wirt eventually confronts the Beast on a frozen lake, just as Dante did. Both sets of travelers eventually escape their respective Infernos, and Wirt and Greg are rescued from the chilly waters and revived back into the world of the living. In that sense, the Beast was likely an allegory of Wirt himself.

Over the Garden Wall is available to stream on HBO Max.