The bubonic plague, which happened mainly in Europe in the Middle Ages, and lasted until the 19th century, influenced society a lot. It preceded the Renaissance and has references both in Divine Comedy, by Dante, as Decameronby Giovanni Bocaccio. But, perhaps the greatest impact was on religion, which suffered a sharp decline, as people could not be saved by the Church and interpreted the plague as divine punishment.

Currently, with Covid-19, in the mild way it is reaching Brazil, for now, 11 thousand cases until today, many interpret it as a gift, in the sense that God would be guiding us to value family life, nature, or perhaps punishing us for the materialistic, selfish and insensitive directions that society has taken. Or even for the libidinosity that predominates in our society, the total trivialization of interpersonal relationships.

But since the virus appeared, I followed and tried to remember some cinematic references. Something had already shown how catastrophic a virus would be, and it was not a gift ...

In 12 Monkeys, Bruce Willis is sent from the future to seek information on the cure of a virus that extinguished the human population in 1996. Contagion, by Steven Soderbergh is one of the most watched films after Covid-19, but it was inspired by SARS.

It was not yet what I was looking for, there was some more reference that I would be forgetting ... Tom Hanks and his wife caught the virus in Australia and I remembered that one of Dr. Robert Langdon's films possibly dealt with a biological plague. Yes, in Hell, from Dan Brown's book, a billionaire eccentric implies population control and decides to create a virus in a laboratory. It is up to Langdon to prevent the use of biological weapons in the world. The film begins in Florence, Italy, one of the places most affected by the current epidemic.

References to Dante's Inferno are very present in the film and the difference is that in reality, the virus does not appear to have been the work of humans, but rather an accident in a Chinese market.

The main objective of this text is to indicate some cultural options for those at home in the quarantine, and to bring this indication of the film Inferno, and of the book, of course. I read a lot about Covid-19 and didn't see anyone talking about that movie.

Also, with these indications, open the chance for everyone to question the origin of the virus. Because, in the film, it is said that governments would always be interested in biological weapons. And why not, an eccentric billionaire? Recalling that “A wise man conditions his beliefs to the evidence”, as David Hume said

Well, I hope you enjoy it, and if you take care, the virus is dangerous for all of us and we need to follow the recommendations for care and hygiene that are being passed on to us.