Divine Comedy is a beautiful, long epic poem by the Italian writer Dante Alighieri. Dante began the poem about 1308 and finished it just before his death in 1321. Its main theme is life after death, and Dante himself is the chief character. The Divine Comedy is divided into the Inferno (Hell); the Purgatorio (Purgatory); and the Paradiso (Paradise). Dante called the work simply Commedia (Comedy) because it ended happily. Later generations added the word Divine.
Dante divided each of the three parts of the poem into subdivisions called cantos. Purgatorio and Paradiso each contain 33 cantos, and Inferno has 34. The cantos have a powerful rhythm because of their three-line terza rima stanzas. In this verse form, which Dante invented, the first and third lines of each stanza rhyme with the middle line of the preceding stanza.
The poem begins with Dante lost in a dark forest, symbolizing what he felt was his own unworthy life and the evil he saw in society. On Good Friday, after a night of painful wandering, he meets the Roman poet Virgil, who promises to lead him out of the forest and guide him on a journey through the otherworld. They enter hell, a horrible pit shaped like a cone, located deep within the earth. It has nine circles where they find crowds of suffering individuals who are being punished for their sins by monsters, devils, and other creatures. The damned are well-known historical figures, some from the past, but most from Dante’s own time.
Dante and Virgil leave hell and reach the mountain of purgatory. From there they climb to bright terraces where the dead, who have gained salvation, seek forgiveness for misdeeds committed on earth. An atmosphere of peace and hope fills this place of purification, in contrast with hell’s suffering and despair.
On reaching the earthly paradise, on top of Mount Purgatory, Virgil entrusts Dante to a new guide, Beatrice. The Divine Comedy is in many ways a love poem praising Beatrice’s moral beauty and her power to lead Dante to a vision of supreme goodness. She guides Dante through the 10 spheres of heaven, where Dante meets the souls of the blessed. They finally arrive at the throne of God, set among hosts of angels. Dante stands in rapture and perceives at last the final truth of life and the meaning of the universe.
See also Dante Alighieri.
