The Divine Comedy
Dante Alighieri (1320)
“A poet walks through Hell, climbs Purgatory, and ascends to the face of God — writing the greatest poem in any language along the way, settling every political score he ever had.”
Short Summary
In 1300, the poet Dante — lost in a dark wood at the midpoint of his life — is guided by the Roman poet Virgil through the nine circles of Hell (Inferno), up the seven terraces of Purgatory (Purgatorio), and then by his beloved Beatrice through the nine spheres of Paradise (Paradiso) to a direct vision of God. The journey is simultaneously personal (Dante's spiritual crisis), political (a commentary on the corruption of Florence and the Papacy), and theological (a systematic mapping of Christian morality). It is written in terza rima, an interlocking rhyme scheme Dante invented, and it remains the foundational work of Italian literature.
Detailed Summary
The Divine Comedy begins in darkness. 'Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita / mi ritrovai per una selva oscura' — 'Midway through the journey of our life, I found myself in a dark wood, for the straight path had been lost.' Dante the character is thirty-five years old, half the biblical lifespan, and...