Lesson 6 - Vita Nuova- lyric poems and

The divine comedy commentary; largely about Beatrice

(La commedia/ La divina comedia) ( personal bias of the author - lyrical poem
and commentary)
A Classical Quest (journey or adventure) - La commedia (Original name) The
through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise Divine Comedy (La divina comedia),
written from 1308-1321.
DANTE ALIGHIERI
Florence (Italy)
- May 1265 BEATRICE - Greatest love
- His family was old and of noble - Gemma Donati, daughter of Manetto
origin, but no longer wealthy. Donati
- He held a number of significant - Beatrice married another man about
public offices at a time of great 1287 and died in 1290 at the age of
political unrest in Italy. - has final say 25.
to politics
- 1302- he was exiled for life by the - Dante met Beatrice when he was
leaders of the Black Guelphs nine and she eight, at his father’s
home, most likely for a May Day
Guelphs vs. Ghibellines festival.

Guelphs split around 1300 THE PAPACY - organization in vatican

White Guelphs wished to preserve - The Vatican Rome, Italy
Florence's independence 2 actions
Black Guelphs favored the Pope's control of - Simony (act of selling sacred things
Florence or position)
Guelphs (papapcy) support and lead by - Indulgences (act of cleansing souls)
priest or bishop given consequences by priest
Ghibellines - support roman emperor
1302- Dante was among the White Guelphs - Pope - Boniface VIII - highest
who were exiled at the request of Pope position in Papacy ( believe that he
Boniface VIII and in alliance with the Black is worshipping SATAN)
Guelphs.
(exile for lifetime)
HIS WORKS STRUCTURE OF THE DIVINE COMEDY
- Wrote in Italian
- De Vulgari Eloquentia- on the origin - DANTE’S WORLD WAS ONE THAT
and development of language BELIEVED IN MYSTICAL (Spiritual)
- De Monarchia- on political theory CORRESPONDENCES AND THE
- Convivio- unfinished, a POWER OF NUMBERS, STARS,
compendium of knowledge AND STONES
(compendium is a selection
unfinished bec. He is exile on 1902)
 - EVENTS OF HISTORY— Dante’s Use of Terza Rima
CONTAINED A MYSTICAL
SIGNIFICANCE. (in italy) Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
DANTE’S NUMERICAL SYMBOLISM: For the straightforward pathway had been
3 A SYMBOL OF THE HOLY TRINITY lost.
9 THREE TIMES THREE.
33 A MULTIPLE OF 3 Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say
THE 7 DAYS OF CREATION What was this forest savage, rough, and
10 CONSIDERED IN THE MEDIEVAL stern,
PERIOD A PERFECT NUMBER Which in the very thought renews the fear.
100, THE MULTIPLE OF 10.
So bitter is it, death is little more;
THREE SECTIONS OF THE DIVINE But of the good to treat, which there I found,
COMEDY Speak will I of the other things I saw there.
INFERNO, PURGATORIO, AND
PARADISO I cannot well repeat how there I entered,10
3 was a holy number to Dante— suggesting So full was I of slumber at the moment
the Holy Trinity. In which I had abandoned the true way.

But after I had reached a mountain's foot,

STRUCTURE OF THE DIVINE COMEDY At that point where the valley terminated,
Which had with consternation pierced my
- Each section has 33 cantos (small heart,
division of poetry; canto means
“song.”) Upward I looked, and I beheld its shoulders,
- The Inferno includes an introductory Vested already with that planet's rays
canto, which makes 100 cantos total Which leadeth others right by every road.
(100 representing the idea of
perfection or spiritual enlightenment Poit religious belief
achieved after the journey).
Three major divisions of sin: The divine comedy
Incontinence - lack of self control or restraint Dante called his poem a COMEDY.
Violence - Bringing harm through physical, In classic terminology, a comedy is a work
mental…. that begins in misery or deep confusion and
Fraudulence - cheating and scammimg ends in elation or happiness.
In Shakespearean comedy, the play often
Three-line poetic structure: begins in confusion — couples breaking up
Terza Rima or separating but ends with everyone finding
By the time you finish reading, you will know the right partner.
which circle of hell you may find yourself in! In other words, a comedy is not something
one would laugh about, but an ascension
from a low state of confusion to one where
all people are combined for the greatest (freud) , a lion (violence), and a she-
happiness. wolf(incontenence), stand in his way.
The adjective "DIVINE" was added by a Dante is forced to return to the forest where
sixteenth-century editor and publisher and he meets the spirit of Virgil (Italian
has been retained ever since. Painter), who promises to lead him on a
journey through Hell so that he may be able
Dante, like most people of his time, believed to enter Paradise. Dante agrees to the
that some numbers had mystical meanings journey and follows Virgil through the gates
and associations. He designed the structure of Hell.
of his poem using a series of mystical
numbers: “The Map of Hell” by Sandro Botticelli
THREE:
The number of the Holy Trinity: God the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost
The number of parts of the Divine
Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso;
The number of lines in each verse of each
canto;
The number of divisions of Hell
The number of days required for Dante's
journey through Hell. 1st Circle: Limbo - unbaptized
The two poets enter the vestibule (Passage)
of Hell where the souls of the uncommitted
NINE: are tormented by biting insects and damned
a multiple of three to chase a blank banner around for eternity.
the number of circles in Hell. The poets reach the banks of the river
TEN: The perfect number is the nine circles Acheron ( underworld river also considered
of Hell plus the vestibule. as lake of pain or river of hades the god of
THIRTY-THREE: A multiple of three; the underworld) where souls await passage into
number of cantos in each part. Hell proper.
NINETY-NINE: The total number of cantos The ferryman, Charon, ((creature like
plus Canto I, The Introduction. demon) reluctantly agrees to take the poets
ONE HUNDRED: A multiple of ten; across the river to Limbo, the first circle of
considered by Dante to be the perfect Hell, where Virgil permanently resides.
number. In Limbo, the poets stop to speak with other
great poets, Homer, Ovid, Horace, and
Inferno Lucan, and then enter a great citadel where
At the age of thirty-five, on the night of philosophers reside.
Good Friday in the year 1300, Dante finds (where they don't believe that god exist)
himself lost in a dark wood and full of fear. 2nd Circle: Lust (Strong desire to sexual
He sees a sun-drenched mountain in the intercourse without being inlove)
distance, and he tries to climb it, but three Dante and Virgil enter Hell proper, the
beasts,(symbolism of major sins) a leopard second circle, where monster, Minos, (big
serpent represent as power and ruler) sits in
judgment of all of the damned, and sends
them to the proper circle according to their Ghibelline enemy, and Cavalcante dei
sin. Cavalcanti, father of Dante's poet friend,
Here, Dante meets Paolo and Francesca Guido.
(Gianciotto is the husband of Francesca and The poets then begin descending through a
the brother of paolo)) , the two unfaithful deep valley. Here, they meet the Minotaur
lovers buffeted about in a windy storm. (half bull half human) and see a river of
boiling blood, the Phlegethon, where those
3rd Circle: Gluttony - too much intake of violent against their neighbors, tyrants, and
food war-makers reside, each in a depth
The poets move on to the third circle, the according to their sin.
Gluttons, who are guarded by the monster Virgil arranges for the Centaur, Nessus,
Cerberus.(multi headed dogs) (half human half horse) to take them across
These sinners spend eternity wallowing in the river into the second round of circle
mud and mire, and here Dante recognizes a seven, the Suicides. Here Dante speaks
Florentine, Ciacco, (deregatory for pig) who with the soul of Pier delle Vigne and learns
gives Dante the first of many negative his sad tale. (frederick the second adviser of
prophesies about him and Florence. Pier)

4th Circle: Avarice (Greed) and 7th Circle: Violence

Prodigality (waster and spender of In the third round of Circle VII, a desert
wealth) wasteland awash in a rain of burning
Upon entering the fourth circle, they snowflakes, Dante recognizes and speaks
encountered Pluto (deity of wealth) with Capaneus, a famous blasphemer. He
Dante and Virgil also encountered the also speaks to his beloved advisor and
Hoarders and the Wasters, who spend scholar, Brunetto Latini. This is the round
eternity rolling giant boulders at one held for the Blasphemers (talking about bad
another. things about religion), Sodomites (having
sex with animals), and the Usurers (lending
5th Circle: Wrath (extreme anger) and money with percentage).
Sullenness (nonchalant or gloomy)
They move to the fifth circle, the marsh 8th Circle: Fraud
comprising the river Styx, where Dante is The poets then enter Circle VIII, which
accosted by a Florentine, Filippo Argenti; he contains ten chasms, or ditches. The first
is amongst the Wrathful that fight and battle chasm houses the Panderers and the
one another in the mire of the Styx. Seducers (bugaw) who spend eternity
lashed by whips. The second chasm houses
6th Circle: Heresy - contradicting about the Flatterers (without sincerity) , who reside
christianity or religion in a channel of excrement. The third chasm
The City of Dis begins Circle VI, the realm houses the Simonists (selling sacred
of the violent. The poets enter and find things), who are plunged upside-down in
themselves in Circle VI, realm of the baptismal fonts with the soles of their feet
Heretics, who reside among the thousands on fire. Dante speaks with Pope Nicholas
in burning tombs. Dante stops to speak with III, who mistakes him for Pope Boniface. In
two sinners, Farinata degli Uberti, Dante's the fourth chasm, Dante sees the Fortune
Tellers and Diviners, who spend eternity They arrive at the ninth circle. It is
with their heads on backwards and their comprised of a giant frozen lake
eyes clouded by tears. (punishment), Cocytus, in which the
sinners are stuck. Dante believes that he
At the fifth chasm, the poets see the sinners sees towers in the distance, which turn out
of Graft (scamming or getting money also to be the Giants. One of the Giants,
coruption and stealing) plunged deeply into Antaeus (Big giant love to have arm
a river of boiling pitch and slashed at by wrestling to the travellers and hit with his big
demons. hand), takes the poets on his palm and
At the sixth chasm, the poets encounter the gently places them at the bottom of the well.
Hypocrites, mainly religious men damned Circle IX is composed of four rounds, each
to walk endlessly in a circle wearing housing sinners, according to the severity of
glittering leaden robes. The chief sinner their sin. In the first round, Caina, the
here, Joseph Caiaphas (Jewish priest), is sinners are frozen up to their necks in ice.
crucified on the ground, and all of the other
sinners must step on him to pass. In the second round, Antenora, the sinners
are frozen closer to their heads. Here,
Two Jovial friars tell the poets the way to Dante accidentally kicks a traitor in the
the seventh ditch, where the Thieves have head, and when the traitor will not tell him
their hands cut off and spend eternity his name, Dante treats him savagely. Dante
among vipers that transform them into hears the terrible story of Count Ugolino,
serpents by biting them. They, in turn, must who is gnawing the head and neck of
bite another sinner to take back a human Archbishop Ruggieri, due to Ruggieri's
form. treacherous treatment of him in the upper
At the eighth chasm Dante sees many world.
flames that conceal the souls of the Evil In the third round, Ptolomea (traitors)
Counselors. Dante speaks to Ulysses, who where the Traitors to guests reside, Dante
gives him an account of his death. speaks with a soul who begs him to take the
ice visors, formed from tears, out of his
At the ninth chasm, the poets see a mass of eyes. Dante promises to do so, but after
horribly mutilated bodies. They were the hearing his story refuses.
sowers of discord, such as Mahomet.
They are walking in a circle. By the time The fourth round of Circle IX, and the very
they come around the circle, their wounds final pit of Hell, Judecca (came with the
knit, only to be opened again and again. name Judas), houses the Traitors to their
They arrive at the tenth chasm the Masters, who are completely covered and
Falsifiers (manloloko). Here they see the fixed in the ice, and Satan, who is fixed
sinners afflicted with terrible plagues, some waist deep in the ice and has three heads,
unable to move, some picking leprous each of which is chewing a traitor: Judas,
scabs off to one another. Brutus, and Cassius. (Have something with
the assasination of…
The poets climb Satan's side, passing the
9th Circle: Treachery betrayal of center of gravity, and find themselves at the
homeland edge of the river Lethe,(need to climb up to
satan and enter genital to escape) ready to Prudence - ability to discipline self through
make the long journey to the upper world. reasoning (think rationally)
They enter the upper world just before Temperance - moderation in act or self-
dawn on Easter Sunday, and they see the control
stars overhead. Fortitude - Strength of mind in dealing
struggle that gives courage
Justice - sense of being fair

Dante and Virgil arrived at the shore of the

Mountain of Purgatory—the only land in the
Southern Hemisphere—on the morning of
Easter Sunday.

In the poem, with the sun rising on Easter

Sunday, Dante announces his intention to
describe Purgatory by invoking the mythical
Purgatory Muses.
- Purgare- which means to cleanse or
to purify
- Realm that is not eternal Now I shall sing the second kingdom
- There will be chance that you will go there where the soul of man is cleansed,
to hell or heaven made worthy to ascend to Heaven.
- in the poem it is depicted as a
mountain in the Southern Here from the dead let poetry rise up,
Hemisphere which was created by a O sacred Muses, since I am yours.
displacement of rock caused by the Here let Calliope arise...
impact of Lucifer's fall
- represents the penitent Christian life; Muses - greek stories (goddesses of
Temporal punishment for those who, literature)
departing this life in God’s grace, are Calliope - goddess of epic stories
not entirely free from venial faults The Levels of Purgatorio
consists of:
- a bottom section (Ante-Purgatory)
- seven terraces of suffering and
spiritual growth (associated with the
seven deadly sins)
- Earthly Paradise (Garden of Eden)
at the top

Dante and Virgil spent the next day

ascending from Hell to see the stars - four
particularly noticeable stars symbolizing the
Four Cardinal Virtues:
1. Ante-Purgatorio
serves as the lobby of Purgatorio souls will be admitted to Purgatory but must
(wherein the guide will wait of what is the wait outside for an amount of time equal to
consequence) their lives on earth
Cato - guide (same kung ilang years ka nabuhay sa
Dante and Virgil meet Cato, a pagan who earth)
has been placed by God as the general
guardian of the approach to the mountain; The Gate of Purgatory
Cato pilots a boat which carries souls to It has three steps: (polished- white marble/
purgatory. black basalt/ red)
polished white marble (reflecting the purity
Purgatorio, Canto II: Christian souls arrive of the penitent's true self)
singing, escorted by an angel black basalt (black or purple shape like a
cross) (the colour of mourning; cracked in
2 actions the shape of a Christian cross)
1.1. The Excommunicate (religious act red (symbolising the blood of Christ and the
where soul will give time to repel also restoration of true life) called Peter's Gate
need 300 years to able to go to heaven) "P“, signifying peccatum (sin), seven times
is an institutional act of religious censure on Dante's forehead,( 7 deadly sins) bidding
used to deprive, suspend, or limit him "take heed that thou wash / These
membership in a religious community or to wounds, when thou shalt be within."
restrict certain rights within it, in particular
receiving of the sacraments The angel at Peter's Gate uses two keys,
are detained at the base of the cliff for a silver (remorse) deep sense of guillt and
period thirty times as long as their period of gold (reconciliation) or connection/ relation
contumacy to god to open the gate – both are
necessary for redemption and salvation
Manfred explains that prayer from those
currently alive and in the grace of God The Gate of Purgatory, painted by William
may reduce the amount of time a soul Blake, Canto 9.
spends in purgatory.
Dante and Virgil meets Sordello in Ante-
Purgatorio. As a resident of Purgatory,
Sordello is able to explain the Rule of the
Mountain: that after sunset souls are
incapable of climbing any further.
Allegorically, the sun represents God,
meaning that progress in the penitent
Christian life can only be made through
Divine Grace.

1.2. The Late-Repentant

Indolent- those too lazy or too preoccupied
to repent The Seven Terraces of Purgatorio
the Negligent Rulers
The core of the classification is based on The stoning of Saint Stephen provides an
love: example of wrath, as well as of meekness,
first three terraces- perverted love its opposite virtue. Painting by Rembrandt,
fourth terrace - deficient love Canto 15
last three terraces -excessive or
disordered love of good things.

1. Pride - self-centered
-humility
Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, where
she responds to the angel Gabriel with the
words Ecce ancilla Dei ("Behold the
handmaid of the Lord," Luke 1:38)
Dante and Virgil meet the souls of the
proud, who are bent over by the weight of
huge stones on their backs. As they walk
around the terrace, they are able to profit
from the sculpted examples of humility.

2. Envy- jealousy 4. Sloth - quality where you don’t want to

-generosity do anything
the scene from the Life of the Virgin Mary is souls here are engaged in ceaseless activity
the Wedding at Cana, in which she A scene from the life of the Virgin outlined in
expresses her joy for the newly married this terrace is the Visitation, with Mary
couple and encourages Christ to perform going "in haste" to visit her cousin Elizabeth.
his first miracle. John the baptist - son of elizabeth
The Biblical example is Cain, mentioned 5. Avarice - too much wealthy or
here not for his act of fratricide, but for the greediness to wealth
jealousy of his younger brother Abel that The scene from the Life of the Virgin, used
led to it (Canto XIV). here to counter the sin of avarice, is the
Fratricide- killing your brother/ sister humble birth of Christ.

3. Wrath - extreme anger 6. Gluttony - too much intake of food

-meekness - quality of the heart not to Gluttonous are purged, and more generally,
resist to someone those who over-emphasized food, drink,
Finding in the Temple- whereas most and bodily comforts as they are starved in
parents would be angry at their child for the presence of trees whose fruit is forever
worrying them, Mary is loving and out of reach
understanding of Christ's motives behind his The Virgin Mary, who shared her Son's gifts
three-day disappearance. with others at the Wedding at Cana, and
Saint Stephen provides a Biblical example, John the Baptist, who only lived on
drawn from Acts 7:54–60 (Canto XV) locusts and honey (refused to drink
wine) (Matthew 3:4[66]), is an example of
the virtue of temperance.
7. Lust - excessive desire A griffin, representing the conjoined divinity
souls repenting of misdirected sexual desire and humanity of Christ
call forth in praises of chastity and marital Three circling women coloured red,
fidelity (the Virgin Mary's chastity emerald, and white, representing the three
has an immense wall of flame ( if you are theological virtues: Love, Hope, and Faith,
not pure masusugatan at masusunog ka) respectively
through which everyone must pass Four other women dressed in purple,
representing the four cardinal virtues:
Virgil, Dante, and Statius beside the flames Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and
of the seventh terrace, Canto 25 Fortitude
Two elders, different in their dress,
Shortly before sunset, the Poets are greeted representing the Acts of the Apostles and
by the Angel of Chastity, who instructs the Pauline epistles
them to pass through the wall of fire. By Four of humble aspect, representing the
reminding Dante that Beatrice can be found general epistles
in the Earthly Paradise on the other side, When all the rest had passed, a lone old
Virgil finally persuades Dante to pass man, representing the Book of Revelation
through the intense fire. On these steps,
just before the dawn of Wednesday
morning, Dante has his third dream: a vision
of Leah and Rachel, symbols of the active
(non-monastic) and contemplative
(monastic- concept about monk) Christian
lives, both of which are important.

The Earthly Paradise – Garden of Eden

Beatrice Addressing Dante, by William
represents the state of innocence that
Blake, showing the "chariot triumphal"
existed before Adam and Eve fell from
bearing Beatrice and drawn by the Griffin,
grace
as well as four of the ladies representing
Dante meets Matilda (explain to dante that
virtues, Canto 29
beatrice will be the one guiding him) who
clearly prepares Dante for his meeting with
Dante then passes through the River Lethe
Beatrice
(river of forgetfulness especially pains),
With Matilda, Dante witnesses a procession.
which erases the memory of past sin (Canto
XXXI).
The procession consists of (Canto XXIX):
It is noon as the events observed in the
Twenty-four elder, representing the 24
Earthly Paradise come to a close. Finally,
books of the Hebrew Bible
Dante drinks from the River Eunoë, (river of
Four animals with six wings as plumage, a
good memories) which restores good
traditional representation of the four
memories, and prepares him for his ascent
Evangelists
to Heaven. As with the other two parts of
A chariot triumphal on two wheels, bearing
the Divine Comedy, the Purgatorio ends on
Beatrice, which is drawn by…
the word "stars" (Canto XXXIII):
“From that most holy wave I now returned Piccarda, sister of Dante's friend Forese
to Beatrice; remade, as new trees are Donati, who died shortly after being forcibly
renewed when they bring forth new boughs, removed from her convent.
I was They also meet Constance of Sicily, who
pure and prepared to climb unto the stars.” (Dante believes) was forcibly removed from
a convent to marry Henry VI.
Paradiso (virgil will no longer the guide) The waxing and waning of the moon is
Italian term for Paradise or Heaven associated with inconstancy.
begins at the top of Mount Purgatory, called (the one who did not finish their vows ex.
the Earthly Paradise at noon on Nun or priest who died or force to be
Wednesday after Easter Sunday removed)
Beatrice guides Dante through the nine
celestial spheres of Heaven, to the
Empyrean
structure is based on the four cardinal
virtues (Prudence, Justice, Temperance,
and Fortitude) and the three theological
virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity).

The Paradiso assumes the medieval view of

the Universe, with the Earth surrounded by Dante and Beatrice speak to Piccarda and
concentric spheres containing planets and Constance (fresco by Philipp Veit), Canto 3.
stars.
2. Mercury: The Ambitious - wants to
achieve more
The Spheres of Heaven represents those who did good out of a
desire for fame, but who, being ambitious,
were deficient in the virtue of justice
those who were right and just but were
driven by ambition; not entirely selfless

Dante meets the Emperor Justinian in the

Sphere of Mercury, Canto 5.

3. Venus: The Lovers

The planet Venus (the Morning and Evening
Star) is traditionally associated with the
Goddess of Love, and so Dante makes this
the planet of the lovers, who were deficient
in the virtue of temperance (Canto VIII)
1. The Moon: The Inconstant
the sphere of souls who abandoned their
The world, when still in peril, thought that,
vows, and so were deficient in the virtue of
wheeling,
fortitude
in the third epicycle, Cyprian
the fair sent down her rays of frenzied love,
 doctrine of predestination, and the sad state
.. and gave the name of her of the Church(Cantos XXI and XXII).
with whom I have begun this canto, to
the planet that is courted by the sun, Dante and Beatrice meet Peter Damian,
at times behind her and at times in front who tells of his life, and discusses
predestination (miniature by Giovanni di
4. The Sun: The Wise Paolo), Canto 21
here lies the wise and the intellectuals
who sought to educate the hearts and the 8. The Fixed Stars: Faith, Hope, and Love
minds the sphere of the church triumphant
This includes philosophers, theologians and Here, Dante sees the Virgin Mary and
a king, and has representatives from across other saints (Canto XXIII). St. Peter tests
Europe. Thomas Aquinas recounts the life Dante on faith, asking what it is, and
of St. Francis of Assisi, and his love for whether Dante has it. In response to
"Lady Poverty" (Canto XI). Dante's reply, St. Peter asks Dante how he
knows that the Bible is true, and (in an
Dante and Beatrice meet twelve wise men argument attributed to Augustine) Dante
in the Sphere of the Sun (miniature by cites the miracle of the Church's growth
Giovanni di Paolo), Canto 10. from such humble beginnings (Canto XXIV)

5. Mars: The Warriors of the Faith (stars) 9. The Primum Mobile: The Angels
-home of the warriors of the Faith, who gave (angels residence)
their lives for God, thereby displaying the The Primum Mobile ("first moved" sphere) is
virtue of fortitude. the last sphere of the physical universe. It is
The millions of sparks of light that are the moved directly by God, and its motion
souls of these warriors form a Greek cross causes all the spheres it encloses to move
on the planet Mars, and Dante compares (Canto XXVII).
this cross to the Milky Way (Canto XIV). The Primum Mobile is the abode of angels,
The souls in the Fifth Sphere form a Greek and here Dante sees God as an intensely
cross, which Dante compares to the Milky bright point of light surrounded by nine rings
Way, Canto 14. of angels (Canto XXVIII).

6. Jupiter: The Just Rulers (ex. Mayor, The Empyrean

king, judge) which is the residence of God
rulers who displayed justice The souls here Dante sees an enormous rose,
spell out the Latin for "Love justice, yet that symbolizing divine love, the petals of
judge the earth" which are the enthroned souls of the faithful
(both those of the Old Testament and those
7. Saturn: The Contemplatives (ex. Peter of the New).
and monk) Angels fly around the rose like bees,
-contemplatives distributing peace and love. Beatrice now
Dante here meets Peter Damian, and returns to her place in the rose, signifying
discusses with him monasticism, the that Dante has passed beyond theology in
directly contemplating God, and St.
Bernard, as a mystical contemplative, now
guides Dante further (Canto XXXI).

Finally, Dante comes face-to-face with God

Himself (Cantos XXXII and XXXIII).
God appears as three equally large
circles occupying the same space,
representing the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. In this narrative poem, Dante's alter ego,
Within these circles Dante can discern the the pilgrim, travels through hell and
human form of Christ. The Divine Comedy purgatory to reach heaven. His journey is
ends with Dante trying to understand how meant to impress upon readers the
the circles fit together, and how the consequences of sin and the glories of
humanity of Christ relates to the divinity of heaven.
the Son but, as Dante puts it, "that was not
a flight for my wings".
In a flash of understanding, which he cannot INFERNO
express, Dante does finally see this, and his The spirit of Roman poet Virgil leads
soul becomes aligned with God's love. Dante's alter ego, the "Pilgrim," through the
circles of Hell, where they witness the
But already my desire and my will horrible punishments that sinners have
were being turned like a wheel, all at one brought upon themselves.
speed,
by the Love which moves the sun and PURGATORY
the other stars Pilgrim meets the souls of those waiting to
ascend into Heaven. There, the souls of the
The three circles of the Trinity (illustration by saved make penance for their sins, of which
John Flaxman), Canto 33. they must be cleansed before they can go
to Heaven.

PARADISO
Pilgrim reaches Heaven. On the way there,
he sails through space and sees the
planets, which are inhabited by saints. Upon
witnessing the majesty of God in his true
glory, Pilgrim returns to Earth to write this
very poem.

Character Map