IITALIAN LITERATURE
protest movement against the corruption of the
Italian literature, and indeed standard Italian,
have their origins in the 14th-century Tuscan
dialect—the language of its three founding
fathers, Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. The
thread of literature bound these pioneers
together with later practitioners, such as the
scientist and philosopher Galileo, dramatist
Carlo Goldoni, lyric poet Giacomo Leopardi,
Romantic novelist Alessandro Manzoni, and
poet Giosuè Carducci. Women writers of the
Renaissance such as Veronica Gàmbara,
Vittoria Colonna, and Gaspara Stampa were
also influential in their time. Rediscovered and
reissued in critical editions in the 1990s, their
work prompted an interest in women writers of
all eras within Italy.
After the unification of Italy, writers began to
explore subjects theretofore considered too
lowly for literary consideration, such as poverty
and living conditions in the Mezzogiorno.
Writers such as Giovanni Verga invented a
new vocabulary to give expression to them.
Among women writers was a Sardinian, Grazia
Deledda, who won the 1926 Nobel Prize for
Literature. However, the most prominent Italian
woman writer of the 20th century was Elsa
Morante.
The themes of writers in the 20th century
ranged widely. The flamboyant patriotism of
Gabriele d’Annunzio in the early decades of the
century gave way to the existentialist concerns
of Deledda and Ugo Ojetti, who focused on
local aspects of Italian life. The fascist period
forced many writers underground but at the
same time provided inspiration for their work,
as in the case of Ignazio Silone and Carlo Levi.
Italo Svevo and Luigi Pirandello pioneered the
psychoanalytic literary genre, prior to the
revival of realism by writers such as Elio
Vittorini. Alberto Moravia wrote of the
corruption of the upper-middle classes and
gained notoriety for the eroticism of his
narrative.
By the 1960s the literary world joined the
state, and poetry eclipsed the novel as the
primary literary genre. Pier Paolo Pasolini, a
poet, critic, and filmmaker, was the dominant
creative figure of the period. Eugenio Montale
and Salvatore Quasimodo won Nobel Prizes
for their poetry, and Giuseppe Ungaretti
founded Hermeticism. A onetime disciple of
that movement, the spiritual poet Mario Luzi
was frequently nominated for the Nobel Prize.
Of literature in the late 20th century, the work
of Italo Calvino, Umberto Eco, and Primo Levi
met with much success abroad; within Italy the
work of Cesare Pavese, Carlo Emilio Gadda,
Natalia Ginzburg, and Leonardo Sciascia was
also well received. The last decades of the
century saw the revival of the narrative and the
historical novel, together with new forms of
experimental and innovative language. In 1997
Dario Fo, a playwright known for his
improvisational style, won the Nobel Prize for
Literature. Writers active in the first years of the
21st century, working in a variety of genres,
included Niccolò Ammaniti, Andrea Camilleri,
Antonio Tabuchi, and Carlo Lucarelli.
DANTE ALIGHIERI
Dante Alighieri is one of the most important
and influential names in all of European
literature, but it was only after his exile from his
native Florence at age 37 (1302) that he set
out to write his more ambitious works. Il
convivio (c. 1304–07; The Banquet), revealing
his detailed knowledge of Scholastic
philosophy, is, though incomplete, the first
great example of a treatise in vernacular prose;
its language avoids the ingenuousness of
popular writers and the artificiality of the
translators from Latin.
De vulgari eloquentia (c. 1304–07; “Concerning
Vernacular Eloquence”; Eng. trans. Literature
in the Vernacular), written about the same time
but in Latin, contains the first theoretical
discussion and definition of the Italian literary
language. Both these works remained
unfinished.

In a later doctrinal work, also in Latin, De
monarchia (written c. 1313; On Monarchy),
Dante expounded his political theories, which
demanded the coordination of the two medieval
powers, pope and emperor.
Dante’s genius found its fullest development in
his Commedia (written c. 1308–21; The Divine
Comedy), an allegorical poem—though after
the first canto the allegory is only occasionally
obtrusive—in terza rima, mini-stanzas of three
lines each, called terzine, rhyming aba, bcb,
cdc, and so on. The middle line of each terzina
rhymes with the two outside rhymes of the
next, creating a continuous metrical chain.
It is the literary masterpiece of the Middle Ages
and one of the greatest products of the creative
human mind.
The individual cantos vary in length between
115 and 160 lines, with most lying somewhere
in the middle. The total number of lines is
14,233.
The central allegory of the poem is essentially
medieval, taking the form of a journey through
the worlds beyond the grave with, as guides,
the Roman poet Virgil and the lady of Dante’s
La vita nuova (c. 1293; Eng. trans. Vita nuova
or The New Life), Beatrice, who symbolize
reason and faith, respectively.
The poem is divided into three cantiche, or
narrative sections: Inferno, Purgatorio, and
Paradiso. Each section contains 33 cantos,
though the Inferno has one more (34), since
the very first canto serves as a prologue to the
entire work.
Dante, through his experiences and encounters
on the journey, gains understanding of the
gradations of damnation, expiation, and
beatitude, and the climax of the poem is his
momentary vision of God. The greatness of
the poem lies in its complex imaginative power
of construction, inexhaustible wealth of poetry,
and continuing significance of spiritual
meanings. Thanks largely to the extraordinary
influence of Petrarch—a very different sort of
poet and a denigrator of everything medieval,
including Dante’s works—Dante’s reputation
suffered a 400-year eclipse after enjoying
immediate popularity in the 14th century. It was
revived in the Romantic period, and Dante’s
work continues to challenge translators and to
influence modern poets both inside and outside
Italy.
MAIN CHARACTERS
Dante - the exile Florentine poet, who is halted
in his path of error through the grace of the
Virgin, Saint Lucy, and Beatrice, and is
redeemed by his journey through Hell,
Purgatory, and Paradise. He learns to
submerge his instinctive pity for some sinners
in his recognition of the justice of God, and he
frees himself of the faults of wrath and
misdirected love by participating in the
penance for these sins in Purgatory. He is then
ready to grow in understanding and love as he
moves with Beatrice nearer to the presence of
God.
Beatrice - his beloved, who is transformed into
an angel, one of Mary’s handmaids. Through
her intercession, her compassion, and her
teaching, Dante’s passion is transmuted into
divine love, which brings him to a state of
indescribable blessedness.
Virgil - Dante’s master, the great Roman poet
who guides him through Hell and Purgatory.
The most favored of the noble pagans who
dwell in Limbo without hope of heavenly bliss,
he represents the highest achievements of
human reason and classical learning.

CIRCLES OF HELL IN DANTE’S INFERNO
Inferno, the first part of Dante's Divine Comedy
that inspired the latest Dan Brown's bestseller
of the same title describes the poet's vision of
Hell. The story begins with the narrator (who is
the poet himself) being lost in a dark wood
where he is attacked by three beasts which he
cannot escape. He is rescued by the Roman
poet Virgil who is sent by Beatrice (Dante's
ideal woman). Together, they begin the journey
into the underworld or the 9 Circles of Hell.
CIRCLE I. LIMBO
 The souls of the Pagans and the
unbaptized wander the caves of Limbo
in loneliness with the desperation to
meet God
 The unbaptized and virtuous pagans
including Virgil, Homer, Horace, Ovid,
Socrates, Plato, and Saladin
 Dante’s First Circle of Hell is resided by
virtuous non-Christians and unbaptized
pagans who are punished with eternity
in an inferior form of Heaven. They live
in a castle with seven gates which
symbolize the seven virtues. Here,
Dante sees many prominent people
from classical antiquity such as Homer,
Socrates, Aristotle, Cicero, Hippocrates,
and Julius Caesar.
CIRCLE II. LUST
 The souls’ lust are endlessly blown and
spiralling in the winds of a violent storm
 Souls are blown about in a violent storm,
without hope of rest. Francesca da
Rimini and her lover Paolo are here
 In the Second Circle of Hell, Dante and
his companion Virgil find people who
were overcome by lust. They are
punished by being blown violently back
and forth by strong winds, preventing
them from finding peace and rest.
Strong winds symbolize the restlessness
of a person who is led by the desire for
fleshly pleasures. Again, Dante sees
many notable people from history and
mythology including Cleopatra, Tristan,
Helen of Troy, and others who were
adulterous during their lifetime.
CIRCLE III. GLUTTONY
 Because of their cold nature, the souls
of gluttony suffers the coldness of a
ceaseless icy rain
 The gluttons are forced to lie in vile,
freezing slush, guarded by Cerebrus.
Ciacco of Florence is here
 When reaching the Third Circle of Hell,
Dante and Virgil find souls of gluttons
who are overlooked by a worm-monster
Cerberus. Sinners in this circle of Hell
are punished by being forced to lie in a
vile slush that is produced by never-
ending icy rain. The vile slush
symbolizes personal degradation of one
who overindulges in food, drink, and
otherworldly pleasures, while the
inability to see others lying nearby
represents the gluttons’ selfishness and
coldness. Here, Dante speaks to a
character called Ciacco who also tells
him that the Guelphs (a fraction
supporting the Pope) will defeat and
expel the Ghibellines (a fraction
supporting the Emperor to which Dante
adhered) from Florence which happened
in 1302 before the poem was written
(after 1308).
CIRCLE IV. GREED (AVARICE &
PRODIGALITY)
 The souls of greed are consumed in a
pit of smelting gold, as they claw their
way to escape, only to be swept back
into the pit
 The misery and spendthrift push great
heavy weights together, crashing them
time and time again. Plutus guards them
 In the Fourth Circle of Hell, Dante and
Virgil see the souls of people who are
 punished for greed. They are divided
into two groups – those who hoarded
possessions and those who lavishly
spent it – jousting. They use great
weights as a weapon, pushing it with
their chests which symbolizes their
selfish drive for fortune during their
lifetime. The two groups that are
guarded by a character called Pluto
(probably the ancient Greek ruler of the
underworld) are so occupied with their
actions that the two poets don’t try to
speak to them. Here, Dante says to see
many clergymen including cardinals and
popes.
CIRCLE V. ANGER (WRATH
SULLENNESS)
 An endless battle of wailing souls takes
place on a murky swamp
 The wrathful fight each other on the
surface of the Styx while the sullen
gurgle beneath it. Fillippo Argenti is here
 The Fifth Circle of Hell is where the
wrathful and sullen are punished for
their sins. Transported on a boat by
Phlegyas, Dante and Virgil see the
furious fighting each other on the
surface of the river Styx and the sullen
gurgling beneath the surface of the
water. Again, the punishment reflects
the type of sin committed during their
lifetime. While passing through, the
poets are approached by Filippo Argenti,
a prominent Florentine politician who
confiscated Dante’s property after his
expulsion from Florence.
CIRCLE VI. HERESY
 Souls are entrapped in a flaming pit,
guarded by demons for those who
attempt to escape
 Heretics are trapped in flaming tombs.
Florentines Farinata degli Uberti and
Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti are here
 When reaching the Sixth Circle of Hell,
Dante and Virgil see heretics who are
condemned to eternity in flaming tombs.
Here, Dante talks with a couple of
Florentines – Farinata degli Uberti and
Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti – but he also
sees other notable historical figures
including the ancient Greek philosopher
Epicurus, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II, and Pope Anastasius II.
The latter, however, is according to
some modern scholars condemned by
Dante as a heretic by mistake. Instead,
as some scholars argue, the poet
probably meant the Byzantine Emperor
Anastasius I.
CIRCLE VII. VIOLENCE
&
 Those who possessed a thirst for
violence are condemned to drown in a
lake of boiling blood
 The violence against people and
property, the suicides, the
blashphemers, the sodomites and the
usurers
 The Seventh Circle of Hell is divided into
three rings. The Outer Ring houses
murderers and others who were violent
to other people and property. Here,
Dante sees Alexander the Great
(disputed), Dionysius I of Syracuse, Guy
de Montfort, and many other notable
historical and mythological figures such
as the Centaurus, sank into a river of
boiling blood and fire. In the Middle
Ring, the poet sees suicides who have
been turned into trees and bushes which
are fed upon by harpies. But he also
sees here profligates, chased and torn
to pieces by dogs. In the Inner Ring are
blasphemers and sodomites, residing in
a desert of burning sand and burning
rain falling from the sky.
CIRCLE VIII. FRAUD
 Souls are thrown into a pit of darkness,
endlessly beaten, and tortured by
demons
  Panderes and Seducers, flatterers,
sorcerers and false prophets, liars,
thieves, and Ulysses and Diomedes
 The Eighth Circle of Hell is resided by
the fraudulent. Dante and Virgil reach it
on the back of Geryon, a flying monster
with different natures, just like the
fraudulent. This circle of Hell is divided
into 10 Bolgias or stony ditches with
bridges between them. In Bolgia 1,
Dante sees panderers and seducer. In
Bolgia 2 he finds flatterers. After
crossing the bridge to Bolgia 3, he and
Virgil see those who are guilty of
simony. After crossing another bridge
between the ditches to Bolgia 4, they
find sorcerers and false prophets. In
Bolgia 5 are housed corrupt politicians,
in Bolgia 6 are hypocrites and in the
remaining 4 ditches, Dante finds
hypocrites (Bolgia 7), thieves (Bolgia 7),
evil counselors and advisers (Bolgia 8),
divisive individuals (Bolgia 9), and
various falsifiers such as alchemists,
perjurers, and counterfeits (Bolgia 10).
CIRCLE IX. TREACHERY
 Satan is imprisoned in ice from the waist
down in the very center of Circle IX,
displayed as a trophy of treachery
 Betrayers of special relationships are
frozen in a lake of ice. Satan, Judas,
Brutus, and Cassius are here
 The last Ninth Circle of Hell is divided
into 4 Rounds according to the
seriousness of the sin. Though all
residents are frozen in an icy lake.
Those who committed more severe sin
are deeper within the ice. Each of the 4
Rounds is named after an individual who
personifies the sin. Thus Round 1 is
named Caina after Cain who killed his
brother Abel, Round 2 is named
Antenora after Anthenor of Troy who
was Priam’s counselor during the Trojan
War, Round 3 is named Ptolomaea after
Ptolemy (son of Abubus), while Round 4
is named Judecca after Judas Iscariot,
the apostle who betrayed Jesus with a
kiss.
9 LEVELS OF PURGATORY (DANTE’S
PURGATORY)
Purgatorio ("Purgatory" in English) is the
second section of the Divine Comedy, which is
an epic poem written by the great Italian poet,
Dante. It follows after Inferno and tells the story
of his climb up Mount Purgatory, accompanied
by another Italian poet by the name of Virgil,
who serves as his guide. The climb is
supposed to teach him lessons about Christian
life and God's love and purify him of his sins
before continuing on his journey to God.
FIRST STAGE (STUBBORNNESS)
 This stage is at the very base of the
mountain and is part of what is known
as Ante-Purgatory. In it, the two poets
encounter the souls of those who
delayed their Christian life because of
their stubbornness to obey God’s laws.
They are to remain in here for a period
that is thirty times longer than the period
in which they exhibited stubbornness.
They run into Manfred of Sicily who tells
them that a soul’s time in Purgatory can
be reduced with prayers from Christians
who are in good standing with God in
the world of the living.
SECOND STAGE (REPENTANT)
 This is the last part of Ante-Purgatory.
On this terrace, they encounter
deceased kings who were negligible
during their rule, people who never
repented while alive, and people who
suffered violent deaths but managed to
repent at the last minute. That following
 evening, Dante falls asleep and wakes
up at the gates of Purgatory Proper,
after having a dream that an eagle
FIFTH STAGE (WRATH)
carried him during the night. The gates
are guarded by an angel, and he carves
Dante’s forehead with the letter “P”
seven times. The angel informs Dante
that he is about to go through the seven
terraces of Purgatory (each representing
a sin among the seven deadly ones) and
one of the P’s will be erased as he
progresses through each terrace as he
climbs Mount Purgatory. He then opens
the gates.
THIRD STAGE (PRIDE)
 This terrace that the poets enter first is
full of those that were prideful during
their earthly lives. The walls of the
terrace have sculptures with examples
of humility, which is the opposite of
pride. The prideful never get a chance to
SIXTH STAGE (SLOTH)
see these sculptures, since their backs
are arched due to the huge weights they
must carry using their backs as their
sins get purged. Dante bends over to
converse with the souls and learns
lessons from them. When Dante
reaches the exit of the terrace, an angel
removes the first “P” from his forehead,
and the poets move on to the 2nd
terrace.
FOURTH STAGE (ENVY)
 This terrace is filled with the souls of
envious penitents. Their earthly lives
were spent desiring what made other
people happy to the point they would
even harm them in order to deprive
them of this. Soon as they enter the
terrace, they hear voices that speak
SEVENTH STAGE (AVARICE)
examples of generosity, which is the
opposite of envy, and later on, they also
hear the voices speak examples of
envy. The penitents wear gray cloaks
and cannot see where they are going
because their eyes have been closed
and sewn with iron wire. As they leave
the terrace, the second “P” is removed.
 Next, the poets enter the third terrace,
which is filled with souls of wrathful
penitents. Dante begins to have visions
of gentleness, which is an example of
the opposite virtue of wrath. The
wrathful forever wonder in a cloud of
black smoke, which is a manifestation of
the anger that clouded their mind and
blinded them when they were alive. The
souls in this part of the poem do not
shout out any examples, but Dante does
have a conversation with Marco
Lombardo about free will. Dante also
has visions about punished wrath. When
they meet an angel, another “P” is
removed, and Dante and Virgil exit the
terrace.
 The next terrace contains the souls of
those who were slothful in their earthly
lives. Virgil explains Purgatory’s
structure to Dante and how it is
determined by love. The wrathful are
forever preoccupied with running around
the terrace without rest, since they never
had zeal (the opposite of sloth) in their
earthly lives, especially when it came to
acting out of love. All example given in
this terrace from the voices in the air is
of zeal. Later that evening, when Dante
falls asleep, he is haunted by
nightmares of a siren, a manifestation of
gluttony, lust, and greed. On the next
day, the fourth “P” is removed and the
poets leave the terrace.
 Dante and Vergil enter the terrace of the
Avaricious and Prodigal. Their
punishment is to lie on the floor, face
down, with their hands and feet bound
together. The souls are being punished
 and purged for desiring material goods
with extravagance, greed, or ambition.
As the poets travel through the terrace,
it is shaken by a mysterious tremor, but
Dante does not ask Virgil about it, even
though he is curious. They run into the
Roman, Statius, and he explains the
mysterious tremor to Dante: it happens
when a soul is ready to move on from
purgatory, and he, Statius, was the soul
that caused the tremor. He joins them
on their journey. It also turns out that
Statius is an admirer of Virgil’s work.
The next angel they run into removes
the fifth “P” from Dante’s forehead.
EIGHTH STAGE (GLUTTONY)
 The next terrace contains the souls of
the gluttonous, and the poets witness
their painful punishment: they
experience excruciating hunger and
thirst while there are plenty of trees with
fruit around them. The souls experience
this because they can never reach the
trees. The voices in the trees give
examples of temperance, which is the
opposite of gluttony. Dante runs into his
friend Forese Donati and his
predecessor Bonagiunta Orbicciani (who
turns out to be poetic and has nothing
but kind words for one of Dante’s
poems, “La Vita Nuova”). As the three
poets exit the sixth terrace, an Angel
removes the sixth “P”.
NINTH STAGE (LUST)
 As they continue to climb Mount
Purgatory, Dante contemplates how the
penitents in the terrace of the
Gluttonous can be so thin but yet be
souls. Statius takes this opportunity, and
Virgil gives him the go-ahead, to explain
how the body and soul are related. In
the terrace of the lustful, the penitent
souls must run through a great wall of
flames. As they run through it, they call
out examples of chastity, which is the
opposite of lust. Everyone must run
through the wall before they leave,
including Dante. Dante is hesitant
because he is afraid. Virgil tells him that
Beatrice, the love of his life, is waiting
for him in the Earthly Paradise. This is
enough to convince Dante, who goes
through the flames. They all fall asleep
shortly after that and in the morning,
they all proceed to the Earthly Paradise
and the final “P” on Dante’s forehead is
removed.
9 SPHERES OF HEAVEN (DANTE’S
PARADISO)
Paradiso (English: "Heaven", "Paradise") is the
third and the last section of Dante's epic poem
of Divine Comedy. In it, the Italian poet
describes his journey through Heaven, the
things he sees, and people he encounters on
the way to the so-called Empyrean, the true
home of God, saints, angels, and the souls of
the faithful. He is accompanied by Beatrice,
identified as Dante's love of life Beatrice
Portinari (1266-1290) who guides him through
the 9 Spheres of Heaven.
FIRST SPHERE (THE MOON)
 When entering the “Realm of Heaven”,
Dante and Beatrice enter the First
Sphere of Heaven or the Moon. Here,
they see the souls of those who failed to
keep their vows including the sister of
Dante’s friend Forese Donati, Piccarda
Donati, and Queen Constance of Sicily,
both of whom were forced from their
convents. Beatrice explains to Dante
why their souls were “punished” by
being allocated to the lowest Heaven for
something that wasn’t their fault, adding
that all souls actually live in the
Empyrean. She also explains to him the
reasons for the dark marks on the Moon.
SECOND SPHERE (MERCURY) and work of St. Francis, St. Bonaventure
presents the story of St. Dominic.
 In the Second Sphere of Heaven or
Mercury, Dante and his guide Beatrice FIFTH SPHERE (MARS)
meet the souls of those who were just
 The Fifth Sphere of Heaven or Mars is
and righteous during their earthly lives
home to holy warriors, whose souls are
but were primarily driven by ambition.
forming the shape of a cross. Here,
The poet speaks to the Byzantine
Dante is approached by the soul of his
Emperor Justinian who tells him the
great-great-grandfather Cacciaguida
history of the Roman Empire, speaking,
who was killed during the Second
among other things, about Julius
Crusade. He speaks about Florence’s
Caesar, Augustus, Jesus’ crucifixion,
glorious (and very idealized) past and
and the destruction of Jerusalem. Before
criticizes its later decline. Also, he
moving forward, Dante and Beatrice
(correctly) predicts Dante’s exile from
discuss the original sin and redemption
the city-state. Holy warriors who appear
as well as the controversial idea of the
in this sphere of Dante’s Paradiso also
responsibility of the Jews for Jesus’
include Joshua, Roland, Charlemagne,
death.
Judas Maccabeus, Robert Guiscard and
THIRD SPHERE (VENUS) others.
 The Third Sphere of Heaven or Venus is SIXTH SPHERE (JUPITER)
home to the souls of lovers who
 The Sixth Sphere of Heaven or Jupiter is
“earned” their place in heaven with their
“inhabited” by the souls of just rulers.
love for God and humanity. Here, Dante
They spell out the Latin phrase “diligite
meets the young prince Charles Martel
iustitiam qui iudicatis terram” (English:
of Anjou who speaks about the influence
“cherish justice, you who judge the
of factors other than heredity on an
earth”) and then form a giant eagle that
individual’s character and qualities. The
speaks to Dante about divine justice and
Italian poet also meets the soul of
inscrutability. Rulers who are identified
Cunizza da Romano whose brother he
to form the eagle include the Biblical
encountered in the Seventh Circle of
kings David and Hezekiah, Constantine,
Hell and troubadour Folquet de
Trajan, William II of Sicily, and Ripheus,
Marselha who later became the Bishop
a Trojan hero and pagan who was
of Toulouse.
saved by God for his righteousness.
FOURTH SPHERE (THE SUN)
SEVENTH SPHERE (SATURN)
 When reaching the Fourth Sphere of
 In the Seventh Sphere of Heaven or
Heaven or the Sun, Dante and Beatrice
Saturn, Dante encounters the spirits of
are surrounded by a crown consisting of
people who dedicated their lives to
St. Thomas Aquinas and eleven other
prayer, climbing up and down a golden
souls of wise men who also include
ladder. In this sphere, the poet speaks
Boethius, King Solomon, Peter
to St. Peter Damian who points out to
Lombard, and the Venerable Bede, to
the corruption of the Church but he also
mention some of the most famous ones.
meets St. Benedict who is infuriated with
Then a second crown of twelve wise
the Church’s moral decline as well. St.
men appears with St. Bonaventure as
Benedictine also tells Dante that the
their main spokesman. Similarly as St.
golden ladder is reaching up to the very
Thomas who tells Dante the story of life
 Empyrean and explains the latter’s
nature.
EIGHTH SPHERE (FIXED STARS)
 Dante and Beatrice enter the Eighth
Sphere of Heaven or Fixed Stars in the
constellation of Gemini. Here, the poet
and his guide see the Virgin Mary and
other Biblical saints including the
apostles of Peter, John and James who
test Dante on faith, love and hope. Then
Dante sees Adam who tells him how old
he is, how long he lived in Eden, why
God got angry at him, and what was his
original language. Before moving
forward, Dante and Beatrice also
witness Peter’s anger with the papacy
and in particular, Pope Boniface VIII.

NINTH SPHERE (PRIMUM MOBILE)

 The last of the 9 Spheres of Heaven or
the Primum Mobile is also the last stop
before the Empyrean and the last of the
physical Heavens as the Empyrean is
beyond space and time. After a brief
discussion with Beatrice on the place
they’ve come to, Dante sees an
intensely bright light surrounded by nine
circles which, as he soon learns, are the
nine orders of angels surrounding God
in the center. As they are slowly
ascending to pthe Empyrean, Beatrice
tells Dante the story of creation and the
history of the angels.