A Classical Quest through

Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise

The Author (DANTE ALIGHIERI)
❑Born in Florence, Italy on May, 1265.
❑His family was old and of noble origin, but no
longer wealthy.
❑Married Gemma Donati and had three children
❑Two boys-exiled; one daughter who was sent to
convent
❑He held a number of significant public offices at a
time of great political unrest in Italy, and, in 1302,
he was exiled for life by the leaders of the Black
Guelphs, the political faction in power at the time.
❑Died in Ravenna in September, 1321
Type of Work
The Divine Comedy is an epic poem on a vast
scale, told by Dante himself in first-person point of
view. The Divine Comedy is also an allegory, a work in
which characters, objects, and events have figurative
as well as literal meanings.
 Structure of the Divine Comedy

The poem is consisted with 14, 233 lines

which rime. The work is arranged in 100 cantos in 3
parts, 34 for the Inferno, 33 each for Purgatorio and
Paradiso. The work is written in groups of 3 lines or
tercets, reminiscent of the Trinity. Each canto is
written in terza rima, that is tercets that rhyme in an
interlocking manner.
Year Completed
The Divine Comedy was probably written
between 1306 and 1321, although Dante may have
begun writing the poem as early as 1300. Most of the
poem was written between 1315 and 1321. The poem
won a large audience even though copies of it had to
be handwritten. (The printing press had not yet been
invented.) The Divine Comedy ranks as one of the great
literary masterpieces of all time alongside the epics of
Homer and Virgil and the greatest plays of
Shakespeare.
Original Title
The Divine Comedy was originally entitled La
commedia di Dante Alighieri (The Comedy of Dante
Alighieri). In 1555, when a special edition of the poem
was published in Venice, its admirers added the word
Divina (Divine) to the title to call attention to the
greatness of the work. Thus, it became known as La
Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy) and the
author's name was dropped from the title. In the
original title, di (of) appears to have a double meaning.
On the one hand, it means Dante wrote the work. On
the other, it means Dante experienced what took place
in the work.
Settings
The action takes place in 1300. It begins in the
Forest of Darkness on Good Friday, the day
commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus
Christ, and ends the following Thursday. When Dante
starts his journey, he is thirty-five years old—exactly half
the biblical life span of "three score years and ten."
From the Forest of Darkness, Dante proceeds through
Hell and Purgatory, then ascends into Heaven.
Themes
❑ Life as a Journey
The Divine Comedy presents life as a journey in
which man(representing all humans) must overcome
obstacles to achieve the ultimate goal, eternal bliss in
the sight of God. It focuses mainly on life as a spiritual
journey. The obstacles traveler must overcome are
temptation and sin.
❑ Salvation through Repentance
Even if a person sins, he is not lost. Sincere
contrition and penitence will restore the soul to
eligibility for entrance into heaven.
Dante’s Numerical Symbolisms:
❑ 3- a symbol of the Holy Trinity
❑ 9 (three times three)
❑ 33 a multiple of 3
❑ The 7 days of creation
❑ 10- considered in the Medieval Period as a
perfect number
❑ 100, the multiple of 10.
❑ Virgil symbolizes human reason
❑ Beatrice stands for faith and supernatural truth
❑ The three beasts Dante encounters in Canto 1
represent sin(incontinence, violence and
fraudulence)
❑ Various personages in other cantos symbolize
specific types of sin, such as envy, sloth, gluttony,
and lust.
❑ Some allegorical characters, objects, or events
symbolize several things at the same time.
The Characters
Dante
Author and protagonist; focus of all action and
interaction with other characters
Virgil
Dante's guide through Hell; Historically, a great
Latin poet; wise, resourceful, and commanding
presence for Dante on journey to Hell
Beatrice
Dante had fallen in love with her; she dies early
in life so Dante goes searching for her in heaven; aids
Dante's journey by asking angel to find Virgil and ask
him to guide Dante through Hell
 Paolo and Francesca da Rimini
Pair of lovers condemned to second circle of Hell
for adulterous love affair
Lucifer
Prince of Hell; resides at bottom of the ninth
(final) circle of hell; has three faces that chew on Judas,
Cassius, and Brutus
Minos
Giant beast who stands at second circle of Hell
and decides where the souls of sinners shall be sent for
torment
Pope Boniface VIII
Political enemy of Dante; corrupt pope who
reigned for 9 years
 Farinata
Political leader from Dante's era who resides
among the heretics in the sixth circle of Hell
Phylegyas
Boatman who rows Dante and Virgil across the
river styx
Filippo Argenti
Political enemy of Dante who resides in fifth
circle of Hell
Nessus
Centaur who carries Dante through the first ring
of the seventh circle of Hell
Pier della Vigna
Former advisor to Emperor Frederick II;
committed suicide when fell into disfavor at the court
 Geryon
Massive serpentine monster that transports Dante and
Virgil from seventh to eighth circle of Hell
Malacoda
Leader of demons who guard the fifth pouch of the eighth
circle of Hell
Vanni Fucci
Thief punished in seventh pouch of the eighth circle of
Hell; curses God before Dante journeys on
Guido da Montefeltro
Advisor to Pope Boniface VIII; was promised anticipatory
absolution (indulgence); now suffers in Hell
Antaeus
Giant who transports Dante and Virgil from the eighth to
ninth circle of Hell
Count Ugolino
Traitor condemned to the second ring of the ninth circle of Hell
 By the time you finish reading, you
will know which circle of hell you may
find yourself in!
Summary
Hell
In the middle of the human life, at the age of 35, Dante got
lost in the woods and after a whole night of wondering around, he
wakes up on a top of a hill where he encountered three
dangerous animals: lion, panther and a wolf. He was scared and
started running. On his way, he found Virgil who promised to save
him but before that he had to go through Hell, Purgatory and
Heaven.
Finally, Dante and Virgil came in front of Hell’s doors and
Dante saw a sign which said ‘’Give up hope you who enter’’. They
did not enter yet but already heard awful screams, curses and
cries. They saw a big crowd of souls running in panic over a river.
They were the ones that were lazy and only thought about
themselves in their life. Now they were forced to run because
they were chased by bees and hornets.
 Dante and Virgil finally got to the river Acheron where the
miserable souls were waiting to be transferred to the other side by
Charon, the ferryman. When he saw Dante, who was alive, Charon
got mad and denied to take him to the other side. Virgil calmed
him down saying that Dante’s arrival was Gods wish. Suddenly the
ground started shaking and Dante passed out. He woke up on the
other side, in the first circle of hell. The first circle was the Limbo.
There were the ones who lived before Christ and were not
baptized. They did not suffer but they wanted to fell God’s mercy.
In the first circle Dante met Homer, Ovid, Horace, Cesar, Socrates,
Aristotle.
In the second circle they saw Minos, half man and half
beast. He was the guard who was listening to everyone’s
confessions and sent them into their circle. Dante went to the
second circle and met the sinful lovers. All of the souls in this part
of Hell were tormented by a never ending wind. Dante found
Cleopatra, Paris and other lovers.
 Dante also met Paolo and Francesca who were murdered by
Paolo's brother when he caught them two together in adultery.
Dante was so impressed by that unfortunate story that he passed
out again.
When he finally woke up, he was at the entrance to the third
circle of Hell where the sinners spent an eternity in mud and mire.
Gluttons and alcoholics were here and they were guarded by
Cerberus, a three-headed dog who was barfing at them and tore
them apart.
The fourth circle used to be guarded by Plato and now it was
guarded by a beast. The biggest number of sinners was here.
Cheapskates were on one side and on the other there were
spenders. They pushed a rock every day towards the center of Hell
and then they would collide, argue and go back the same way.
 In the fifth circle there was a swamp Styx and in the depth the
lazy were suffocating and in the mud the angry were fighting.
The two of them get to the sixth circle but the guards did not want to
let Dante in, even though Virgil explained the situation. An angel
appeared and opened the door for them. When they got in, Dante
saw a lot of open graves where heretic were because they did not
believe in the immortality of the soul.
While breathing in an awful smell, the poets went to the
seventh circle where the violent ones were. Minotaur was in the
entrance and that circle was made out of three parts. In the first one
were the people who were violent against the ones near them and
they were in the river of boiling blood Phlegethon. In the next part
were people who committed suicide and were turned into trees with
human emotions and bushes. They were tormented by Harpies.
Poets came to the third part and saw the people who had done
something against God’s and nature’s law. They were tormented by
burning snowflakes rain.
 They arrived to the eight circle that was divided into ten
ditches. The first one had Panderers and Seducers tormented with
whips. In the second ditch were the Flatterers who were dipped into
humans faces. In the third ditch were the Simonists who were up-
side down over holes while their feet were on fire. The fourth ditch
was made for Fortune Tellers and Diviners who had they heads on
backwards. The fifth ditch contained sinners of Graft slashed by
demons. In the sixth one were the Hypocrites wearing leaden robes.
In the seventh one they saw Thieves whose hands were cut off. In the
eight ditch Dante saw Evil Counselors moving between flames. In the
ninth the devils were hurting people who caused fights between
people the same blood and religion. In the tenth were the Falsifiers
who suffered from horrible diseases.
They finally arrived to the last circle of Hell. The biggest
sinners were there and those were the traitors. The sinners who
betrayed their country or family were stuck in a frozen river Cocytus.
 At the bottom they saw Lucifer who had three faces: a red
one, a yellow one and a black one. His three mouths were chewing
the three biggest traitors: Judas, Brutus and Cassius.
Lucifer had six wings on him with which he waved constantly.
That’s how he kept the water cold. Bloody saliva was coming out of
his mouth. Virgil and Dante grabbed onto the hairs on Lucifer's ribs
and went to the Hells exit.

Purgatory
Purgatory is the second part of The Divine Comedy. After a
rough path, the poets came to the surface of a great mountain that
is Purgatory. It is divided into pre-purgatory, real purgatory and
earthly heaven. When they washed themselves, Dante and Virgil
started climbing. First, they got into the pre-purgatory where they
were sleeping.
 In the dream Dante saw an angel that cut the letter “p” seven
times into his forehead. The significance of that were the 7 sins and
the seven circles of purgatory that he has to go through.

On their way, Dante and Virgil encountered cheap skates,

spenders, angry, lazy and grumpy people. The seventh circle was
filled with flame and Dante was afraid to enter. Virgil convinced him
to go in and afterwards they found themselves in front of the stairs
that lead to heaven. Dante fell asleep.

Heaven
This is the third part of The Divine Comedy. Dante went into it
purified from his sins. After he had woken up, he found himself in a
garden full of flowers and there it was always spring. Soon Beatrice
appeared, a beautiful women and a symbol of Gods word.
 She will be with Dante instead of Virgil because he can’t go
into Heaven since he is the voice of human reason.

As pure creatures they started rising towards God. The path

was leading them through nine spheres that revolve around Earth.
The first one was the Moons sphere, the second one was Mercury
sphere, the third one Venus, the fourth one the Suns, the fifth one
Mars, the sixth one Jupiter, the seventh one Saturn. The eight one
was a star and the last one was made from crystal and was moving
everything else. Above them was the Empyrean were God was.
Dante’s wish comes true here and he saw the divine love.
 Three Sections of the Divine Comedy:
Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso
3 was holy
number for Dante-
suggesting the
Holy Trinity
Plot

Exposition

In the middle of the human life, at the age

of 35, Dante got lost in the woods and after a
whole night of wondering around he wakes up on
a top of a hill.
Conflict

He encountered three dangerous animals:

lion, panther and a wolf. He was scared and started
running.
Rising action

He is met by the Roman poet Virgil,

who offers to take him on a journey around
the creatures into Hell, so that eventually he
can reach the Mount of Joy.
Climax

Dante is at a crossroads in his life where he

needs to understand what has happened so that he
can regain his faith in God’s plan. He is frightened to
enter Hell with Virgil, but also understands that
Virgil has been sent to guide him through this
journey by Beatrice, the love of Dante’s life.
Falling action

The poets descend through the levels of Hell,

finding each sin and torment to be worse than the
previous level. After a rough path the poets came to
the surface of a great mountain that is Purgatory.
Denouement/Resolution

In the third section, 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.
 Moral

The whole world has meaning, reason, and

order. The source of meaning, reason, and order is
God’s divine plan. The divine order is knowable and
achievable by humankind. In sum if you’ll just be
good, you can make it to the top or heaven.
THANK YOU
FOR
LISTENING!