Dante's Divine Comedy: An Introduction to Inferno

Divina
By Dante Alighieri
Commedia

About the
Author:
Durante degli Alighieri
Born Mid-May to mid-June, c. 1265
Florence, Republic of Florence
Died September 13/14, 1321
(aged about 56)
Ravenna, Papal States
Occupation Statesman, poet, language
theorist, political theorist
Nationality Italian
Period Late Middle Ages
Literary movement Dolce Stil Novo
Dante was an Italian poet and moral philosopher best known for the epic poem The Divine
Comedy, which comprises sections representing the three tiers of the Christian afterlife:
purgatory, heaven, and hell.
This poem, a great work of medieval literature and considered the greatest work of literature
composed in Italian, is a philosophical Christian vision of mankind’s eternal fate. Dante is seen
as the father of modern Italian, and his works have flourished since before his 1321 death.
Dante Alighieri

Stucture:
Story
Purgatorio
(Purgatory)
Inferno
(Hell)
Paradiso
(Paradise)
The Divine Comedy is composed of 14,233 lines that are divided into three canticas (Italian
plural cantiche) .Composed of:
- each consisting of 33 cantos (Italian plural canti). An initial canto, serving as an introduction to
the poem and generally considered to be part of the first cantica, brings the total number of
cantos to 100.
Additionally, the verse scheme used, terza rima, is hendecasyllabic (lines of eleven syllables),
with the lines composing tercets according to the rhyme scheme aba, bcb, cdc, ded, ....

Sypnosis:
Divine
Comedy
Beatrice
(2nd Guide)
Virgil
(1st Guide)
Saint Bernard
(3rd Guide)
Dante Pilgrim has not been a good boy. His dead love Beatrice asks the Virgin Mary to
help him see the error of his ways. Mary accepts and Dante is sent on a three-day trip through
Hell, and on up Mount Purgatory on the other side of the world, and finally to Heaven in the
sky. He is spiritually lost at the beginning of the story, so he needs guides to help him along the
path.
*The woman he
adored while she
lived.
*(Saint Bernard)
Namesake of the
loyal dog – who
takes him to see
GOD.
*(Virgil) – author
of Aeneid

Inferno[inˈfərnō]
▬a large fire that is dangerously out of control.

Structure:
Inferno
The physical aspect of Hell is a
gigantic funnel that leads to the very
center of the Earth.
According to the legend used by
Dante, this huge, gigantic hole in the
Earth was made when God threw
Satan (Lucifer) and his band of rebels
out of Heaven with such force that
they created a giant hole in the Earth.
Satan was cast all the way to the very
center of the Earth, has remained
there since, and will remain there
through all of eternity.
Circle 1: Those in Limbo
Circle 2: The Lustful
Circle 3: The Gluttonous
Circle 4: The Hoarders
Circle 5: The Wrathful
Circle 6: The Heretics
Circle 7: The Violent
Ring 1:Murderers, Robberers & Plunders
Ring 2:Suicides and those harmful to the world
Ring 3:Against GOD, Nature & Art
Circle 8: The Fraudulent
Trench I: Panderers & Seducers
Trench II: Flatterers
Trench III: Simoniacs
Trench IV: Sorcerers
Trench V: Barrators
Trench VI: Hypocrites
Trench VII: Thieves
Trench VIII: Evil Counselors
Trench IX: Sowers of Discord
Trench X: Falsifiers
Circle 9: Traitors
Region 1: Kindred
Region 2: Country
Region 3: Guests
Region 4: Lords

CANTO I The Dark worlds of Error
Dante in the savage wood
The Inferno follows the wanderings
of the poet Dante as he strays off
the rightful and straight path of
moral truth and gets lost in a dark
wood. And that, folks, is just the
beginning.
Dante
At the age of thirty-five, on the night
of Good Friday in the year 1300,
Dante finds himself lost in a dark
wood and full of fear.

CANTO I The Dark worlds of Error
Leopard
Lion
She-wolf
The panther at the beginning of the ascent The lion suddently confronts Dante The she-wolf appears
Just as three wild animals threaten to attack him, Dante is
rescued by the ghost of Virgil, a celebrated Roman poet
and also Dante’s idol.
Virgil

CANTO II The Descent
Virgil and Dante begin their
journey
Virgil asked the deceased love-of-
Dante’s-life, Beatrice, to send
someone down to help him. And
voila! Virgil to the rescue! He’s an
appropriate guide because he’s very
much like Dante, a fellow writer and
famous poet.
When asked why in hell he came, Virgil
answers that the head honchos of
Heaven—the Virgin Mary and Santa
Lucia—felt sorry for Dante.
Beatrice and Virgil
Beatrice

CANTO III The Opportunists
(Gate)
Virgil and Dante at the gates of Hell
Dante passes through the gate of Hell,
which bears an inscription ending with
the famous phrase "Lasciate ogne
speranza, voi ch'intrate", most frequently
translated as "Abandon all hope, ye who
enter here” Dante and his guide hear the
anguished screams of the Uncommitted.
These are the souls of people who in life
took no sides; the opportunists who
were for neither good nor evil, but
merely concerned with themselves.

CANTO III The Opportunists
(Gate)
Charon on the River Acheron
After passing through
the vestibule, Dante and
Virgil reach the ferry that
will take them across the
river Acheron and to
Hell proper. The ferry is
piloted by Charon, who
does not want to let
Dante enter, for he is a
living being
Virgil forces Charon to
take him however, the
passage across the
Acheron is undescribed,
since Dante faints and
does not awaken until
he is on the other side.
Charon

CANTO IV The Virtuous Pagan
Circle 1 - Limbo
The doomed souls embarking to cross the Acheron
The first circle of Hell (Limbo),
considered pre-Hell, just contains all of
the unbaptized and good people born
and before the coming of Christ, who
obviously couldn’t be saved by him.

CANTO IV The Virtuous Pagan
Circle 1 - Limbo
Homer, the poets, and heroes in Limbo
The first circle of Hell (Limbo) :
Virgil resides here, along with
a bunch of other Greek and
Roman poets.
Dante encounters the poets
Homer, Horace, Ovid, and
Lucan, who include him in
their number and make him
"sixth in that high company".

CANTO V The Lustful
Circle 2
Minos judges the transgressions and
dispatches the souls
Dante and Virgil leave Limbo and
enter the Second Circle — the
first of the circles of
Incontinence — where the
punishments of Hell proper
begin. It is described as "a part
where no thing gleams. They find
their way hindered by the
serpentine Minos.
Minos
who judges all of those
condemned for active,
deliberately willed sin to one of
the lower circles.
He sentences each soul to its
torment by wrapping his tail
around himself a corresponding
number of times.

CANTO V The Lustful
Circle 2
The souls of the lustful in the infernal hurricane
In the second circle,
lustful sinners are tossed
around by endless
storms.

CANTO V The Lustful
Circle 2
The souls of Paolo and Francesca
Dante speaks to the soul
of Francesca da Rimini, a
woman who was stuck in
a loveless, arranged
marriage and committed
adultery when she fell in
love with a dashing youth
named Paolo.
Paolo
Francesca

CANTO VI The Gluttonous
Circle 3
Virgil feeds Cerberus in the third circle
Cerberus - the monstrous
three-headed beast of
Hell, ravenously guards
the gluttons lying in the
freezing mire, mauling
and flaying them with his
claws as they howl like
dogs.
Cerberus

CANTO VI The Gluttonous
Circle 3
The gluttons battered by eternal rain
Dante then awakes in
the third circle,
where the
Gluttonous sinners
suffer under a cold
and filthy rain.

CANTO VII The Avaricious and Prodigal
Circle 4
The souls of the avaricious and the
prodigal forced to roll heavy stones
Virgil leads Dante on to the
fourth circle, where the
Avaricious (greedy people)
and Prodigal (reckless
spenders) roll heavy
weights in endless circles.
Virgil rebukes Plutus at the
entrance to the fourth circle
Circle 4 –
Guarded by Plutus.
Plutus

CANTO VIII The Wrathful and Sullen
Circle 5 – The River Styx
The soul of the Florentine Philippo
Argenti accosts the poets on the Styx
The next stop on
the tour is the fifth
circle, where the
Wrathful and Sullen
are immersed in
the muddy river
Styx.
While they are crossing
the Styx, a sinner
named Filippo Argenti
reaches out to Dante
(presumably for help),
but Dante angrily
rejects him.
Philippo

CANTOIX-XI The Wrathful and Sullen
Circle 5 – The Gate of Dis
Virgil and Dante disembark at the citadel of Dis
Now at the gates of
a city called Dis,
Virgil takes it upon
himself to persuade
the demon guards
to let them pass.
Unexpectedly, he
fails.

CANTOIX-XI The Wrathful and Sullen
Circle 5 – The Gate of Dis
The hideous Erinyes: Megaera, Tisiphone, Alecto
The walls of Dis are
guarded by fallen
angels.
Demon guards
This means that instead of
continuing on with the
journey, Dante and Virgil
must wait for an angel to
come down and force
open the gates for them.
The angel opens the gates

CANTOIX-XI The Heretics
Circle 6
Farinata degli Uberti addresses Dante
After passing the
city of Dis, our
dynamic duo enters
the sixth circle,
where the Heretics
lay in fiery tombs.
Farinata degli Uberti
Dante talks to
Farinata degli
Uberti, who predicts
that Dante will have
difficulty returning
to Florence from
exile.

CANTO XII The Violent against Neighbors
Circle 7
The Minotaur on the shattered cliff
This circle houses the
violent. Its entry is guarded
by Minotaur.
Divided into 3 rings:
Outer ring
Middle ring
Inner ring
Minotaur

CANTO XII The Violent
Circle 7
As they cross from
the sixth to the
seventh circle, where
the Violent are
punished, Virgil finally
begins explaining the
layout of Hell.
Violent against their neighbors
Circle 7
Violent against themselves
Violent against GOD
Outer ring
Middle ring
Inner ring
*The seventh circle will
show all the violent
sinners.

CANTO XII The Violent against their neighbors
Circle 7 – Outer Ring
Outer ring –
housing the violent
against people and
property, who are
immersed in
Phlegethon – a river
of boiling blood, to a
level commensurate
with their sins.
The centaurs attack the souls in boiling blood

CANTO XIII The Violent against themselves
Circle 7 – Middle Ring
Middle ring –
In this ring are the
suicides, who are
transformed into
gnarled thorny
bushes and trees.
The suicides in the forest
*The trees are a metaphor; In
life the only way of the relief
of suffering was through pain
(suicide)

CANTO XIV-XVII The Violent against GOD, Nature and Art
Circle 7 – Inner Ring
Inner ring –
All reside in a desert
of flaming sand with
fiery flakes raining
from the sky.
Brunetto Latini accosts Dante
Violent against:
GOD – blasphemers,
Nature –Sodomites;
Art – Usurers
Latini

CANTO XVIII The Fraudulent
Circle 8 –
Finally, Dante and Virgil
ready themselves to
cross to the eighth
circle. Dante, at Virgil’s
command, summons the
beast Geryon from the
depths with a cord
wrapped around his
waist.
Geryon
Geryon, symbol of deceit The descent into the abyss on Geryon’s back
Virgil stays to talk with the
beast while urging Dante to
look at the last of the Violent
sinners. When Dante comes
back, they mount Geryon and
ride the beast during the
descent into the eighth circle.

Circle 8 –
The eighth circle
contains ten pouches,
each containing
different types of
sinners.
Dante’s Inferno
Circle 4: The Hoaders
Circle 8: The Faudulent
Trench V: Barrators
Trench VI: Hyprocrites
Trench VII: Theives
Circle 9: Traitors
Region 1: Kindred
Region 2: Country
Region 3: Guests
Region 4: Lords

Circle 8 –
Bolgia I : Devils and seducers Bolgia II: Paramours and flatterers in the eighth
circle
Panderers and Seducers walk
in separate line in opposite
direction, whipped by demons.
Flatterers are steeped in
human excrement.

CANTO XIX-XX The Fraudulent
Circle 8 –
Bolgia V Dante rebukes Pope Nicholas III i Bolgia VI: Sorcerers and false prophets
Simoniacs -Those who
committed simony are place
head first in holes in the rock,
with flames burning on the
soles of their feet.
Sorcerers and false prophets-
they have their heads twisted
around on their bodies
backward, so they can only see
what is behind them and not in
the future.

CANTO XXI-XXIII The Fraudulent
Circle 8 –
Bolgia V : Devils torment the barrators Bolgia VI: Hypocrites
Corrupt politicians( barrators)
are immersed in a lake of
boiling pitch, guarded by
devils, the Malebranche
Hypocrites listlessly walking
along wearing gold-gilded lead
cloaks.
lol

CANTO XXIV-XXVII The Fraudulent
Circle 8 –
Bolgia VII : The thieves tormented by serpents Bolgia VIII: Evil Counsellors
Thieves are bitten by snakes.
Snakes bites make them
undergo various
transformations and some
resrrected after being turned
to ashes.
Evil counsellors are
encased in individual
flames
*The’re watching the flaming spirits of
Oddyseus and Diomedes
(Trojan War)

CANTO XXVII-XXXI The Fraudulent
Circle 8 –
Bolgia IX : Sowers of Dicord Bolgia X: The falsifiers and forgers tormented with itching
A sword-wieldded
devil hacks at the
sowers of discord.
As their wounds heal,
the devil will tear their
bodies again.
Groups of various sort of
falsifiers are afflicted with
different types of
diseases.
The severed
head of
Bertrand de
Born speaks
to Dante

Circle 8 –
Ephialtes in manacles among the giants
As they leave,
Virgil points out the
sinning giants who
are immobilized
around them in
punishment.

Circle 8 –
Nimrod of the giants
Nimrod—who was
responsible for building
the Tower of Babel—has
lost the ability to speak
coherently. His words
are gibberish.
Virgil requests that one
of the unbound giants,
Antaneus, transport
them in the palm of his
hand down to the last
circle of Hell. He
complies.
The giant Antaeus lowers Dante and Virgil into the last circle
Nimrod
Antaneus

CANTO XXXIII The Traitors
Circle 9 –
The ninth circle of Hell,
where traitors are
punished, contains four
different zones.
Dante’s Inferno
Circle 4: The Hoaders
Circle 8: The Faudulent
Trench V: Barrators
Trench VI: Hyprocrites
Trench VII: Theives
Circle 9: Traitors
Region 1: Kindred
Region 2: Country
Region 3: Guests
Region 4: Lords

Circle 9
Traitors, distinguished
from the “merely”
fraudulent in that their
acts involve betraying
one in a special
relationship to the
betrayer, are frozen in a
lake of ice known as
Cocytus.
The traitors frozen in the ice of Cocytus

Circle 9 – The Four Concentric Zones of 9th Circle
Traitors to their Kindred
REGION 1:
Caïna
Named for Cain, is home to
traitors to their kindered.
REGION 2:
Antenora
Is name for Antenor
of troy,who betrayed
his city to the Greeks.
REGION 3:
Ptolomæa
Is probably named
for Ptolemy, the
captain of Jericho ,
He killed Simon
Maccabaeus and his
sons.
REGION 4:
Judecca
Is named for Judas
the Iscariot, Biblical
betrayer of Christ, is
for traitor to their
Lords.
Traitors to their Country Traitors to their Guests Traitors to their Lords

Circle 9 – REGION 1:Caïna
REGION 1:Caïna
The souls here are
immersed in the ice up
to their necks.
Dante addresses the traitor Bocca degli Abati
Bocca degli Abati

Circle 9 – REGION 2:Antenora
REGION 2: Antenora
The souls here are
immersed the same
level as those in Caïna,
except they are unable
to bend their necks.
Ugolino gnaws upon the head of Archbishop Ruggieri
Archbishop Ruggierir
Ugolino

Circle 9 – REGION 3:Ptolomæa
REGION 3:Ptolomæa
Where traitors against
their guests suffer,
immobilized in ice and
their tears frozen
against their eyes.
As they cry, their tears freeze and seal their eyes shut – they are denied even comfort of tears.

Circle 9 – REGION 4:Judecca
REGION 4:Judecca
In the fourth the final
zone, Judecca, where
traitors against their
benefactors are
punished, Dante
witnesses the king of
Hell, the three-headed
Lucifer, giant and frozen
at the core. In his three
mouths, Lucifer
mechanically chews on
the most evil mortal
sinners—Judas, Brutus,
and Cassius.
Lucifer, king of Hell, frozen in the ice
Lucifer
Dante & Virgil
They’re so tiny.lol

CANTO XXXIV Upper World
The two poets
escape and
pass through
the center of
the Earth -
Virgil and Dante ascend to the upper world
- emerging in
the other
hemisphere just
before dawn on
Easter Sunday
beneath a sky
studded with
stars.

The Guide and I into that hidden road
Now entered, to return to the bright world;
And without care of having any rest
We mounted up, he first and I the second,
Till I beheld through a round aperture
Some of the beauteous things that Heaven doth bear—
—Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars.
▬ End of Inferno ▬

Purgatorio[purɡaˈtɔːrjo]
▬any condition or place of temporary punishment,
suffering, expiation, or the like.

The Earthly Paradise
Structure:
Purgatorio
There are seven circles of purgation
of the deadly sins, arranged in three
groupings, consisting those arising
from a perverse desire to see others
fail or suffer, namely pride, envy, and
anger (Circles 1-3);
that arising from inadequate desire,
namely spiritual and intellectual sloth
(Circle 4);
and those arising from excessive
desire, namely avarice, gluttony, and
lust (Circles 5-7). Added to these are
the excommunicated, at the base of
the mountain, and the late-repentant
below the gate.
There are therefore nine major
divisions, plus the Earthly Paradise,
beyond Purgatory proper, at its
summit, making ten in all.
The Lustful
The Gluttonous
The Avaricious
and Prodigal
The slothful
The Envious
The Proud
The Late Repentant
The Negligent Rulers
The Un-absolved
The Indolent
The Excommunicate
Purgatory
Ante-Purgatory

CANTO I Mount Purgatory
Purgatorio
picks up right
where Inferno
left off—Dante
and Virgil have
just emerged
from their tour
through Hell.
The poets behold the beauty of Venus in the morning sky
The two
travelers find
themselves on
the island of
Mount
Purgatory at the
dawn of a new
day.

CANTO II Mount Purgatory
On the shores of the island,
Dante and Virgil watch a boat
arrive. Guided by an angel, the
boat shuttles a new batch of
penitent souls to Purgatory.
The celestial pilot lands the boat
Like these souls, Dante is about to climb
Mount Purgatory, learning lessons, and
cleansing himself of sin in preparation for
ascending to Heaven.

CANTO III Mount Purgatory
Before beginning
to scale the
mountain, Dante
and Virgil must
first pass
through ante-
Purgatory.
The company of souls upon the cliff
They meet a variety
of souls, most of
whom are shocked
to see that Dante
casts a shadow,
showing that he's
alive.

CANTO III-VI The Excommunicates & The Late-repentant
Along their travels they pass though the First Spur of the Indolent and the
Second Spur of the Late-Repentants.
The indolent souls beside the rock The late repenters singing the Miserere

CANTO VII
They travel to the Valley of
the Rulers and meet a
bunch of deceased kings.
The body of Buonconte da Montefeltro in the Arno The angels drive the serpent away
In the valley, a serpent
appears at dusk, only to be
driven away by two angels.
Buonconte
Serpent

CANTO VIII Upper World
The penitent souls are unable to travel in
Purgatory at night, so, although Virgil is
in a hurry, he and Dante rest until
morning.
Twilight Dante, in a dream, is carried off by an eagle
Dante sleeps and dreams about an eagle
abducting him.

CANTO IX Portals of Purgatory
When he wakes up, he finds
himself at the entrance to
Purgatory proper.
Dante and Virgil at the portals of Purgatory
Virgil informs him that St. Lucia
came while he slept and carried
him to the gate to Purgatory.
They climb the three steps to
the gate, and the angel guarding
the entrance carves seven P’s
into Dante’s forehead.

CANTO X-XII The Proud.
Now in Purgatory proper, Dante and Virgil have seven terraces to pass through,
each of which corresponds to one of the seven deadly sins.
The marble sculptures portraying pride The souls of the prideful, bearing heavy stones
On the first terrace of the
Prideful, Dante and Virgil
observe in the wall of the cliff
sculptures representing
humility.
They come across the Prideful penitents,
who are being punished for their sin of
pride by carrying massive weights on
their backs. they reach the exit, where an
angel erases one P from Dante’s
forehead.

CANTO XIII-XIV The Envious
Dante and Virgil climb to the second terrace of
the Envious.
The souls of the envious
Voices there call out examples of fraternal love.
They witness the Envious penitents being
punished by having their eyelids sewn shut with
iron wire. Voices call out examples of punished
envy.
Dante and Virgil exit the second terrace, and
another angel removes a P from Dante's
forehead.

CANTO XV-XVI The Angry
Now in the third terrace of the Wrathful,
Dante has a vision containing examples
of gentleness.
Black smoke, the punishment of the
Wrathful, envelops them, rendering them
blind.
In the smoke, they meet a man named
Marco Lombardo, who discourses on free
will and political corruption. Dante and
Virgil meet the angel who removes the
third P from Dante’s forehead.
Dante speaks to the soul of Marco Lombardo
Marco Lombardo

CANTO XVII-
XVIII
The Slothful
As they travel to the fourth terrace of
the Slothful, He (Virgil) continues to
lecture on love and free will.
The Slothful penitents, meanwhile,
shout examples of zeal and show
that their punishment is to run
without rest.
The multitude of the slothful

CANTO XIX-XXI The Avaricious (and the Prodigal)
Dante and Virgil
ascend to the fifth
terrace of the
Avaricious and
Prodigal, where
they witness the
penitents'
punishment:
The poets ascend to the fifth circle
The souls of the avaricious
-lying stretched
face down on the
ground and
bound by hand
and foot. The
penitents shout
examples of
poverty and
generosity.
U ok
there
dude?
Hey Virgil,
Paint me like
one of your
french girls.
Nope.

CANTO XXII-
XXIV
The Gluttonous
On the sixth
terrace of the
Gluttonous, they
encounter a
strange tree. A
disembodied
voice cites
examples of
temperance.
Dante recognizes the shade of Forese among the gluttonsThe gluttonous souls crying out beneath the tree
They encounter a
man named
Forese Donati,
who explains the
punishment of the
Gluttonous as
agonizing thirst
and hunger.
Forese

CANTO XXV-
XXVI
The Lustful
Dante, Virgil, and
Statius climb to the
seventh terrace of
the Lustful.
The lustful pass through fire in the seventh circle
Here among the
Lustful, however,
they witness the
punishment of the
penitents, who walk
in flames. The
Lustful shout
examples of
chastity.

CANTO XXVII Through the flames. Virgil’s Departure
At sunset, the travelers reach the exit to
the seventh terrace, and an angel removes
Dante’s final P.
However, to leave the terrace, Dante must
first walk through a wall of flames. He
hesitates with fear, but Virgil lures him
through with the promise that he will see
Beatrice on the other side.
Past the fire, Dante sleeps. In the morning,
Virgil announces Dante’s readiness for the
Earthly Paradise.
Virgil and Dante ascend to the seventh circle through flames

CANTO XXVIII-
XXIX
Dante and Matilda
In the Earthly Paradise, Dante meets a
woman named Matilda, who explains the
origins of wind and water in the forest of
the Earthy Paradise.
Dante, Virgil, and Statius in the ancient forest of
the terrestrial paradise
Beatrice among the angelsDante submerged in the River Lethë
At the banks of the river Lethe, an
extraordinary procession passes by, halting
before Dante. Virgil disappears, to Dante’s
distress, but Beatrice appears.
Beatrice
Matilda

CANTO XXXX The giant and the harlot
Dante witnesses
the procession's
chariot attacked
by an eagle, a
fox, the eagle
again, and a
dragon.
The giant and the harlot in the chariot
Then the chariot
turns into a
whore, courted by
a giant. Beatrice
prophesies God’s
vengeance on the
dragon, whore,
and giant.

CANTOXXXI
XXXIII
Dante’s purification
At the closing of Purgatorio,
Matilda leads Dante to the river
Eunoe, and immerses him in the
water.
Dante drinks of the River Eunoë
He is now ready to ascend to
Heaven, with Statius and Beatrice as
his guides.

From the most holy water I returned
Regenerate, in the manner of new trees
That are renewed with a new foliage,
Pure and disposed to mount unto the stars.
▬ End of IPurgatorio ▬

Paradiso[paraˈdiːzo];
▬a place regarded in various religions as the abode of
God (or the gods) and the angels, and of the good
after death, often traditionally depicted as being above
the sky.

Structure:
Paradiso
Heaven is made up of nine spheres,
corresponding to the heavenly bodies
visible from Earth that were known in
Dante's time.
Dante meets the souls of the dead in
each sphere, organised according to
the good works they did while on
Earth. Dante questions Beatrice on
what he sees and is questioned by the
inhabitants of Heaven as well.
The nine levels of Heaven correspond
to the Ptolemaic view of the planets'
rotation around the Earth, and in each
one Dante is shown a different
category of souls

CANTO I-II Dante’s divine task
Paradiso opens with Dante's invocation to Apollo and the
Muses, asking for his divine task. He and Beatrice ascend
from the Earthly Paradise. Beatrice outlines the structure of
the universe.
Dante and Beatrice arrive in the First Heaven, sphere of the
Moon. Beatrice vigorously quizzes Dante and then corrects his
views on the cause of the moon spots. Dante first sees the
blessed souls as points of light.

CANTO III-IV MOON
Those who broke vows
Dante first sees the
blessed souls as points
of light. He meets
Piccarda Donati, who
explains the souls'
happiness with their
places in Heaven. She
explains that the Moon
houses souls who
broke their vows.
The first realm: Piccarda Donati and the souls whose vows had been
broken
Beatrice explains why
Dante sees the souls in
these heavens, when
they are all located in the
Empyrean, (the Tenth
Heaven). Then she
explains vows in terms of
absolute and contingent
will.
Piccarda Donati

CANTO V-VII MERCURY
Those who did good for personal glory
They ascend to the Second
Heaven, sphere of Mercury.
Justinian explains the history
and destiny of Rome.
He tells Dante that the souls in
Mercury were all just, but
motivated by fame. Beatrice
explains God's just vengeance
on Jerusalem.
The host of myriad glowing souls in the second realm

CANTO VIII-XI VENUS
Those who did good because of love
They ascend to the Third Heaven,
sphere of Venus. Dante meets
Charles Martel, an early French
emperor, and he explains why sons
can end up so different from their
fathers.
Charles Martel addresses Dante and Beatrice
Dante meets Cunizza da
Romano and Folco of Marseille,
who points out Rahab to Dante.
Charles Martel

CANTO XII-XIII SUN
Philosophers
Beatrice and Dante
ascend to the Fourth
Heaven, sphere of the
Sun.
The rings of glorified souls in the sun
St. Thomas and eleven
other souls form a
crown around our
heroes. Dante
denounces the
senseless cares of
mortals.

CANTO XIV-XVII MARS
The Church Militant
Dante and Beatrice see the angels with Christ on the crossDante and Beatrice translated to the sphere of Mars
They ascend to the Fifth
Heaven, sphere of Mars.
The souls form an image of
the Cross.

CANTO XVI MARS
The Church Militant
The soul of Caddiaguida speaks of Florence
Dante meets Cacciaguida, who
expounds on the virtue of ancient
Florence. Dante indulges in a rare
proud moment over the nobility of
his birth.
Cacciaguida talks about the noble
Florentine families. Then, he tells
Dante about his destiny of exile, but
tempers it with encouragement to
Dante to fulfill his poetic mission.
Cacciaguida

CANTO XVIII JUPITER
Great rulers
The souls spell out the message Diligite
iustitiam, qui iudicatis terram ("Love
justice, you who judge the earth"), and
then form the Eagle.
In the sphere of Jupiter, the blessed souls circle to form letters
Dante and Beatrice move on to the
Sixth Heaven, sphere of Jupiter.
Dante and Beatrice translated to the sphere of Jupiter

CANTO XIX JUPITER
Great rulers
The blessed souls form an eagle in the sky
The Eagle explains Divine
Justice and the inscrutability of
God's Mind.
It introduces the six spirits that
form its eye and explains why
the Emperor Trajan and Ripheus
are there.

CANTO XX-XXI SATURN
Contemplatives and monks
They continue to the
Seventh Heaven,
sphere of Saturn.
Blessed Beatrice in the seventh circle Beatrice and Dante in the sphere of Saturn

CANTO XXVI FIXED STARS
The Church Triumphant
Beatrice and Dante
ascend to the Eighth
Heaven, sphere of the
Fixed Stars. Dante gazes
down on Earth and
realizes how small and
petty it is. They witness
the coronation and re-
ascension of Mary and
Christ into the
Empyrean
St. John examines Dante concerning love
St. Peter examines Dante
on faith. Dante conveys his
hope of returning to
Florence one day to be
crowned as a poet.
St. James examines Dante
on hope. Dante goes blind.
St. John examines Dante
on charity. Adam answers
Dante's four questions

CANTO XXVII-
XXVIII
PRIMUM MOBILE OR CRYSTALLINE HEAVEN
Angels
Beatrice and Dante then move on
to the Ninth Heaven, Primum
Mobile. Beatrice prophesies the
coming redemption of the world.
The heavenly host singing “Gloria In Excelsis Deo”
The scintillating host of heaven
Dante observes the model
of the nine Angelic
Intelligences orbiting a
shining Point.

CANTO XXXI
PRIMUM MOBILE OR CRYSTALLINE HEAVEN
Angels
They ascend into the Tenth
Heaven, the Empyrean. Dante
sees the illusion and then real
Celestial Rose.
Beatrice disappears and is
replaced by St. Bernard. Dante
prays his thanks to Beatrice.
The saintly throng form a rose in the empyrean

CANTO XXXIII PRIMUM MOBILE OR CRYSTALLINE HEAVEN
Angels
Next, Dante gazes upon
Mary. St. Bernard explains
the placement of the
blessed in the Celestial
Rose, including that of the
innocent infants. St.
Bernard prays to Mary to
intercede to God on Dante's
behalf so that the poet may
look upon God.
The queen of heaven
Mary approves. Dante
looks into the Eternal
Light, and sees within it
the image of the Holy
Trinity. He ponders the
mystery of the
Incarnation. God bestows
the answer upon him in a
flash of light and Dante's
soul is, finally, at one with
God's.

Though he can't recall the rest. I am the same:
Inside my heart, although my vision is almost
Entirely faded, droplets of its sweetness come
The way the sun dissolves the snow's crust—
The way, in the wind that stirred the light leaves,
The oracle that the Sibyl wrote was lost.
▬ End of Paradiso ▬

“
The darkest places in hell are
reserved for those who maintain
their neutrality in times of moral
crisis.
▬ Dante Alighieri

Credits
Special thanks :
To coffee for keeping me awake all night. Sincerely,
exhausted college student.
To all the people who made and released these awesome
resources for free:
⊙ Presentation template by SlidesCarnival
⊙ Photographs by Unsplash

References
Super awesome illustrations by Gustave Doré
http://www.danshort.com/dc/?p=135
Inferno Summary
http://www.shmoop.com/inferno/summary.html
Paradiso Summary
http://www.shmoop.com/paradiso/summary.html
Purgatorio Summary
http://www.shmoop.com/purgatorio/summary.html

Thanks!
Got any burning questions?

Dante's Divine Comedy: An Introduction to Inferno

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