Dante Alighieri wrote the Divine Comedy, an allegorical poem describing a journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Heaven (Paradiso). The poem consists of 100 cantos divided among the three sections. In Inferno, Dante is guided by Virgil through different circles of Hell punishing different types of sinners. Purgatorio depicts Purgatory as a mountain where souls cleanse themselves of sins. In Paradiso, Dante is guided by Beatrice through concentric circles representing planets and stars until reaching God.

1. Dante
and his
Divine
Comedy
A PowerPoint Jam
By Bradford Capozzi

2. Dante Alighieri - Timeline
• 1265 – Born in Florence Italy
•1290 – Death of Beatrice
•1292 – Writes Vita Nuova
• 1302 – Banished from Florence
•1304 – Writes De vulgari
eloquentia
•1314 –Publishes the Inferno
•1315 – Moves to Verona and
begins work on the Purgatorio
and the Paradiso.
•1319 – Moves to Ravenna
•1321 – Publishes the Purgatorio
and the Paradisso
• 1321 – Dies in Ravenna
Dante statue outside the Uffizi Gallery, Florence

3. Il Commedia
•Allegorical journey through the afterlife
•Poem consists 14,000 lines amid three sections or canticas and 100 cantos
•Uses unique rhyme scheme called terze rime: 1. A series of tercets
2. Each line: 9 syllables
3. Rhyme scheme of aba, bcb, cdc, ded…
Inferno – Hell
Purgatorio – Purgatory
Paradiso - Heaven

4. Infern
o •34 Cantos three main sin types: self-
•Divided into
indulgence, violence, & malicious
•Sinners are punished via contrapasso: the
punishment fits the crime
•Dante is guided by Virgil
•Hell is populated with all manner of sinners
from antiquity, religion, and Italy.
•Hell begins under Jerusalem and continued
into the earth.
•At the bottom is Satan
•3 Worst Sinners: Brutus, Cassius, and Judas
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5. Purgatorio
•33 Cantos
•Purgatory is reserved for those who
repented their sins before death – but still
have to cleanse themselves of the sins
before entering Heaven.
•A complete inverse of Hell in shape – a
huge, conical mountain.
•Divides the self-indulgent into three
categories: love perverted, defective, and
excessive.
•Eden is located at the top.
•Dante is guided by Virgil to Eden. Beatrice
takes him from there.
•Purgatory is located on the south pole of
the earth – completely opposite
Jersusalem.
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6. Paradiso
•33 Cantos
•Consists of concentric circles of planets and
fixed stars.
•Souls are aligned by their human ability of
love God – the closer you are, the more
spiritually developed you are.
•Structured on the four cardinal virtues and the
three theological virtues.
•Dante is guided by Beatrice and St. Bernard
•At the top is the Empyreon , home of God
•God is represented by three intertwined
circles, though Dante cannot desrcibe him
entirely.
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