The Poems: Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso

The book is made of three main poems: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The main premise in Dante’s journey is through the afterlife which he led through by Virgil. Throughout his journey of Inferno, he encounters the nine circles of hell where he meets those who have sinned and then continues on to purgatory where he meets those who have not committed heinous crimes to be in the inferno, but are still not good enough for heaven. Finally, he then goes through Paradiso which we would consider “heaven”. Through his journey, he meets different classes of people, some of them being from the papacy. The Divine Comedia was seen as a scolding to the papacy and the Catholic Church at the time. Dante describes the church as being a greed centred institution that took, rather than gave, from the church. In Paradiso, he met St. Peter the Patron of their Church. He mourns on the decision of the Catholic Church towards Christians and the division going on in the church.

The beginning of the Inferno starts with Dante being lost in a dark place and attacked by beast in which he is unable to escape. He is rescued by a man, by the name of Virgil, who is a Roman poet. Virgil was sent by Beatrice – Dante's ideal woman. Virgil guides Dante throughout the book. In the Inferno, Dante explains the punishments that await different sinners. The first circle is the limbo - resided by non-virtuous and unbaptised pagans who are punished with an inferior paradise. The second circle is for the lustful. Virgil and Dante see the punishment of lust is being blown violently back and forth in strong winds preventing the souls from finding inner peace. The third circle is gluttony, souls that were gluttonous and are over-looked by the monster, Cerberus. They are forced to lie in filth produces by never ending icy rain. The fourth circle is for the greedy, those who are divided into two groups: the individuals who hoarded possessions and those who spent it lavishly. They carry great weights and are guarded by Pluto. Dante also sees many popes and clergy men in this circle. The fifth circle are for the angry. Dante and Virgil are transported by phleygas. The angry are fighting with each other on the surface of the River Styx. The sixth circle is for heresy, these were heretics who were condemned to eternity in flaming tombs. The seventh circle is for the violent. This circle is divided into three rings: the outer rings is murderers and others who were violent to other people and property, the middle ring the poet sees suicides who have been turned to trees and bushes and fed on by harpies, and the inner ring is occupied by sodomites, residing in a desert of burning disband and burning rain falling from the sky. The eighth circle is for those who committed fraud. The ninth circle is for the treacherous - this circle is divided into four rounds, all according to the seriousness of the sin. All residents are frozen in sin. Those with severe sins are deeper within the ice. Each round is named after an individual who personifies the sin. 

After hell, Dante and Vigil are at the gates of purgatory where they encounter the pagans, Canto and Ripheus at the entrance. These two characters raise questions that cannot be accounted for in the orthodox theology of the afterlife. For Virgil to accompany Dante through the inferno and then purgatory, Beatrice had to do a divine intercession for his soul. Virgil is one of the only ones who is able to be in purgatory and to save his soul. According to Dante, the living can fast track their time in purgatory through prayer. He asks important questions about intercession, penance and working for heavenly justice. There are nine circles of hell that Dante and Virgil climb up. The journey to the top of the mountain is to teach him the unconditional nature of God’s love and to cleanse him of his sins to continue his journey to paradisio.  The first stage is Stubbornness at the base of the mountain. These Christian depend on following the laws of God and therefore they must remain there thirty times longer than it took for them to follow God. The second stage is repentant. These people did not repent while alive or have very violent deaths but were able to do it last minute. In the second level, Dante meets an angel who explains that for every terrace that equates to a deadly sin a ‘p’ will be crossed off his forehead in representation for every deathly sin, allowing him to enter heaven’s gates. The third stage that Dante experiences is Pride. In this stage, those that were prideful are surrounded by statues that show humility. They don’t see them as they carry huge weights on their back as they wait to be expunged of their sins. The fourth stage is Envy where the individual's eyes are covered and they hear voices with examples of generosity. The fifth stage is wrath where a cloud that symbolizes wrath followed them in their earthly life. The sixth stage is Sloth. The seventh stage is Avarice and they are punished by being tied up one the floor while being purged for desiring material goods. The eighth stage is Gluttony. In this stage, the individuals experience thirst and hunger though they are surrounded with food. The ninth stage is Lust, in which the souls run through flames and come as chaste.

In his last poem Dante is guided through the nine spheres of heaven by his love Beatrice, rather than Virgil. He meets saints, the angels, and the faithful souls. In the first sphere called the Moon, he meets those who could not keep their vows to God and were allocated to the lowest part of heaven. The second sphere is Mercury where he meets souls that kept their vows but the ambition drove away from their love for God. The third sphere being Venus where the souls of those who earned their spot by their love for God and humanity. In the fourth sphere, the Sun, he meets and encounters the souls of wise men - such as St. Thomas Aquinas. The fifth sphere is Mars, here Dante meets holy warriors those who fought for the gospel. The souls are formed into the shape of the cross. The sixth sphere, Jupiter, housed the souls of fair and just rulers. The seventh sphere which is Saturn is inhabited by those whose lives were dedicated to prayer. In the eight sphere, Dante encounters Stars fixed on the constellations of Gemini. He meets biblical saints and the holy Mother Mary. The last sphere is called the Primum Mobile. This sphere is the last stop before the Empyrean where God resides. This is also the last stop of the physical universe. Dante is surrounded by the nine spheres and a bright light that surrounds the circles. He learns that this is the nine orders of angels who surround God the Father in the centre.