The Divine Comedy

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The Divine Comedy by Dante – One of the Greatest Works in World Literature

The fact that it was written over a period of 12 years – from 1308 to 1320 (just a year before Dante died) – already talks a lot about the work of this illustrious Italian writer and his remarkable epic poem, which has withstood the test of time throughout the centuries, still being considered today as one of the most important works that someone interested in the fundamental questions of humanity should read.

Dante’s Divina Commedia – as it is known in Italian – portrays various layers of what the religious and spiritual views associated with concepts such as hell, heaven or the purgatory may represent. At a surface layer, the reader is guided through Dante’s own adventures through the afterlife, divided into three essential parts: Paradiso (Heaven), Purgatorio (the Purgatory) and Inferno (Hell).

When viewed at a deeper level, however, there is much more for the reader to gain by venturing into this exceptional poem. Allegorically, the story represents the journey of the human soul as it embarks on its quest to meet God.

The poem consists of no less than 14,233 lines that are divided into 33 cantos for each of the three major parts (canticas). Dante writes in an eloquent, structured manner, and pays special attention to the numerical symbolism of the number 3 and various other numerical patterns. The Roman poet Virgil guides him through the various scenes of the afterlife, as Dante recounts his story in the first person, helping the reader identify with the remarkable and dangerous adventure he took part in.

The gargantuan work put in by Dante to construct his Divine Comedy becomes even more impressive as we explore some of the additional thematic concerns and even scientific ideas that would not be proven for another few centuries, such as the Earth’s spherical shape mentioned several times during Purgatory.
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