The Divine Comedy Summary

(Cabesas)

"The Divine Comedy" is a famous poem by Dante Alighieri. He was an Indian poet and was born on May 21-June 20, 1265 in Florence Italy. In the poem that he wrote, it traces the journey of Dante from darkness and error to the revelation of the divine light. The Divine Comedy is divided into three volumes. These volumes are Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.

Inferno

Dante meets Virgil to guide him through his journey. Charon, the ferryman of the river Acheron, took them to the first circle which is called Limbo. Unbaptized infants and virtuous non-Christians stay here.

 The second circle is called Lust where the souls are suffering from a violent storm without a rest. Gluttony is the third circle where the souls are rotting in the rain. The fourth circle is called Greed, the souls are being dragged from place to place. The fifth circle is Wrath, the penalty represents the sort of the lifetime sin committed. Heresy is the sixth circle, are guilty of heresy or beliefs or ideas contrary to Christian doctrine. The seventh circle is called Violence, Hell's Seventh Circle is split into three rings. The Outer Ring houses assassins and others who have been violent towards other individuals and assets. The poet considers suicides in the Middle Ring that have been transformed into trees and bushes that harpies feed on. But he also considers dogs haunting, chasing and torn to bits here. Blasphemers and sodomites are present in the Inner Ring, living in a desert of burning sand and burning rain falling from the sky.

 The 8th circle is called Fraud, This Hell circle is split into 10 bridge-bridged Bolgias or stony ditches. Dante is seeing panderers and seducer in Bolgia 1. He discovers flatterers at Bolgia 2. He and Virgil see those guilty of simony after crossing the bridge to Bolgia 3. They find wizards and false prophets after crossing another bridge between the ditches to Bolgia 4. Corrupt leaders are housed in Bolgia 5, hypocrites in Bolgia 6, and in the remaining 4 ditches, Dante discovers hypocrites (Bolgia 7), thieves (Bolgia 7), evil counselors and advisors (Bolgia 8), divisive people (Bolgia 9), and multiple falsifiers such as alchemists, perjurers, and falsifiers (Bolgia 10).

The last or the 9th circle is called Treachery. All residents are frozen in an icy lake. Those who committed more severe sin are deeper within the ice.

Purgatorio

The second section of the poem. Virgil and Dante stand at the base of a mountain, which was created when Lucifer crashed into the Earth. This mountain is the ascension to Heaven, so it begins with another lobby of sorts, called the Ante-Purgatory. These are people waiting to ascend, usually in this lobby because they were excommunicated or they repented too late in life. Dante made a point to include that the prayers of the living could affect how long a soul lingered in purgatory. There are seven terraces, each one loosely tied to the seven deadly sins. Instead of being punished and tortured like in Inferno, as you ascend the terraces you atone for these sins from the past.

The first terrace is Pride, where the souls there are humbled and humiliated by having to carry massive boulders on their backs and are forever hunched over. The second terrace is Envy, where people are punished for wanting what is someone else's. Some are blinded by their eyes being sewn shut.

The third terrace is Wrath. The wrathful are being punished in the third terrace where a thick black smoke surrounds them and makes them feel alone. The fourth terrace is Sloth, they must race and shout about people that showed zeal in life.

Terrace 5: Greed, here are penitent by being bound facedown, unable to move or gather anything. There is an earthquake for Dante and Virgil, a sign that another soul has repented and is now able to enter paradise.  Terrace 6: Gluttony, where those that feated nonstop in life are forced to starve and thirst.

They enter terrace seven which is Lust, where the lustful walk through flames, where they must show disregard for their bodies completely, shouting stories of chastity.

 To leave this terrace, Dante must also walk through a wall of flame, which he does so only because the woman he loves, Beatrice, awaits him in paradise. Dante stands ready to ascend into Heaven.

Paradiso

Dante meets Beatrice and they are going to ascend through the spheres of heaven, floating higher and higher towards paradise. Virgil, his guides until now does, not follow.

The first sphere is the Sphere of the Moon, which is for souls that have been unable to keep their vows, usually when it comes to a vow to God, so we see a lot of authority figures and religious figures that were kicked out of their positions, not of their fault.

The sphere of Mercury is for those that were right and just but were driven by ambition, so not entirely selfless. Sometimes fame drove them and they wanted recognition for their good works.

The third sphere, the Sphere of Venus, is for quote-unquote lovers, people that loved God and humanity so passionately, that alone earned them a place in heaven.

The fourth sphere, Sphere of the Sun, is for the wise and intellectual, who sought to educate and change hearts and minds, so Dante has discussions with a few of these wise leaders.

The fifth sphere is the Sphere of Mars, the warriors. Their souls are holding up a shape of a cross and these souls have fought and given their lives for the faith, including many heroes from the crusades.

In sphere sox, the Sphere of Jupiter, the souls of just rulers make up the shape of an eagle, telling Dante about the importance of divine justice.

The seventh is the Sphere of Saturn, those who lived their lives in prayer and contemplation. These souls are angry, angry at the current state of the church and corruption inside it. Dante used this section to express his discontent with the church of the time.

The eighth sphere is called the Fixed Stars, which exists in the constellation of Gemini, as this is almost his final destination, so he's able to look back and see Earth in this distance. Dante meets the greatest saints to exist here, including the Virgin Mary and the apostles.

The last sphere is called Primum Mobile and it's the last physical stop on his adventure. We see nine order of angels surrounding God, all appearing as bright lights and energy. Beatrice recounts story of creation here, how God put everything into existence. We enter the last realm, beyond physical existence, called the Empyrean. Dante sees the shape of a rose, but it represents all divine love, and heaven as he just experienced exists inside this flower. Dante also sees God and describes it as best as he could, as three overlapping circles to represent the holy trinity.

The poem comes to an end as Dante gives up on trying to describe it, not having the words or the thoughts to understand what he saw there. He says "That was not a flight for my wings." The poem ends.