The+Divine+Comedy

The Divine Comedy is considered the "epic poem of Italian literature". It is broken into three canticas each having 33 cantos. The three canticas are the Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise. The poem is written in first person and Dante eplains his travels through the three areas of the dead. Virgil, a Roman poet, takes Dante through the Inferno and Purgatory with Dante's perfect woman leading him through Paradise.  The Inferno This part of the poem starts on the night previous to Good Friday. Dante is lost in a "wood". This can indicate that he was on the brink of suicide. Dante is having trouble finding the right path to take. As Virgil takes Dante to the underworld and they see how sins are repaid in Hell. Then Virgil takes Dante through the nine circles of Hell.  Circle One(limbo)- This circle holds the unbaptized people. These people did not sin neccesarily, but they did not accept Christ. Circle Two- This circle has the people that in their lives were consumed by lust. Circle Three- This circle has people who were very gluttonous in their lives. Circle Four-The fourth circle has people who put to much emphasis on material goods. Circle Five- The fifth circle has the people filled with wrath on the surface and the lazy people on the bottom of a swamp. Circle Six- This circle holds people who did practices that the church did not agree with. Circle Seven- The seventh circle consists of three rings which all have violent people in them. The outer ring has people who were violent against people and property. The middle ring has people that were suicidal. The inner ring has the people who were violent against God. Circle Eight- This circle has people who have done knowing evil. Circle Nine- The ninth circle has traitors in it. Purgatory Purgatory is a mountain of people working their way to get to heaven. The bottom tier is people who were excommunicated from the church. The next tier is people who waited until very late in their lives to repent. Next is the proud. Then the envious followed by the wrathful, the slothful, the covetous, the gluttonous, and the lustful. This leads to Paradise. Heaven Heaven is made up of nine spheres. The first sphere is the sphere of the moon and had people who abandoned their vows. The second sphere is the sphere of mercury and had people who did well with the desire for fame, but who didn't have justice. The third sphere is the sphere of venus. This sphere has people who do good out of love but do not have temperance. The fourth sphere is the sphere of the sun. This sphere has people who are wise and are careful. The fifth sphere is the sphere of mars holding people who spent their life fighting for Christianity. The sixth sphere is the sphere of jupiter and has people who show justice. The seventh sphere is the sphere of saturn and has people who practice moderation. The eighth sphere is the sphere of fixed stars and is the sphere of Church Triumphant. The ninth and final sphere is the primum mobile and holds the angels.