Recap / The Divine Comedy

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The Divine Comedy follows a pretty rigorous scheme in its description of the three realms of the Afterlife.

Given the intricacy of Dante's worldbuilding, most print editions include illustrations of the three realms to aid the reader in visualising the Pilgrim's journey. Here are some such examples, by 19th century dantista Michelangelo Caetani: Inferno◊, Purgatorio◊, Paradiso◊, and an overview of the whole Universe◊.

The structure of the Universe follows a geocentrical model similar to the Ptolemaic system, with a static Earth at the centre and the Sun and the other planets rotating around it on crystalline spheres. Contrary to common belief, Dante - and his contemporaries - does not describe the Earth as flat, but it appears, in fact, as a globe. One half is made up of dry land and is inhabited by living humans; at the centre of this hemisphere is the city of Jerusalem, under which the Gates of Hell are found. The other hemisphere is all ocean, and the only feature is the massive mountain of Purgatory, precisely antipodal to Jerusalem. The atmosphere encircles the planet, and is encircled in turn by the sphere of fire that forms the boundary to Heaven. Thus, the four Classical Elements are all represented.As Lucifer was cast down from Heaven, he slammed into the Earth, creating the nine-tiered abyss of Hell. The earth he displaced rose on the other side of the planet, symmetrically forming the mountain of Purgatory.

The disposition of the souls across Circles of Hell, Terraces of Purgatory and Spheres of Heaven^note in truth, blessed souls all reside in the Empyrean, basking in the light of God's glory in perpetuity; they split across the lower Spheres to aid Dante's mortal understanding follows one main rule: the farther from God, the more heinous a soul was in life and the harsher their punishment is. Thus, as Dante climbs down the Circles of Hell the sinners he comes across are increasingly despicable, until reaching Satan himself, the ultimate embodiment of evil, embedded at the very centre of the Earth. Conversely, as Dante ascends Purgatory and then Heaven, the virtuousness of souls constantly increases, until he reaches the highest point of the Universe, where God resides.

Inferno

The Dark Forest (Cantos I-II)

The Pilgrim (Dante) loses his way while sleepy and finds himself in a dark forest. He tries to climb a mountain to get out, but his way is blocked by three beasts — a leopard, a lion, a she-wolf (generally regarded as representing, respectively, the sins of fraud, violence, and incontinence, which are mirrored in the structure of Hell). To evade them, he runs back into the Forest. He is rescued by the shade of the poet Virgil (author of The Aeneid). Virgil explains to Dante that he has been sent by Dante's childhood sweetheart Beatrice, who is currently in Heaven and was herself sent by the Virgin Mary. He is here to guide Dante through Hell and Purgatory.

Entrance of Hell (Canto III)

Dante and Virgil come upon the gates of Hell. Inscribed upon these gates is a poem, the last line of which is far better known than the others:

Through me one goes into the town of woe,
Through me one goes into eternal pain,
Through me among the people that are lost.

Justice inspired my high exalted Maker;
I was created by the Might divine,
The highest Wisdom and the primal Love.

Before me there was naught created, save
Eternal things, and I eternal last;
All hope abandon, ye that enter here!

When they pass through this gate, they enter the Vestibule of Hell. Here are punished the souls of the Opportunists, who never took sides during life, not even between good and evil, but were merely out for themselves. There's also the angels who didn't take sides in the war between Heaven and Hell. Their punishment is to forever chase after an elusive banner while being stung by wasps and hornets. Dante recognizes one shade who "by his cowardice made the Great Refusal", but does not name the person (it's commonly thought to be Pope Celestine V, who abdicated the Papacy and made way for Boniface VIII, Dante's arch-nemesis, but others interpret him as Pontius Pilate, who refused to decide Jesus' sentence).

Separating the Vestibule from Hell proper is the river Acheron, where a boat helmed by Charon takes damned souls across. He initially refuses to take Dante since he's still alive, but Virgil pacifies him by telling him that it's Heaven's will that Dante cross. They enter the boat along with wailing and blaspheming damned souls, but the crossing isn't described since Dante faints and wakes up when they're on the other side.

First Circle (Limbo): Virtuous Pagans (Canto IV)

The first circle of Hell is for those who were not really wicked, but could not enter Heaven because they were not Christian, alongside unbaptized children. Because of this, they are not tormented by anything other than the knowledge that Heaven is there and they missed out on it (some pre-Christian Jews were taken to Heaven by Jesus when He came down). Here, Dante meets multiple famous pre-Christian historical figures such as the poets Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucian, along with the Muslim general Saladin. They greet Virgil, who is one of their number and will have to return here once Dante reaches the end of Purgatory, as he cannot enter Heaven himself.

Second Circle: Lust (Canto V)

At the entrance to the Second Circle, Minos judges the souls of the damned, condemning them to whatever circle is appropriate by wrapping his tail around himself a corresponding number of times. He hinders Dante and Virgil, but Virgil rebukes him and the two continue.

The Second Circle punishes Lust, and sinners here are blown about by the winds of a violent storm. Virgil points out historical figures like Semiramis (legendary Assyrian queen), Dido, Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Paris, Achilles (oddly enough, since his Fatal Flaw is actually Wrath: he is placed among the lustful because of a Medieval legend that he fell in love with a Trojan princess, and this led to his death in an ambush), and Tristan. He meets two sinners who turn out to be Francesca Da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta. Francesca tells their story — she married the deformed Giovanni Malatesta for political reasons, but fell for his younger sibling Paolo, and the two began an affair. Giovanni found out, surprised them in Francesca's bedroom, and stabbed them to death. Francesca notes that Caina awaits Giovanni once he dies.

Dante is overcome with pity for Francesca and Paolo, and faints. When he wakes up, he's in the Third Circle.

Third Circle: Gluttony (Canto VI)

The Third Circle of Hell punishes Gluttony. In it, gluttons lie in a foul slush produced by endless, freezing rain and are constantly torn apart by Cerberus. Dante and Virgil pass safely by filling Cerberus's three mouths with mud. There are no famous sinners identified, but Dante does stop to talk with a Florentine contemporary called Ciacco in what is known as the first "political canto". Ciacco predicts the expulsion of Dante's political party from Florence by their opponents, who had the help of Pope Boniface VIII (events which occurred before the poem was written, but after the time it was set). Ciacco then lies down again, and Virgil says he's not going to get up until Judgement Day.

Fourth Circle: Greed (Canto VII)

The Fourth Circle punishes Greed. It is guarded by Pluto, the Greek god of wealth, who threatens Dante and Virgil with the cryptic phrase "pape Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe". In here, those who hoarded money (including an awful lot of clergymen) joust with those who wasted money, with their weapons being large weights they push with their chests. They're all too absorbed in this to talk to Dante and they're all so nondescript that no famous figures can be picked out, so instead of talks with sinners, this section features a discourse from Virgil on the nature of Fortune.

Fifth Circle: Wrath (Cantos VII-VIII)

The Fifth Circle punishes Wrath. It consists of the River Styx, which is a smelly, slimy swamp where the actively wrathful fight each other on the surface and the sullen (passively wrathful) lie sunken into the mud. A boatman named Phlegyas takes Dante across. While he's doing that, they're accosted by Fillippo Argenti, a personal enemy of Dante's who took Dante's property when he was forced to leave Florence. Dante is quite unsympathetic towards him.

Gates of Dis (Cantos VIII-IX)

The lower circles of Hell are within the walled city of Dis, marking the boundary between sins born out of incontinence and sins born out of malice. The wall is guarded by fallen angels, who won't let Dante through. Virgil is unable to convince them otherwise. Dante is scared, but Virgil reassures him that since Heaven has mandated their journey, someone will be sent to help them. Dante is then accosted by the three Furies, who threaten to set Medusa on him. Virgil tells Dante to close his eyes, but the threat of Medusa is never realized because right then, an angel is sent to open the gates of Dis for them. The angel opens the gates with a wave of his wand, admonishes the inhabitants for resisting God's will, and leaves. Dante and Virgil proceed to the Sixth Circle.

Sixth Circle: Heresy (Canto X)

The Sixth Circle punishes heresy. Sinners here are placed in flaming tombs. Dante talks to two contemporary Florentine Epicureans (Epicurus taught that the soul dies with the body, which goes against Christian doctrine) - Farinata degli Uberti (a famous general) and Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti (a political ally of Dante's and the father of one of his poet friends). Cavalcante asks Dante what happened to his son, and Dante hesitates to reply, which Cavalcante takes to mean his son is dead. After Dante has finished talking with Farinata, he tells Farinata to let Cavalcante know that his son is indeed still alive (he was exiled along with Dante).

The lower levels of Hell smell horrible, so Dante and Virgil delay their journey downwards until they can get used to it. Meanwhile, Virgil tells Dante about what the lower levels of Hell are like. The next one (Seventh Circle) is for the violent and divided into three categories - those violent against others, those violent against themselves, and those violent against God, art, and nature. The Eighth Circle is for those who committed fraud, and the Ninth is for those who committed treachery. The ones they already passed were punishing sins of incontinence (inability to control one's appetites) or heresy (conscious desire to avoid God's judgement). Those sorts of crimes are less heinous than crimes of violence or fraud (which involve perverting human intellect), so they are punished more lightly. When Dante asks why usury (punished in the Seventh Circle) is bad, Virgil tells him it's because usurers live off an unnatural method of gaining money (excessive interest) and are therefore considered 'violent against nature'.

Seventh Circle: Violence (Cantos XI-XVII)

To get to the Seventh Circle, Dante and Virgil climb down a landslide that was left when Jesus descended into Hell to pick up the virtuous souls from the Old Testament. The Seventh Circle is divided into three rings:

• Violent Against Neighbors: These sinners, who include murderers, war-makers, plunderers, and tyrants, are immersed in the Plegethon, a river of boiling blood and fire. How deep the area they stand in is corresponds to how badly they sinned. If they try to get out, they're shot at by centaurs. Chiron, leader of the centaurs, assigns Nessus to take Dante and Virgil across. As he does so, he points out famous sinners - Alexander the Great, Dionysus (refers to one of two bloodthirsty rulers of Sicily, not the Greek god), Ezzelino (contemporary Italian tyrant), Obizzo d'Este (another Dante contemporary), and Guy De Montfort (who murdered Henry of Almain while Henry was clutching a church altar). He eventually brings them to a ford, and says that on the other side, the depth increases, and famous tyrants such as Attila the Hun are completely submerged. After this, Nessus leaves to return to his post.

• Violent Against Self: This area punishes the violently profligate (who squandered and destroyed their goods), along with people who committed suicide. The suicides are transformed into gnarled, black-leafed trees, and can only talk when a branch is broken off, as Dante discovers when he snaps a few twigs off of what turns out to be Pietro della Vigna, a counselor of Fredrick II who fell from favor and was imprisoned, and subsequently committed suicide. Pietro tells them that the souls of suicides are flung into the Seventh Circle by Minos, and take root and sprout into trees wherever they land. Harpies live among them, feeding off their leaves and using their branches to make nests. Unique among sinners, they will not have their corporal forms returned to them at the Last Judgement, since they willingly gave up their bodies by committing suicide. Sure, their bodies will be returned on that day - but the souls won't be able to use them and the bodies will just hang on the branches of the trees. Dante then sees two profligate souls, who are chased by hounds and torn limb from limb. One falls onto a thorn bush, breaking all the branches. The bush turns out to be a suicide from Florence, and Dante talks to him for a bit.

• Violent against God and Nature: This ring is a desert with fire raining down from the sky. There are three groups of sinners here - the Blasphemers, who are lying stretched out, the Usurers, who are crouched down, and the Sodomites, who are running around. Dante talks to Capaneus, a blasphemer who got struck down with a thunderbolt for cursing Jove. He's still blaspheming, even in the afterlife. Dante manages to find safe passage along a small stream, which is separated from the rest of the circle. While he's walking along it, he comes across a group of sodomites that include his former mentor, Brunetto Latini. They're happy to see one another, and talk before Dante's mentor leaves. Dante then speaks to three Florentine sodomites - who were prominent men in the city and whom Virgil instructs him to show respect to - and then to several usurers.

After this, they are lowered into the Eighth Circle, Malebolge, by a demon named Geryon, who has the face of a honest man but the body of a horrendous, winged monster.

Eighth Circle (Malebolge): Fraud (Cantos XVIII-XXXI)

The Eighth Circle is divided into ten valleys/ditches, or 'bolgia', each for a different kind of fraud. They are as follows:

• First Bolgia: Here panderers (pimps, basically) and seducers are punished by being made to walk around being whipped by a demon. Dante recognizes Venedico Caccianemico, and asks him why he's in Hell. Venedico replies that he pressured his sister into doing sexual favors for a Marquis. Jason of the Argonauts is also here, because he seduced and abandoned several women in order to get the Fleece.
• Second Bolgia: The second bolgia is a ditch of excrement where flatterers are put. Dante recognizes Alessio Interminei, and Virgil points out Thais, a courtesan who supposedly gave excessive thanks to her lover for sex.
• Third Bolgia: The third bolgia is where the sin of simony (selling church offices) is punished. Since these people made a mockery of the holy nature of the Church by selling positions for mortal money, they are punished in a mockery of baptismal fonts — holes in the ground where sinners are stuck upside-down with flames burning at their feet (as opposed to real baptism where water is poured on one's head). One sinner, Pope Nicholas III, mistakes Dante for Boniface VIII, his successor in simony who will himself be in Hell soon (though Nicholas does mention it's a few years too early) and will fall into the same hole as Nicholas III, displacing him deeper into the ground. Nicholas tells Dante that Boniface himself will be later followed by Clement V, who will move the papacy from Rome to Avignon. After this, Dante rants a good deal about how wrong simony is before he and Virgil move on.
• Fourth Bolgia: The fourth bolgia is for fortune-tellers and sorcerers. These sinners are forced to walk with their heads twisted around so they can only see behind them, as punishment for using forbidden means to see the future. Virgil points out such famous sinners as Amphiaraus (the king who foresaw his death in battle and tried to escape it by hiding, only to be killed by an earthquake), Tiresias (who used magic to turn himself into a woman and back again), Manto (a witch who was the namesake of Virgil's hometown Mantua), Aruns (Etruscan soothsayer who predicted Caesar's victory in the Roman Civil War), Eurypylus (Greek augur), Michael Scot and Guido Bonatti (astrologers), and Asdente (shoemaker and soothsayer from Parma).
• Fifth Bolgia: In this bolgia, corrupt politicians are immersed in a lake of boiling pitch — if they try to get out, they're tormented by demons called the Malebranche, who spear them with pitchforks (making this the only place in Inferno where demons torturing naked souls with pitchforks actually features). One caught sinner is questioned by Virgil, and he tells Virgil a lot about himself, except his name (early commentators identified him as Ciampolo), along with naming Friar Gomita and Michel Zanche as fellow barrators (corrupt politicians). He then makes a deal with the demons to lure some of his fellows out, only to use the opportunity to escape. Two demons brawl over that and then fall into the pitch, and Virgil and Dante take the opportunity to escape. The demons pursue them, but can't follow into...
• Sixth Bolgia: This is the bolgia of hypocrites, who walk eternally in monk's habits made of gilded lead. Dante speaks to two sinners - Catalano dei Malavolti and Loderingo degli Andalò - who were members of the Jovial Friars, a religious order that had quite the reputation for not living up to their vows (they were eventually disbanded by papal decree). Crucified to the ground in such a position that every passing sinner must pass over him is Caiaphas, the biblical high priest who counseled the Pharisees to crucify Jesus. Annas, Caiaphas's father-in-law, and the rest of the Sanhedrin are punished in the same manner. When the poets ask for a way to climb out of the bolgia, Fra Catalano says that they can use some rocks, which used to be a bridge from the fifth to sixth bolgia. At that moment, Virgil realizes that Malacoda has lied to him about the bridge being unbroken, and Fra Catalano seizes the opportunity to mock him, saying that the devil is a liar and the father of lies. This is the last straw for Virgil, and he silently storms off.
• Seventh Bolgia: This is the place for thieves. Sinners here are constantly bitten by snakes, and just as they stole from others, their very identities are subject to theft as the snakebites transform them. One Vanni Fucci explodes into ashes (and then reforms) from a snakebite, and others merge with other sinners, turn into snakes themselves, return to human form after attacking others, and more horrible things.
• Eighth Bolgia: This one is for Evil Counselors (meaning those who advised others to do evil). They are punished by being encased in individual flames. Ulysses and Diomedes are punished together for the Trojan Horse thing. Ulysses relates the story of his last voyage (no, not The Odyssey - this is one Dante just made up), where he saw Mt. Purgatory, but after that, his ship was sunk by a storm that God sent and he was killed. Dante also meets Guido da Montefeltro, who counseled Boniface VIII to offer false amnesty to a family so he could betray his family. Though Boniface absolved him in advance for the evil advice, he went to Hell because absolution requires the absolved to be remorseful for their actions, and one can't very well be remorseful for an act that one fully intends to commit.
• Ninth Bolgia: Here, the Sowers of Discord are eternally hacked up by a demon, just as they divided others in life. The prophet Mohammad, founder of Islam, is here and split completely in half (Dante saw Islam as an offshoot of Christianity, rather than its own Abrahamic religion). Also, there are his son-in-law Ali (responsible for the split between Sunni and Shiite Islam), Pier da Medicina, Gaius Scribonius Curio (advised Caesar to cross the Rubicon and therefore begin the Roman Civil War), Mosca de Lamberti (incited the conflict that got Dante kicked out of Florence), and Bertrand de Born (turned King Henry II's son against him).
• Tenth Bolgia: The final bolgia is for falsifiers. Falsifiers of what? Pretty much anything, really. Counterfeiters, identity thieves, alchemists (who faked being able to turn things into other things), and perjurers are all here, and they're all inflicted with diseases. Alchemists include Griffolino d'Arezzo and Capocchio. Two impersonators are shown — Gianni Schicchi and Myrrha (a character from Ovid's Metamorphoses who impersonated her mother to have sex with her father and was later turned into the first Myrrh tree). Dante encounters the counterfeiter Adam of Brescia, who points out several perjurers, like Potiphar's Wife (a person from the book of Genesis who lied to get Joseph thrown in prison after he rejected her advances) and Sinon, who lied to the Trojans to persuade them to take in the Trojan Horse.
• Central Wall: Embedded in the cliffs leading down to the Ninth Circle are several giants. When Dante sees him, he's thankful that Earth (Mother of giants in Greek mythology) didn't create any more of them, because they're basically nature's WMDs. Antaeus, the one giant who is not chained, provides passage down into the Ninth Circle.

Ninth Circle (Cocytus): Treachery (Cantos XXXII-XXXIV)

The Ninth Circle of Hell exemplifies Evil Is Deathly Cold - it's made up of the frozen lake of Cocytus. This circle is the hell for traitors, and there are several rings of sinners, each encased in ice to different depths as the degree of their treachery worsens.

• Caina: The ring for those who betrayed their kin (eventually including Giovanni Malatesta, who killed his brother Paolo and Paolo's lover Francesca), named after the biblical Cain. Sinners here are frozen up to their necks and are allowed to bow their heads to keep their faces out of the freezing wind that's constantly blowing. Here, Dante meets Alessandro and Napoleone degli Alberti (brothers who killed each other over politics), Camiscione dei Pazzi (killed his kinsman Ubertino), and Mordred, who killed his father King Arthur.
• Antenora: Named after Antenor, a Trojan who betrayed his city to the Greeks, this ring is for those who betrayed countries or other political entities, and sinners here are frozen up to their chins. Dante accidentally kicks the head of a traitor here (who we learn is Bocca degli Abati) and when the shade refuses to tell his story, threatens him with pulling his hair out - and then goes through with it. He still doesn't get the shade's story. He later comes upon two shades, one above the other and eating the guy's head. Dante asks for that story, and the guy who's doing the eating agrees to tell his story since it will shed light on the truly nasty nature of his betrayer. The shade reveals that he is Count Ugolino, and the guy he's eating is Archbishop Ruggeri. Ugolino conspired with Ruggeri to take control over his city, only for Ruggeri to turn on him and imprison Ugolino and his sons and grandsons in a tower, where they starved to death.
• Ptolomaea: The third ring is for those who betrayed their guests. It's named after Ptolomy, but not the one you're probably thinking of - the namesake of Ptolomaea was from the book of Maccabees and betrayed his father-in-law Simon Maccabeus and his family by inviting them to a banquet and then killing them. Sinners here lie supine in the ice with only their faces exposed. Their tears freeze over their eyes so they can't weep. One soul says he'll tell his story in return for Dante clearing the ice away from his eyes, and Dante promises to do so, lest he "go to the bottom of the ice". The shade is satisfied and says he's Fra Alberigo, here because he invited relatives over for dinner and then had them assassinated. Dante's a bit confused, however, and asks Alberigo if he's actually dead. Alberigo replies that he doesn't know because souls can fall to Ptolomaea before they're actually dead. As an example, he points out a guy named Branca D'Oria behind him. Branca's still living and Dante knows it, but he's here because to betray one's guests is such a horrid crime that the soul often falls immediately, with a demon possessing the body until it dies. Branca fell to Ptolomaea before his victim Michel Zanche (who was mentioned earlier in the poem) arrived at the bolgia of the barrators. Alberigo asks Dante to clear the ice off his eyes, but Dante refuses.
• Judecca: The final ring of Cocytus, reserved for those who, like the ring's namesake Judas Iscariot, betrayed their lords and benefactors. Judas himself, however, is not here - we'll get to him in a moment. This ring is completely silent because all the sinners here are completely encased in ice and twisted into grotesque positions. Since they can't talk to anyone, Dante and Virgil don't spend much time here, quickly passing to the center of Hell.

Center of Hell

In the very center of Hell, the gigantic and monstrous Lucifer (he has six wings and three faces) is frozen waist-deep in the ice. He is constantly crying from all three of his faces, and beating his six wings. The water of Cocytus is his tears, and the cold wind produced by his wings freezes it and keeps him trapped. In each of his three faces, he chews on a prominent traitor - Brutus and Cassius have their feet in his left and right mouths (Dante saw their assassination of Julius Caesar as ruining the chances for a united Italy and killing the guy divinely appointed to rule the Roman Empire, not making sure an ambitious warlord didn't turn the Roman Republic totalitarian), while Judas Iscariot has his head in Satan's middle mouth and is constantly being shredded by Satan's claws.

Dante holds onto Virgil as Virgil climbs down Satan's fur until he switches around and then starts climbing up (but still going down Satan's legs). Why is he doing this? Well, Lucifer is at the very center of the world, so gravity switches around at about his midsection. Purgatory is on the other side of the world, and it's their next destination. They then walk out through the other side of the world and emerge under the stars of the Southern Hemisphere.^note In Dante's time, Europeans believed that there was nothing in the Southern Hemisphere save for endless ocean and mythological landmarks that mortals were not allowed to so much as approach (Ulysses being an example of what happens to those who dare to try).

See you in Purgatorio, folks.

Purgatorio

Shore of Purgatory (Cantos I-II)

Dante's happy to be finally out under the stars again, and invokes the Muses to help him make the next part of his poem great. He tries to calculate the time based on astronomy, but is interrupted by Cato, a pagan who for whatever reasons is the guardian of Purgatory. He is at first suspicious of Dante and how he managed to get out of Hell, but relents when Virgil tells him what's going on, and that the Virgin Mary sent him despite Dante still being alive. He tells Dante to wash his face in the dew and to get a new belt made from a rush (Virgil used Dante's old belt to summon Geryon). They do so (a new rush immediately springs up after the plucked one).

They then see a boat filled with penitent souls come to the mountain, guided by an angelic boatman. Dante recognizes one of the souls - it's Casella, a friend of his. The two reunite, chat, and Casella sings a song to the other souls, before Cato breaks the whole thing up and tells them to get a move on climbing the mountain.

Ante-Purgatory: the Excommunicates and the Late-Repentant (Cantos III-IX)

While climbing up the mountain and before getting to the terraces, he meets two groups of penitents: the Excommunicates and the Late-Repentant. The Excommunicates include a soul who recognizes Dante (though Dante doesn't recognize him). He's Manfred, grandson of the Empress Constance. He repented all of his sins just before dying, which let him into Purgatory. However, since he was the enemy of Clement IV, he died excommunicated from the Church, so despite his redemption, he has to wait here for a period 30 times as long as his time excommunicated. He asks Dante to tell his daughter that he's in Purgatory, so she can pray for him (prayers from the living shorten the time souls must spend in Purgatory).

There are three categories of Late-Repentant: the Indolent, who were lazy and waited too long to repent; those who died by violence without receiving last rites; and the Negligent Rulers. All of these must wait out a time equal to their lives before entering purgatory proper. Dante meets and recognizes one of the Indolent, Belacqua, who he's relieved to see is here and not in Hell. Among those who died by violence is Buonconte da Montefrelto (we met Guido, his father, in the hell for evil counselors), who went missing after a battle. Buonconte was injured, repented, and died, with his body being covered by mud. They also meet Sordello, a troubadour from Mantua who's quite happy to see Virgil. Seeing Sordello having such goodwill to a fellow Mantuan sets Dante off on a rant about the political state of Italy.

Meanwhile, Sordello and Virgil have been talking, and Sordello tells Virgil that it's a rule of Purgatory that no one can travel at night. As in, they literally can't — the darkness saps people of their will to move on. They can move back or rest, but never go up. Virgil and Dante agree to stay and rest with Sordello, who leads them to a nice spot overlooking the Valley of the Rulers, where rulers who were too preoccupied by running their country to look after their spiritual needs stay. They get more lenience than their subjects in this since, as kings, they had a lot more duties to think of than their subjects did. Sordello points out Emperor Rudolph, Ottokar II, Philip III (who Sordello calls "father-in-law of the pest of France", referring to Philip IV, who was responsible for the Avignon Papacy), Henry I, Charles of Anjou, Pedro III of Aragon, his youngest son (also named Pedro), and William the Marquis.

That night, a pair of angels come to defend the valley against "the serpent". Sordello leads them down into the valley, where Dante meets up with Nino Visconte, a personal friend who Dante's really happy to find not in Hell, along with Currado Malsapina. After this, Dante goes to sleep and dreams that a golden eagle swooped down, caught him, and then they both got burned in the flaming sky.

Gate of Purgatory (Canto IX)

Dante wakes up from his dream to find that Saint Lucia has carried him up to the Gate of Purgatory while he slept. The gate itself is made out of diamond and has three steps — one like diamond and reflective for a mirror (for the clear self-knowledge of confession), a deep blue-black, like a bruise, and rough (for the pain of repentance and penance) and one red (for the burning love inspired by forgiveness). It's guarded by an angel who carves seven 'P's into Dante's forehead (the 'P' stands for 'peccatum', which means 'sin'), and tells him that the angels who guard the way out of each terrace will remove one 'P' when he passes them). The angel unlocks the gate using the Keys of St. Peter (a gold and a silver key the angel got from Peter himself).

General Layout of the Terraces

Each of the 7 terraces, for the 7 deadly sins, follow the same structure:

• Examples of the virtue opposing the vice that is purified there (so, for pride, humility). One of these is examples is always from the life of the Virgin Mary; the others are from a mix of the Bible, classical mythology, and stories about Roman history.
• Descriptions of the penances undergone, and conversations with some of the penitent
• Negative examples of the vice (also from the Bible, classical mythology, and Roman history) to warn the penitent against it before they leave the terrace.
• An angel representing the virtue opposing the vice (for example, the Angel of Humility), who recites a Beatitude (from Matthew 5) and removes one of the 'P's from Dante's forehead, enabling him to begin the ascent to the next terrace.

On the first three terraces, all these elements are in the aforementioned order; on the last four, the placement of the positive and negative examples is more varied. On almost every terrace, there is also a characteristic prayer or hymn recited or sung by the penitent.

First Terrace: The Prideful (Cantos X-XII)

The climb up to the first terrace is notably difficult. The first terrace purges souls of Pride. The terrace is white marble; upon entry to it, sculptures (specifically, bas-reliefs) carved into the mountain side depict 3 scenes of exceptional humility.

Penitents here are hunched over with massive weights on their backs, preventing them from looking down on anything as they walk around the terrace, praising God and reciting an extended version of the Lord's Prayer that emphasizes humility.

When Dante and Virgil meet them, Virgil asks them to show Dante the easiest way up the mountain, since he's still alive and can still get tired. One soul points them in the right direction and names himself as Omberto Aldobrandesco, from a famous family and, in life, very proud of that. He says that during his life, his arrogance caused serious problems for his family - but he has repented and now shoulders the burdens he refused to bear in life. Dante initially can't see his face, but when he takes the same bent-down position as the penitents are in, he notices that another man was Oderisi, a famous illuminator (illustrated and decorated manuscripts). Oderisi is pleased by his fame, but he's come far enough that he insists that his colleague Franco Bolognese was the better painter. Oderisi notes that he regrets his proud nature and rants about how prized glory and fame is despite its fleeting nature (How many of you knew there was once a man named Oderisi known for painting pretty pictures in Bibles?).

Oderisi points out another penitent, Provenzan Salvani - a Dante-contemporary - here because of the hubris he displayed in trying to conquer all of Siena. He's not in Ante-Purgatory because he worked at repenting for his sin during his lifetime - when his friend was imprisoned by Charles of Anjou, he humbled himself to the point of begging on the streets for ransom money.

Aldobrandesco, Oderisi, and Salvani represent three types of pride: in lineage, in talent, and in temporal power.

Just before leaving the terrace for the continued ascents, there are carvings on the ground of people being punished for hubris (13 in all, more examples than for any other sin: acrostically, the stanzas describing these examples spell the Latin word for 'man', expressing the idea that pride is the most common and characteristic of mankind’s sins).

Dante and Virgil then meet the angelic guardian of the first terrace, the Angel of Humility, who allows Dante to pass - but not before touching him in the head with his wing, which removes the first of the seven 'P's from Dante's forehead. The Angel of Humility sings out "Blessed are the poor in spirit" as they depart. Dante notices that he feels much lighter and the climb is much easier than before, and Virgil tells him that one of the 'P's has been removed, and this will continue as he continues upward.

Second Terrace: The Envious (Cantos XIII-XV)

The terrace of envy is a dark blue-black colour, like a bruise. Dante and Virgil hear invisible angels calling out two examples of Charity (selfless love the virtue opposite to envy) in sweet voices: one Biblical, one mythological. They then see the envious: eyes sewn shut with metal wires, leaning against each other and against the cliff-face like blind beggars, clad in penitential haircloth. They talk with Sapia, a woman of Siena who envied the power of her nephew Provenzano Salvini (from the Terrace of Pride) so much that she cheered for Siena's (and his) defeat in battle. Dante then talks to two Tuscans who condemn and mourn the wicked behaviour in Tuscany and make dark prophecies about Florence's and Dante's future. Continuing on, Dante and Virgil hear thundering voices recite two negative examples of envy: again, one Biblical, and one mythological. The Angel of Charity bids them farewell with "Blessed are the merciful." On the climb to the next terrace, Dante and Virgil discuss the source of envy: Virgil says it is because mankind sets their hearts on worldly things where one person having more means another has less, rather than on the heavenly love where the happiness of each enhances the happiness of others, like light reflecting from many mirrors.

Third Terrace: The Wrathful (Cantos XV-XVII)

Upon entry to this terrace, Dante is immediately rapt in three visions of examples of meekness (two from the Bible, one from Greek history). Continuing, he and Virgil reach a cloud of black, acrid smoke that envelopes those doing penance for wrath, symbolising the blinding and caustic nature of wrath. Dante talks with a man named Marco (not clearly identified; he may either be a Lombard or have the surname Lombardi), and he and Dante discuss why the world is so evil. Marco says that it is not caused by astrological powers like the stars (they may be influences, but men retain free will), but because souls naturally seek pleasure, and cling to lower pleasures if nothing guides them to higher. They are now unguided, because rather than the State directing men in the temporal sphere and the Church in the spiritual one, the Church has taken on the powers of the State and in so doing turned aside from its pastoral vocation. Dante then departs from the smoke and sees three more visions, this time of the destructive effects of wrath. The Angel of Meekness directs Dante and Virgil upwards, and bids them farewell with "Blessed are the peacemakers."

Fourth Terrace: The Slothful (Cantos XVII-XIX)

Dante and Virgil reach the last step before the fourth terrace just as night falls, and can go no further. To use the night-time well, Dante and Virgil discuss the sin associated with this terrace, and the nature of sin more generally. This is the terrace of Sloth (lack of zeal in doing good; insufficient love for what is good). Virgil asserts that all actions are motivated by love ('desire' might be the more suitable term), and that nothing has the ability to truly hate either God or themselves. Rather, evil proceeds from distorted love ('love of one's neighbour's evil': pride, envy, and wrath - the desire for bad things to happen to others either out of anger or for your own relative aggrandizement), insufficient love (Sloth) or excessive love for earthly things (Avarice, Gluttony, and Lust). Virgil continues that while love is a natural and inherent instinct, it is governed by free will and reason, so that men are responsible for their actions.

Near midnight, the Slothful run past at full speed, with two leading and shouting positive examples of zeal, and two behind urging them on with negative examples of sloth. They do not stop due to the strength of their zeal, but give Dante and Virgil directions to the way up as they pass. Dante then falls asleep and dreams of the Siren, representing the sins of incontinence (Avarice, Gluttony, and Lust). When Dante wakes in the morning, he and Virgil proceed along the Terrace of Sloth to where the Angel of Zeal directs them to the upward path and says "Blessed are those who mourn."

Dante, implicitly animated by zeal, runs up the path to the fifth terrace.

Fifth Terrace: The Avaricious or Profligate (Cantos XIX-XXI)

Here the avaricious lie facedown and weeping: as in life they were focused on earthly things, here they myst keep their eyes on the earth and cannot look upwards to God. Dante speaks with Pope Adrian V (pope for only about a month, in 1276), who says that he was a worldly and avaricious man until he became pope. Dante kneels in respect for the man's former position, but Adrian commands him to rise, since all earthly position and status is void in the afterlife. Dante wants to continue with conversing with him, but Adrian wants to focus on the penance that prepares him for heaven, so Dante continues on.

Dante hears a penitent cry out 3 examples of willing simplicity, poverty, and generosity, and asks him why only he spoke. The man is Hugh Capet, a French king(though Dante-the-author seems to have confused/conflated him with another person as well); he first laments the degeneracy and future crimes of the French kingly line, and then explains that the penitents call such examples out, as well as many negative ones of avarice, intermittently, as the spirit moves them.

Virgil and Dante are continuing on when they feel a great earthquake, and a cry of "Glory to God in the highest!" This is the response to a soul completing its purgation and becoming ready to ascend to Paradise. The soul is that of Statius, a Roman poet of the early centuries AD whom Dante admired. He will continue with Virgil and Dante on the rest of their journey through Purgatory. Statius expresses his admiration of Virgil, and Dante reveals his companion's identity, to Statius' delight.

The Angel of the terrace directs them upward, saying "Blessed are those who thirst for righteousness."

Sixth Terrace: The Gluttonous (Cantos XXII-XXIV)

As they climb to the Sixth Terrace, Virgil and Statius converse. Statius elaborates that he was not avaricious, but wasteful; the two sins are opposite expressions of the same fault. He also explains that he secretly became a Christian, in part due to Virgil's works, but hid it (thus explaining why there is zero evidence in any of Statius' writings of him being a Christian), for which he spent 400 years on the Terrace of Sloth. Virgil tells Statius of many classical poets who are in Limbo.

They reach the sixth terrace, and soon see a tree that begins narrow and becomes wide at the top, like the opposite of a conifer. A voice from it calls out "You shall not eat of the fruit!" and then examples of temperance in appetite. They continue, and soon come across the Gluttonous, who, despite being incorporeal spirits, look famished. Dante meets a friend of his named Forese. Forese denounces the corruption of Florence; Dante explains his journey; Forese gives the names of some of the other gluttons; Dante talks with another poet; and Forese makes a prophecy regarding Florence. They pass another tree, from which come warning examples of gluttony. Dante, Virgil, and Statius then reach the Angel of Temperance, who directs them to the path to the next terrace, with a blessing on those who hunger.

Seventh Terrace: The Lustful (Cantos XXV-XXVII)

On the climb up to the next terrace, Dante asks how spirits who don’t need food can look so famished, and Virgil courteously passes the question to Statuis. Statius spends an entire canto, XV, in explaining (with a lot of Scholastic philosophy and wrong medieval physiology) that the dead soul forms a shade whose physical appearance is shaped by its inward nature and feeling - if their souls are filled with a desire for food they cannot eat, they become emaciated.

Reaching the seventh terrace, they see fire covering the whole ledge except for the outermost edge of it, and the lustful running in the fire, calling out in unison examples of chastity. Those with heterosexual lusts one with one group in one direction; those with homosexual lusts in another group in the opposite direction; and when the two groups meet, they each call out examples of their own type of lust to warn themselves away from it. Dante speaks with Guido Guinizelli and Arnaut Daniel, two love poets whom he admires. The Angel of Chastity greets Dante with "Blessed are the pure in heart," and directs him through a wall of flame. Dante hesitates in fear until Virgil rends him that he will see Beatrice on the other side, and with that motivation urges him through.

However, there is still a last set of steps on the other side of the wall of fire before reaching the Earthly Paradise, and night falls before the poets can go up them. So they rest the night there, and before dawn Dante dreams of Leah gathering flowers and Rachel looking at herself in the mirror; these represent the Active and the Contemplative life, and will be represented by Matilda and Beatrice respectively in the later cantos.

In the morning Dante wakes and runs up the last steps to the Earthly Paradise. Virgil says that his guidance of Dante is complete, and he has no more to offer:

"Here your will is upright, free, and whole…
Lord of yourself I crown and mitre you."

The Earthly Paradise (Cantos XXVIII-XXXIII)

Dante explores the beautiful forest and river, and meets a beautiful woman named Matilda. She explains how there can be a breeze and a flowing river even though they are now above Earth's weather, and also tells Dante there are two rivers: Lethe, which removes the memory of sin, and Eunoe, which strengthens the memory of good, before a soul passes from the Earthly Paradise to Heaven itself. (Canto XXVIII)

Dante then sees a heavenly pageant performed for him, and calls on the Muses to help him describe it. There is a great deal of detailed symbolism, but the essence is figures representing the books of the Bible, with those who represent the Gospels flanking a chariot (representing the Church) drawn by a Griffon (representing Jesus: two natures in one, divine and human). By the right wheel of the chariot, representing the Three Theological Virtues (charity/love is red, hope is green, faith is white); by the left wheel, the Four Cardinal Virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance). (Canto XXIX)

Beatrice comes, her eyes visible but the rest of her face veiled, and Dante turns to share his excitement with Virgil, but begins crying when he sees that Virgil is gone. Beatrice reproved him, and says he will be given better cause for tears. She recalls that after she (and Dante) had become adults, he turned his focus away from her to worldly things, and continued in that direction after her death, until he was so far gone that the journey through Hell and Purgatory was the only way to recall him. (This is also symbolic of Dante turning aside from faith to overreliance on philosophy - his tears at Virgil's departure when Beatrice is before him is a continuation of this fault.) Recognition of his fault and tears of penitence for it are necessary before he can pass Lethe. Dante admits his sin; when Beatrice asks him the cause of it, he says that worldly things attracted him as soon as she was gone, and she tells him that he what he should have taken from her death was that, if even that highest pleasure in the world, of her, was a temporary thing, he should have been inspired by her death to focus on heavenly and eternal things.

Dante, distraught, faints, and Matilda pulls him across Lethe. He is led to first the Four Cardinal Virtues and then the Three Theological Virtues, after which Beatrice unveils, to Dante's joy.

The pageant continues, showing the symbolic corruption of the church by the temporal power granted to it by Constantine [in the Donation of Constantine, a document which we now know is very fake; but Dante didn't know that]. Beatrice comforts the virtues as they mourn the corruption of the Church, with the knowledge that this corruption will not be permitted to last forever. She tells Dante that this part of the pageant is shown so that Dante may bear back to the living world this condemnation of corruption. Dante and Statius are then brought across Eunoe:

I came back from those holiest waters new,
remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
that spreads new foliage to the spring dew

in sweetest freshness, healed of Winter's scars;
perfect, pure, and ready for the Stars.

Paradiso

First Sphere (Moon): The Inconstant (Cantos II-V)

The Moon resembles a luminous diamond or pearl, and Beatrice and Dante are inside it and part of it, not standing on it. Dante asks why the Moon looks like it has lighter and darker spots from Earth, when here it does not. Beatrice asks his explanation (he says varying density), and she refutes it and provides her own. Dante then sees pale images of faces which are those souls in the Sphere of the Moon, and speaks to Puccarda and the Empress Constance, who were both nuns who were forced to break their vows and marry.

Dante is torn between two questions and so asks neither, but Beatrice perceives and answers both. First she explains that the heavenly spirits are in fact all in the Empyrean but are shown to Dante within certain spheres so that he can better understand them; second, that the breaking of their vows is relevant despite them having been made to do so because they could have returned to them the instant they were free (she also distinguishes between different concepts of 'will'). Dante then asks of people can offer other recompense for a vow they break; Beatrice offers that the sacrifice of the free will through a vow is the greatest thing a person can offer to God - after than, their will in that matter is not their own, and the only way a person can legitimately alter the vow is by making it more expansive. That said, it is better to break an evil vow than keep it.

Second Sphere (Mercury): The Ambitious (Cantos V-VII)

Beatrice and Dante enter the Sphere of Mercury, and the souls there, seen as lights, joyously move towards them. All Dante's conversation here is with the Emperor Justinian, who first recounts his life and the history of the Roman Empire, and denounces both Ghibellines and Guelphs. He then explains that the spirits of Mercury were "zealous in order to win honour and renown" - they did good things, but for motives of worldly reputation, which limits them. Like the spirits of the Moon, they clarify that they nonetheless have perfect joy. (The idea of heaven is that each of the spirits experience joy to the extent of their capacity to experience it; it is not that anything is withheld from them, but that their capacities differ.). Justinian also names Romeo da Villanova as being in this sphere. The songs then sing a hymn, dancing, and depart.

Beatrice then explains some of Dante's questions before he voices them, relating first to the crucifixion and then to how it is possible that, after the Judgment Day, people will have immortal bodies made of matter.

Third Sphere (Venus): The Lovers (Cantos VIII-IX)

Beatrice and Dante continue to the third sphere, that of the Amorous, where they again see the blessed souls approach as lights. Dante speaks with Charles Martel of Anjou (a contemporary of Dante's, not the more famous Charles Martel of the 700s), who had intended to be Dante's patron, but died untimely. After Charles speaks of his life, Dante asks why good fathers have bad sons, and Charles explains that people ate blessed with varying qualities and capacities, irrespective of heritage, and the world would be better if men followed their natural talents. Dante then speaks to other souls of the third sphere, who discuss the problems of Italy, and describe Rahab (the prostitute who aided the Israelite spies in Jericho and was foremother to King David) as the greatest of their sphere.

Fourth Sphere (Sun): The Wise (Cantos X-XIV)

Dante enters the Sphere of the Sun, and is surrounded by a ring of twelve shining souls, the great minds of the Faith. Thomas Aquinas identifies himself and the others, who include Albertus Magnus, Solomon ("the loveliest light here", and a mind which "no mortal ever rose to equal"), Boethius, the Venerable Bede, and Siger of Brabant.

Aquinas, a Dominican, praises the life of St. Francis and laments the degeneracy of the Dominican order. A second ring of twelve souls come, surrounding the first, and both spinning; when they stop, St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan from the second ring, praises the life of St. Dominic and laments the degeneracy of the Franciscans. This illustrates the accord and community of the heavenly souls. St. Bonaventure then describes other souls in his ring; most are not well-known now, but one is the prophet Nathan from the Bible who confronted David about his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah.

The spirits dance as two concentric wheels spinning in opposite directions and sing a hymn to the Trinity. Aquinas then explains the comment about no mortal ever rising to equal Solomon's wisdom, saying that it was because Solomon asked for wisdom suited to his work, to govern his people justly, not for academic knowledge, and in that respect he was unequalled. Beatrice then has Solomon explain how, when the spirits are in their resurrected bodies, their physical eyes will be able to bear the brilliance.

Fifth Sphere (Mars): The Warriors of the Faith (Cantos XIV-XVIII)

Before Dante knows it, he has been transported to the fifth sphere, and has a vision of the spirits there forming a cross, and moving within it, singing a hymn. One of the stars streaks out from the cross to reach Dante, yet without leaving the cross. This is Dante's ancestor Cacciaguida, from the 1100s, who died in the Crusades. He and Dante have a long conversation, about Cacciaguida's life, how Florence was better back in his days, and Dante's future; Cacciaguida explains the dark prophecies Dante has been hearing about his future all through the Commedia.

Cacciaguida then identifies famous spirits within this sphere, including Joshua, "the great Maccabee", Charlemagne, and Roland.

Sixth Sphere (Jupiter): The Just Rulers (Cantos XVIII-XX)

Dante perceives the red light of Mars change to the white light of Jupiter. The souls of Jupiter form, one letter at a time, letters spelling DILIGITE IUSTITIAM QUI IUDICATIS TERRAM ("Love justice, ye that are the judges of the earth"), and then many more lights join them, together forming the shape of an eagle with its head in profile. The eagle then speaks in one voice from its beak, its voice the speech of the spirits in unison.

Dante asks about the nature of God's justice, but is told that it is beyond him, and beyond anyone other than God. The eagles then spreads its wings, soars, and sings, then returns to its original shape and prophecizes that unjust rulers of Christian kingdoms shall be exposed at the Last Judgment and scorned even by non-Christian kingdoms. [Dante appears to have been unaware that Ethiopia was a Christian realm at this time.]

The souls making up the eagle sing a hymn, and then the eagle speaks again from its beak, telling Dante the identity of the souls that make up its eye and eyebrow. The soul making the eye is King David; the five in the eyebrow include not only King Hezekiah and Emperor Constantine, but also the Emperor Trajan, who according to one legend was, after his death, restored to life in the flesh long enough to convert to Christianity, at the prayer of St. Gregory. Another is Ripheus, a Trojan who lived long before the birth of Christ, whom the Commedia says was granted by God a vision of Christ, and believed. All this is an answer to part of the earlier question about Divine Justice - specifically, how it can be fair to damn ethically-behaving pagans who never heard of Christianity - by saying that all God's ways of granting redemption are not known.

Seventh Sphere (Saturn): The Contemplative (Cantos XXI-XXII)

Dante enters the seventh sphere and perceives the souls of the Contemplative as lights ascending and descending a ladder. One of the souls comes near them on the lowest rung and makes itself bright. Dante asks why it has come, and why the souls here are silent and do not sing like those of the lower spheres. The spirit tells Dante that the singing of the souls in this sphere would be more than he is yet able to endure, and that it has come only that its answers to Dante's questions would give him joy, and that any other blessed spirit would be equally glad to do the same. It explains that the knowledge of God's choices, such as why this spirit rather than any other has been sent to Dante, are beyond the comprehension of anyone other than God, and that men should not speculate on it. At Dante's request, it identifies itself as Peter Damiano (a famous ascetic from the 11th century), and denounces the self-indulgence of the clergy of Dante's time.

When Dante turns to the other souls of the Contemplative, he sees a hundred shining globes which all add light to each other. The largest and most glowing globe identifies itself as St. Benedict (an ascetic monk and founder of the Benedictine order), and identifies some of the others. Dante asks if he will at any point be able to see the unveiled image of St. Benedict and other blessed souls, and St. Benedict answers that Dante will find the answer to this in the Empyrean. He then laments the corruption and self-indulgence of the monastic orders. He and the other spirits then depart up the ladder, amd Dante and Beatrice follow them. As they ascend to the Sphere of the Fixed Stars, Dante, at Beatrice's instructions, turns back to look at the spheres he has already passed through.

Eighth Sphere (Fixed Stars): Faith, Hope and Love (Cantos XXIII-XXVII)

Ninth Sphere (Primum Mobile): The Angels (Cantos XXVIII-XXIX)

The Empyrean (Cantos XXX-XXXIII)

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