Why should you read Dante’s “Divine Comedy”? - Sheila Marie Orfano

“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here… ”

Inscribed above the Gate of Hell,

these ominous words warn dark
tidings for Dante

as he begins his descent into inferno.

Yet despite the grim tone,

this prophecy sets into motion what is
perhaps the greatest love story ever told;

an epic journey that encompasses both
the human and the divine.

But for Dante to reach
benevolent salvation,

he must first find his way through Hell.

This landscape of torture is the setting
for Inferno,

the first in a three-part narrative poem

written by Dante Alighieri
in the 14th century.

Casting himself as the protagonist,

Dante travels deeper and deeper
into Hell’s abyss,

witnessing obscene punishments distinct
to each of its nine realms.

Beginning in Limbo, he travels through the
circles of Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath,

Heresy, Violence, and Fraud,

to the horrific ninth circle of Treachery,

where sinners are trapped under the
watchful eyes of Satan himself.

The following two parts, Purgatorio and
Paradiso, continue Dante’s journey,

as he scales the Mount of Purgatory

and ascends the nine celestial
spheres of Heaven.

Written together over 10 years, these
three sections comprise the Divine Comedy–

an allegorical imagining of the soul’s
journey towards God.

But Dante’s Divine Comedy is more than
just religious allegory.

It’s also a witty, scathing commentary on
Italian politics.

A soldier and statesman from Florence,
Dante was staunchly faithful to God,

but often critical of the
Roman Catholic Church.

He particularly disliked its rampant
nepotism and practice of simony,

the buying and selling of religious
favours such as pardons from sin.

Many groups took advantage of these
corrupt customs,

but few supported them as much as the
Guelfi Neri, or Black Guelphs.

This was a political and religious faction

which sought to expand the pope’s
political influence.

Dante was a member of the Guelfi Bianchi,
or White Guelphs–

who believed Florence needed more
freedom from Roman influence.

As a public representative for the
White Guelphs,

Dante frequently spoke out against
the pope’s power,

until the Black Guelphs leveraged their
position

to exile him from Florence in 1302.

But rather than silencing him,

this lifelong exile led to Dante’s
greatest critique of all.

Dishonored and with little hope of return,

the author freely aired his grievances
with the Church and Italian society.

Writing the Divine Comedy in Italian,

rather than the traditional Latin of the
educated elite,

Dante ensured the widest possible audience
for his biting political commentary.

In the Inferno’s circle of the Wrathful,

Dante eagerly witnesses sinners

tear Black Guelph Filippo
Argenti limb from limb.

In the circle of Fraud,

Dante converses with a mysterious sinner
burning in the circle’s hottest flames.

He learns that this is Pope Nicholas III,

who tells Dante that his two successors
will take his place when they die—

all three guilty of simony and corruption.

Despite the bleak and sometimes violent
imagery in Inferno,

the Divine Comedy is also a love story.

Though Dante had an arranged marriage

with the daughter of a powerful
Florentine family,

he had also been unrequitedly in love with
another woman since he was nine years old:

Beatrice Portinari.

Despite allegedly meeting just twice,
she became Dante’s lifelong muse,

serving as the inspiration and subject for
many of his works.

In fact, it’s Beatrice who launches his
intrepid journey into the pits of Hell

and up the terraces of Mount Purgatory.

Portrayed as a powerful, heavenly figure,

she leads Dante through Paradiso’s
concentric spheres of Heaven

until he is finally face-to-face with God.

In the centuries since its publication,

the Divine Comedy’s themes of love, sin,
and redemption

have been embraced by numerous artists–

from Auguste Rodin and Salvador Dali,
to Ezra Pound and Neil Gaiman.

And the poet himself received his own
belated, earthly redemption in 2008,

when the city of Florence finally revoked
Dante’s antiquated exile.