65
When their journey to the bottom-
most reaches of hell is complete,
Dante and Virgil begin the ascent
of Mount Purgatory, with its
circular terraces. Purgatory is a
place for sinners who lived selfishly
on Earth, but showed enough
remorse to offer hope for salvation.
In purgatory, they may purge
themselves in preparation for
entering heaven. As they climb
the mountain, passing through
seven levels representing the seven
deadly sins, Dante and Virgil meet
individuals painfully working to
overcome the flaws that led to their
sins. Proud souls, for example, carry
huge stones on their backs while
they learn humility.
Once out of Purgatory, Beatrice
takes over as Dante’s guide: this
is because Virgil was born beforeChrist and therefore could not
enter the “Blessed Realms.”
Beatrice can be seen as the eternal
feminine guide, the heart and soul
of humankind. It is she who
intervenes for Dante’s salvation,
and through her, Dante comes to
understand the love of God.Dante’s legacy
Dante adapted the form of the
classical epic, with its adventurer-
heroes and multiple gods, to express
a profound vision of Christian
destiny, incorporating both
personal and historical events into
the story. Innumerable artists and
writers have been inspired by The
Divine Comedy, and American-born
writer T. S. Eliot described it as
“the highest point that poetry has
ever reached or ever can reach.” ■RENAISSANCE TO ENLIGHTENMENT
Dante Alighieri
A politician, writer, and
philosopher, Durante degli
Alighieri (known as Dante)
was born in Florence, Italy, in
1265 to a wealthy family with
a long history of involvement
in Florentine politics. Dante
was betrothed to be married
in 1277 but he had already
fallen in love with another
girl, Beatrice “Bice” Portinari,
who became his muse and to
whom he dedicated many love
poems. Tragically, she died
suddenly in 1290. So grief
stricken was Dante that he
immersed himself in political
life, becoming a priore (a high
official) in 1300 and acting as
envoy to Pope Boniface VIII
during upheavals in Florence.
While he was in Rome, his
enemies gained power and
Dante was exiled from
Florence, never to return. It
is not known exactly when
he began work on The Divine
Comedy, but it may have been
as early as 1304. Dante died in
Ravenna, Italy, in 1321.Other key works1294 La Vita Nuova (The
New Life)
1303 On the Eloquence
of Vernacular
1308 Convivio (The Banquet)Dante journeys through Heaven’s nine spheres, each of which is
linked with a celestial body, in line with medieval Earth-centric ideas about
the structure of the universe, and with the hierarchy of angels. Beyond the
spheres is God in the Empyrean—a heaven beyond time and space.Ninth^ Sphere^ (Primum^ Mobile):^ The^ Nine^ Orders
of An
gelsEighth^ Sphere^ (Fixed^ Stars):^ The^ Triumph (^) o
f Chri
st
Seve
nth^ S
phere^ (Saturn):^ The^ Contemplat
ives
Sixth
Sphere^ (
Jupiter): The Just
Ruler
s
Fift
h^ Sp
here^ (M
ars):^ The^ Warriors of
(^) the (^) F
aith
Fourt
h^ Sphere^ (Sun):^ The Wise
Thir
d^ Sphe
re^ (Venus): The (^) L
overs
Sec
ond
Sph
ere^ (Mercury):^ The Am
bitio
us
Fir
st^ S
pher
e^ (Moon):^ The Incon
stan
t
Earth
The Empyrean
The Earthly
Paradise
Purgatory
US_062-065_DivineComedy.indd 65 08/10/2015 13:03