The Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy is a medieval poetic narrative of a journey through the three worlds of the afterlife: Hell (the Inferno), Purgatory, and Paradise. The poet Virgil is his guide through the Inferno and Purgatory. Beatrice, Dante's object of devotion and love, leads him to Paradise, where he looks upon God. Dante Alighieri's masterpiece is both autobiographical and allegorical. The characters met on his journey are often Dante’s friends and enemies. He finished the work just before his death and wrote the Comedy in the Tuscan dialect, rather than Latin, helping to develop the modern Italian language, which he hoped would contribute to the unification of the numerous, frequently warring, Italian states.