Divine Comedy
Dante's epic poem
The Divine Comedy is a 14th-century Italian poem by Dante Alighieri, depicting the poet's imagined journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.
Widely considered one of the greatest works of world literature, it shaped Italian as a literary language and established enduring images of the afterlife.
References to Dante's Inferno—the Hell section—are especially common in English: It was like something out of the Inferno.
Division of long verse
- InfernoLiterary journey through damnation
- ParadisoHeaven in verse
- tercetThree-line verse unit
- verseMetered poetic passage
stanza · numerology · symmetry · trinity · thirty-three · cosmology · spheres · circles
Place of temporary suffering
- paradiseIdeal, blissful place
- infernoDevastating, uncontrollable blaze
- soulInnermost animating essence
- eternityBoundless temporal existence
judgement · heaven · hell · limbo · salvation · damnation · sin · virtue
Tuscan capital city
- BeatriceClassical feminine name
- VirgilClassical epic poet
- poetWriter of verse
- ItalianOf or from Rome's country
Boccaccio · Petrarch · Tuscany · Renaissance · exile · vernacular · sonnet · manuscript
Eternal punishment by flame
- tormentSevere prolonged suffering
- sinnersMoral law violators
- damnationEternal punishment decree
- SatanJudeo-Christian arch-enemy of God
Lucifer · Acheron · Styx · circles · Minos · Charon · Cerberus · Francesca
Ancient Greek epic composer
- OdysseyEpic of homecoming
- VirgilClassical epic poet
- AeneidRoman founding epic
- heroicExceptionally brave and noble
journey · quest · classical · invocation · prophecy · catalogue · epic simile · narrative
Classical feminine name
- celestialOf the sky above
- spheresRound solids, all points equidistant
- empyreanCelestial sphere above
- saintsCanonized religious figures
angels · seraphim · cherubim · light · rose · love · trinity · God
Representing concepts through images
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- personificationAttributing humanity to non-humans
- moralConcerning right conduct
- pilgrimageReligious journey to shrine
journey · truth · wisdom · justice · guidance · providence · enlightenment · interpretation
canto
Division of long verse
verse · stanza · numerology · symmetry · trinity · thirty-three · cosmology · spheres · circles · terraces
purgatory
Place of temporary suffering
- paradiseIdeal, blissful place
- infernoDevastating, uncontrollable blaze
- soulInnermost animating essence
eternity · judgement · heaven · hell · limbo · salvation · damnation · sin · virtue · penance
Florence
Tuscan capital city
Italian · Boccaccio · Petrarch · Tuscany · Renaissance · exile · vernacular · sonnet · manuscript · scholarship
hellfire
Eternal punishment by flame
Satan · Lucifer · Acheron · Styx · circles · Minos · Charon · Cerberus · Francesca · thieves
Homer
Ancient Greek epic composer
heroic · journey · quest · classical · invocation · prophecy · catalogue · epic simile · narrative · scope
Beatrice
Classical feminine name
saints · angels · seraphim · cherubim · light · rose · love · trinity · God · blessed
symbolism
Representing concepts through images
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- personificationAttributing humanity to non-humans
- moralConcerning right conduct
pilgrimage · journey · truth · wisdom · justice · guidance · providence · enlightenment · interpretation · typology
scholasticism
Rigorous dialectical learning method
- AquinasScholastic philosopher-theologian surname
- AristotleGreek founder of formal logic
- cosmologyStudy of universal structure
Ptolemaic · feudalism · papacy · empire · Florence · crusades · heresy · excommunication · pilgrimage · courtly love
- Christian epicsParadise Lost, Pilgrim's Progress, Inferno, Paradiso, Andreas
- Dante WorksInferno, Paradiso
- literaturebooks, book, fiction, poetry, stories
- Classic BooksPride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Moby Dick, Moby-Dick, Great Expectations
- ItalyRome, Venice, Milan, Florence, Naples
- PoemsThe Raven, Ozymandias, Invictus, Paradise Lost, Beowulf
Divine ComedyParadise Lost
Epic of humanity's expulsion
Faust · Heart of Darkness · The Road · descent into hell · Book of the Dead
Divine ComedyUlysses
Greek hero, Latinized
War and Peace · Don Quixote · stream of consciousness · free verse
Divine ComedyOedipus Rex
Ancient drama of prophecy fulfilled
King Lear · Macbeth · Greek tragedy · Hamlet · Medea
comedy, divine, comedian, diviner, comedic, divinely, diviners, comedically, divineness