In the poem, the pilgrim Dante is accompanied by three guides: Virgil, who represents human reason, and who guides him for all of Inferno and most of Purgatorio Beatrice, who represents divine revelation in addition to theology, grace, and faith and guides him from the end of Purgatorio on) and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who represents contemplative mysticism and devotion to Mary the Mother, guiding him in the final cantos of Paradiso.

Consequently, the Divine Comedy has been called 'the Summa in verse'. Dante draws on medieval Catholic theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy derived from the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas. Allegorically, the poem represents the soul's journey towards God, beginning with the recognition and rejection of sin ( Inferno), followed by the penitent Christian life ( Purgatorio), which is then followed by the soul's ascent to God ( Paradiso). The poem discusses 'the state of the soul after death and presents an image of divine justice meted out as due punishment or reward', and describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. It is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. It helped establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written, as the standardized Italian language. The poem's imaginative vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval worldview as it existed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest works of world literature. 1308 and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. The Divine Comedy ( Italian: Divina Commedia Italian pronunciation: ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c.

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