The Divine Comedy or La Commedia Divina is an epic poem by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, and one of the greatest of all works of literature. It was begun around 1307 and finished probably about 1321, the year of Dante's death. The Divine Comedy is an account of Dante's imaginary journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven. Its three main sections are correspondingly named L'Inferno, il Purgatorio, and il Paradiso. Dante is guided through hell and purgatory by the Roman poet Virgil, who is, to Dante, the symbol of reason. The woman he loved, Beatrice, whom he regards as both a manifestation and an instrument of the divine will, is his guide through heaven.
In the Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri uses poetry to explore the complexities of the human soul's spiritual journey, delving into themes of sin and redemption, divine justice, love, and the intricate interplay between political and moral dimensions, all while employing rich symbolism and allegory to convey profound theological and philosophical insights.
Each section contains thirty-three cantos, or divisions, except for the first section, which has, in addition, a canto serving as a general instruction. The poem is written in tersarima, and was the first composition of high artistic merit in this popular verse form. Dante intended the poem to be a popular work for his contemporaries, and wrote it in Italian rather than Latin, the language in which medieval works of literature were often composed. He named the poem La Commedia (The Comedy) because it ends happily, in heaven; the adjective divine was first added to the title in an edition of the poem which appeared in 1555.
The narrative action of The Divine Comedy forms part of the philosophical and theological arguments which it expounds. The incidents which occur during the course of the journey are important, not in themselves, but rather as illustrations of most readily perceptible theme of the poem, the workings of divine justice.