Analysis Of Dante Alighieri: The Divine Comedy

In the early thirteen hundreds, the poet Dante Alighieri completed his magnum opus, the Divine Comedy. This epic poem follows the Pilgrim, who is led by Virgil and Beatrice, through every aspect of the Christian afterlife according to Catholic tradition. The Pilgrim is Dante himself, who was chosen to bear witness the evils of hell and wonders of heaven and, by doing so, change the hearts of his readers. Additionally, the pilgrim was chosen because some secret sin, of which he need only to repent, that would have sent him to hell. This sin is never named, but his journey in the Inferno quickly causes the Pilgrim to repent and turn away from his own sins and temptations. The continuation of his vision in Purgatorio and Paradiso solidifies his relationship with God and his hatred of evil. The Dante Alighieri who travels with Virgil …show more content…
The Divine Comedy is a poem of impressive size and skill, and is considered a masterpiece. There is no denying that Dante was incredibly talented. Somewhat amusingly however, is the fact that Dante was fully aware of his own talents and was pleased to exhibit the knowledge of his skills within the poem itself. For example, in Limbo, the Circle of the Virtuous Pagans, Dante meets his heroes, some of the acknowledged greatest poets of the Western World. Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan, together with Virgil, had formed a poetries greatest hits club, and this was their reaction when they met Dante. “And more of honor still, much more, they did me, in that they made me one of their own band so that the sixth was I, ‘mid so much wit.” To be clear, in his exploration of Hell the author takes the time to have his autobiographical character meet his greatest heroes in the world of poetry, have them invite him into their exclusive group, and have them give the pilgrim honor. This scene cements Dante as both a fanboy and hilariously assured of his own