The Divine Comedy
1320 • 780 pages

Ratings20

Average rating4.2

15

The Divine Comedy (Italian: Divina Commedia) is an epic poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c. 1308 and completed 1320, a year before his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature[1] and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature.[2] The poem's imaginative vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It helped establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written, as the standardized Italian language.[3] It is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.

On the surface, the poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise or Heaven;[4] but at a deeper level, it represents, allegorically, the soul's journey towards God.[5] At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy and the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas.[6] Consequently, the Divine Comedy has been called "the Summa in verse".[7]

The work was originally simply titled Comedìa and was later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio. The first printed edition to add the word divina to the title was that of the Venetian humanist Lodovico Dolce,[8] published in 1555 by Gabriele Giolito de' Ferrari.


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Series

Featured Series

3 primary books

#1-3 in La Divina Commedia

La Divina Commedia is a 3-book series with 3 released primary works first released in 10 with contributions by Dante Alighieri.

#1
The Inferno
#2
The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, Volume 2: Purgatorio
#3
Paradiso

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June 14, 2023

Mesmo que eu tenha muito respeito a esse livro, e principalmente os conceitos que ele introduziu à cultura, é inegavel também que por si só, ele não é nem perto do que as pessoas falam.

April 15, 2025

I listened to an audio book version. Sometimes it was hard to understand what was going on. But interesting. I think next time I listen I'll follow along with a printed version.

December 31, 2014

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