1. An Introduction and Overview of Dante’s Divine Comedy.
It is widely believed that Dante composed this allegorical poem beginning in 1308 and ending in the year of his death, 1321.
It is called the “Divine Comedy” because:
Divine: religious subject matter (afterlife)
“Low” Comedy: It was written in a “low” language (Italian, which was the “common” tongue at the time), as opposed to Latin which was considered the “high” language. It has a “happy” ending, which also makes it a “Comedy” as opposed to a “Tragedy” which has a tragic ending.

2. By the Numbers
Numbers play a significant role in the poem; specifically 1, 3, 7, 9, and 10.
1, 3, 9, and 10 have significance because of their relevance to the Christian Holy Trinity: One God, Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), 9 is 3x3, and 10 is considered a combination of 3x3+1=10 and therefore of divine significance.
7 is the number of Deadly Sins and Virtues
All of these numbers appear repeatedly in the Bible.

3. Breakdown of the Poem
The Divine Comedy is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradisio.
Each part has exactly 33 Cantos (plus 1 for the Introduction), making the entire Poem exactly 100 Cantos long (10x10).
Each Canto is divided in lines of Terza Rima, which are rhyming lines grouped in 3’s.
Each line has exactly 11 syllables, for a total of 33 syllables per stanza.

4. Organization of the Inferno(Underground)/Hell
Hell is broken up into 9 Circles, which are organized into 3 parts, representing the groupings of Sin contained there:
Vestibule (Indifference/Non-committing)
Limbo (Virtuous Pagans) (1st circle)
Incontinence: Excessiveness of Appetite, Desire, or Emotion (2nd – 5th circles)
Violence: Abuse against Nature, God, Humanity, Self (6th – 7th circles)
Deceit: Treachery and Fraud against God, Family, Country, and Self through words and deeds (8th – 9th circles)

5. Purgatorio and Paradisio 7 Terraces/9 Spheres, Sins/Virtues
Purgatory – Sins in order from lowest (first) to highest (last)
Excommunicated
Repented on deathbed
Pride (worst, closest to Hell)
Envy
Wrath
Sloth
Greed
Gluttony
Lust (closest to Paradise)
Paradise – Virtues in order from lowest (first) to highest (last)
Deficient in Fortitude (lowest)
Deficient in Justice
Deficient in Temperance
Embody Prudence (wisdom)
Embody Fortitude
Embody Justice
Embody Temperance
True Faith/Church Triumphant
Primum Mobile/God(highest)

6. Allegory
The Divine Comedy is an “allegory”, which is essentially a “symbolic narrative”.
Imagine the concept of a metaphor, a symbol, and then take that and add to it many other metaphors and symbols, and then string all those together to form a cohesive, metaphorical, symbolic work, and you essentially have Dante’s allegorical Divine Comedy. Everything in this poem stands for something else, or represents something else.

7. Allegorical references
The structure of the poem itself is an allegory (remember the significance of the numbers!); the rhyme scheme (terza rima), the number of Cantos ( ), the layout of all three afterlifes, etc.
Dante himself [as a character] represents Mankind; Virgil, Dante’s guide, represents Reason or Philosophy and sometimes the Roman Empire; Beatrice is Revelation or Theology or the Church; Cato stands for Free Will; the sun for God or Divine Enlightenment or Righteous Choice, and so on. The punishments likewise are symbolic, as are the physical features, the rivers, rocks, swamps, deserts, fire, and water.

8. Allegory, Allegory, Allegory
Each part of the three future worlds has ten divisions. In Hell there are nine circles plus the vestibule; in Purgatory, nine divisions plus the Garden of Eden; in Paradise, nine revolving heavens plus the Empyrean, the final and absolute Heaven. There are three main guides, three groupings of the various sections of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.

9. The Setting is Allegorical too!
Dante and Virgil enter Hell on the evening of Good Friday, and emerge at the foot of Purgatory just before sunrise on Easter Sunday. The action of the Inferno takes place therefore, appropriately, in the time between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, from April 8th, 1300, to April 10th, 1300, at the age of 35, being exactly half way through an accepted biblical lifespan of 70 years (Psalms 90:10).
The geography in Hell has been affected by the Crucifixion and the traces of Jesus’ passage can be found in a crumbled cliff from an earthquake that occurred as a result of the crucifixion, leading from Circle 6 to Circle 7.

10. And Politics too, oh my!
In Northern Italy's political struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines, Dante was part of the Guelphs, who in general favored the Papacy over the Holy Roman Emperor.
However, Florence's Guelphs split into factions around 1300: the White Guelphs, who opposed secular rule by Pope Boniface VIII and who wished to preserve Florence's independence, and the Black Guelphs, who favored the Pope's control of Florence.
Dante was among the White Guelphs who were exiled in 1302 by the Lord-Mayor Cante de' Gabrielli di Gubbio, after troops under Charles of Valois entered the city, at the request of Boniface and in alliance with the Blacks.
The Pope said if he had returned he would be burned at the stake. This exile, which lasted the rest of Dante's life, shows its influence in many parts of the Comedy, from prophecies of Dante's exile to Dante's views of politics to the eternal damnation of some of his opponents.

11. A Few(!) Modern References
Movies
Gladiator (Virtues)
Seven (Sins/Dante/Canterbury Tales)
What Dreams May Come (Hell/Afterlife)
Pirates of the Caribbean
Hannibal
Computer Games
Devil May Cry series
Final Fantasy series
Castlevania series
World of Warcraft – Deadwind Pass sign
Music
Classical Symphonies by Frank Liszt, Robert Smith, and others (such as the work played last year at RV’s Spring Instrumental Concert)
Heavy Metal bands Iced Earth and Sepultura, Industrial band Skinny Puppy
Literature
TS Eliot – The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Mary Shelley, James Joyce