The Divine Comedy

<p>After an initial ascension Beatrice guides Dante through the nine celestial spheres of Heaven. These are concentric and spherical as in Aristotelian and Ptolemaic cosmology. The structure of <em>Paradiso</em> is based on the four cardinal virtues and the three theological virtues. In <em>Paradiso</em> Dante meets and converses with several great saints of the Church including Saint Peter and St. John. Allegorically the poem represents the soul's ascent to God.</p><p><em>The Divine Comedy</em> represents a vision of the afterlife of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church by the 14<sup>th</sup> century. The narrative describes Dante's travels through Hell Purgatory and Paradise while allegorically the poem represents the soul's journey towards God. The poem is widely considered to be the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest works of world literature.</p>