The Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy describes Dante's travels throughHellPurgatory and Paradise and represents the soul's journey towards God. This edition includes the complete texts of Dante's Inferno Purgatoria and Paradiso.Inferno - Inferno beginswith Dante lost in a darkwood assailed by beasts he cannot evade and unable to find the straight way to salvation. Conscious that he is ruining himself and that he is falling into a dark place Dante is at last rescued by Virgil and the two of them begin their journey to the underworld. Allegorically theInfernorepresents the Christian soul seeing sin for what it really is and the three beasts represent three types of sin: the self-indulgent the violent and the malicious.Purgatoria - Having survived the depths of Hell Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom to the Mountain ofPurgatoryon the far side of the world. The mountain has seven terraces corresponding to theseven deadly sins. Dante's illustrative examples of sin and virtue draw on classical sources as well as on the Bible and on contemporary events.Paradiso - After an initial ascension Beatrice guides Dante through the ninecelestial spheresofHeaven. These are concentric and spherical as inAristotelianandPtolemaiccosmology. The structure of Paradisois based on thefour cardinal virtuesand thethree theological virtues. In Paradiso Dante meets and converses with several great saints of the Church includingSaint Peter andSt. John.Allegorically the poem represents the soul's ascent to God.This case laminate collector's edition includes a Victorianinspired dust-jacket.