When Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy, he knew it would be considered one of the greatest works of literature in Western culture. So why call it a comedy? Many scholars believe that the poem is called “divine” because it deals with religious ideas, and “comedy” because it deals with issues that can be considered humorous. It’s easy to see how these two concepts could be blended together—the poem is filled with stories about people who were changed by what they saw after death, and these tales are often described as funny.
Dante himself was exiled from his home city at a very young age due to political strife between himself and the city leaders. This forced him to travel extensively, and he met many different kinds of people from all walks of life. He even became involved in crusades against Muslims in Italy and traveled to France to fight in battles. His travels allowed him insight into the conflicts and beliefs held by people of many different cultures, which he then used as inspiration for The Divine Comedy.
In order to make sense of all that he had learned through his travels, Dante created a concept based on a three-part understanding of reality: body, soul, and spirit.
Inferno is the part of the poem where Dante meets with some sinners who are being punished by God for their sins. Purgatorio is the second part of the poem where Dante cleanses his soul so he can enter Paradise in the third part of this poem, Paradiso.
