THE DIVINE COMEDY

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) is one of the most important and innovative figures of the European Middle Ages. The 'Comedy' tells of the journey of a character who is at one and the same time both Dante himself and Everyman through the three realms of the Christian afterlife: Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. On this journey Dante's protagonist, and his reader, meet characters who are variously noble, grotesque, beguiling, fearful, ridiculous, admirable, horrific and tender, and through them he is shown the consequences of sin, repentance and virtue, as he learns to avoid Hell and, through cleansing in Purgatory, to taste the joys of Heaven. 566 pages, paperback.