The Divine Comedy: Outline & Structure

Trasumanar significar per verba non si poria To go beyond the human cannot be described in words

• Structures
• PART I: INFERNO (The Descent)
• PART II: PURGATORIO (The Ascent)
• PART III: PARADISO (The Ascent Through Heaven)

Structures

The Seven Deadly Sins & Virtues (Purgatorio)

The seven terraces of Mount Purgatory purge the seven capital vices through cultivation of opposing virtues:

1. Pride → Humility
2. Envy → Charity
3. Wrath → Meekness
4. Sloth → Zeal
5. Avarice → Liberality
6. Gluttony → Temperance
7. Lust → Chastity

Each terrace also corresponds to a Beatitude from the Sermon on the Mount.

The Nine Circles of Hell (Inferno)

Hell is structured as a descending funnel with increasing severity:

• Circles 1-5: Sins of Incontinence (Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Wrath)
• Circle 6: Heresy
• Circle 7: Violence (three rings)
• Circle 8: Fraud—Malebolge (ten bolgias/pouches)
• Circle 9: Treachery—Cocytus (four zones)

The Ten Celestial Spheres (Paradiso)

1. Moon — The Inconstant
2. Mercury — The Ambitious
3. Venus — The Lovers
4. Sun — The Wise
5. Mars — Warriors for Faith
6. Jupiter — Just Rulers
7. Saturn — Contemplatives
8. Fixed Stars — Faith, Hope, Love (theological virtues)
9. Primum Mobile — The Nine Angelic Hierarchies
10. Empyrean — Pure Light, the Celestial Rose, Vision of God

The Nine Orders of Angels (Primum Mobile)

Three triads surrounding God:

1. Seraphim (closest to God)
2. Cherubim
3. Thrones
4. Dominations
5. Virtues
6. Powers
7. Principalities
8. Archangels
9. Angels

The Contrapasso Principle

Throughout the Comedy, punishment or purgation mirrors the sin—you become what you chose. The lustful are blown by winds, the wrathful fight in mud, thieves have their forms stolen by serpents, etc.

This structure creates a complete cosmological-initiatory map: descent through shadow, ascent through purification, and finally union with the Divine Light.

The Tripartite Structure: The Three Realms:

• Inferno (Hell) — 34 cantos
• Purgatorio (Purgatory) — 33 cantos
• Paradiso (Paradise) — 33 cantos

Total: 100 cantos (1 + 33 + 33 + 33)

The Three Guides

• Virgil (Reason, Philosophy, Human Wisdom) — guides through Hell and Purgatory
• Beatrice (Divine Love, Revelation, Sophia/Grace) — guides through Paradise
• St. Bernard (Contemplative Union) — guides the final approach to God

Sacred Numerology

• 3 (Trinity) pervades everything: three realms, three-line stanzas (terza rima), three guides
• 9 (3×3) structures Hell and Paradise
• 7 structures Purgatory (seven deadly sins/cardinal virtues)
• 10 (completion) appears as the total spheres of Paradise

PART I: INFERNO (The Descent)

The Dark Wood and Approach

Canto 1: The Dark Wood

• Location: A dark forest, midway through life (age 35)
• Experience: Lost, confused, separated from the "straight way"
• Symbols: The dark wood (sin/ignorance/separation), the dawn light (hope)
• Beasts encountered:
• The Leopard (lust/incontinence)
• The Lion (pride/violence)
• The She-Wolf (avarice/fraud) — most terrifying
• Event: Virgil appears, sent by Beatrice, offers to guide him through Hell and Purgatory

Canto 2: The Heavenly Ladies

• Location: Still at the forest's edge
• Experience: Dante hesitates, fears he's unworthy
• Revelation: Virgil explains the chain of grace:
• The Virgin Mary saw Dante's peril
• She sent St. Lucia (illuminating grace)
• Lucia sent Beatrice (divine love/revelation)
• Beatrice descended to Limbo to commission Virgil
• Initiation: Dante accepts the journey

Canto 3: The Gate of Hell

• Location: The Gate of Hell
• The Inscription: "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here"
• Experience: The Vestibule — the souls of the uncommitted (neither good nor evil)
• Figures: The Neutrals, including the angels who took no side in Lucifer's rebellion
• Punishment: Chasing a blank banner forever, stung by wasps
• Crossing: The River Acheron; Charon the ferryman

Upper Hell: Sins of Incontinence (Circles 1-5)

Canto 4: Circle 1 — Limbo

• Location: First Circle
• Souls: Virtuous pagans, unbaptized infants, righteous pre-Christians
• Figures: Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Lucan; Aristotle, Plato, Socrates; Saladin, Averroes
• Punishment: No torture, but eternal longing without hope — desire without fulfillment
• Symbol: The Noble Castle with seven walls (seven virtues) and seven gates

Canto 5: Circle 2 — Lust

• Location: Second Circle
• Judge: Minos (assigns souls to their circles by wrapping his tail)
• Punishment: Blown about eternally by violent winds (as passion blew them in life)
• Figures: Paolo and Francesca (the famous lovers), Cleopatra, Helen, Dido, Tristan
• Episode: Francesca tells their story; Dante faints from pity

Cantos 6-7: Circle 3 — Gluttony

• Location: Third Circle
• Guardian: Cerberus (three-headed dog)
• Punishment: Lying in filthy slush under cold rain, hail, and snow
• Figures: Ciacco (Florentine glutton) — prophesies Florence's political future
• Symbol: Degradation of the senses that were misused

Canto 7: Circle 4 — Avarice and Prodigality

• Location: Fourth Circle
• Guardian: Plutus (god of wealth)
• Punishment: Two groups roll heavy weights against each other eternally, clashing and turning back
• Figures: Many clergy, popes, cardinals (unrecognizable, identity lost)
• Teaching: Virgil's discourse on Fortune as minister of divine providence

Cantos 7-8: Circle 5 — Wrath and Sullenness

• Location: The River Styx (fifth circle)
• Punishment:
• The Wrathful: fighting each other on the surface of the muddy Styx
• The Sullen: submerged beneath, gurgling
• Figures: Filippo Argenti (Dante's enemy, torn apart by the wrathful)
• Crossing: Phlegyas ferries them across

The City of Dis: Transition to Lower Hell

Cantos 8-9: The Walls of Dis

• Location: The iron walls of the City of Dis (lower Hell)
• Opposition: The fallen angels refuse entry; the Furies appear; Medusa threatened
• Crisis: Virgil (reason alone) cannot open the gate
• Resolution: A heavenly messenger (angel) arrives and opens the gate with a touch
• Symbol: Divine intervention required to proceed; reason insufficient for deeper mysteries

Lower Hell: Sins of Violence (Circle 6-7)

Cantos 9-11: Circle 6 — Heresy

• Location: Within the walls of Dis; a vast cemetery with open, burning tombs
• Punishment: Entombed in flaming sepulchers
• Figures:
• Farinata degli Uberti (Ghibelline leader, Dante's political enemy)
• Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti (father of Dante's friend Guido)
• Emperor Frederick II, Pope Anastasius II
• Episode: Farinata and Dante debate Florentine politics; prophecy of Dante's exile

Canto 11: The Structure Explained

• Location: Pause at the tomb of Pope Anastasius
• Teaching: Virgil explains the structure of lower Hell:
• Circle 7: Violence (against neighbors, self, God/nature/art)
• Circle 8: Fraud (against those without special trust)
• Circle 9: Treachery (fraud against those with special trust)
• Philosophy: Why fraud is worse than violence (it corrupts the intellect, uniquely human)

Cantos 12-17: Circle 7 — Violence (Three Rings)

Ring 1: Violence Against Neighbors (Canto 12)

• Guardian: The Minotaur
• Location: River of boiling blood (Phlegethon)
• Punishment: Immersed in boiling blood to varying depths based on severity
• Guardians: Centaurs patrol with bows (Chiron, Nessus, Pholus)
• Figures: Tyrants and murderers — Alexander, Dionysius, Attila, etc.
• Crossing: Nessus carries Dante across

Ring 2: Violence Against Self (Cantos 13)

• Location: The Wood of Suicides — a dark forest of twisted, thorny trees
• Punishment: Transformed into trees; Harpies tear at them, causing pain and bleeding
• Figures: Pier della Vigna (Frederick II's chancellor)
• Also: Those who destroyed their own goods — chased and torn by black dogs
• Symbol: Self-violence against the body God gave; loss of human form

Ring 3: Violence Against God, Nature, Art (Cantos 14-17)

• Location: A burning desert with fire raining from above
• Three groups:
• Blasphemers: lying on their backs under the fire
• Sodomites: running in circles (violence against nature)
• Usurers: crouching, identified only by the purses around their necks (violence against art/industry)
• Figures:
• Capaneus (blasphemer from Thebes, defiant even in Hell)
• Brunetto Latini (Dante's former teacher, among the sodomites — treated with great respect)
• Three noble Florentines (Dante speaks highly of them despite their sin)
• The River: Phlegethon flows through as a stream; they walk along its stone banks
• Episode: Dante's discourse on the rivers of Hell (all flow from the Old Man of Crete — symbol of human history's corruption)

The Descent to Malebolge

Canto 17: Geryon

• Location: The cliff between Circle 7 and Circle 8
• Guardian: Geryon — monster of fraud (human face, serpent body, scorpion tail)
• Symbol: Fraud appears fair but is monstrous
• Descent: Geryon carries them down on his back

Circle 8: Malebolge — Fraud (Ten Bolgias/Pouches)

Overview of Malebolge

• Structure: A vast funnel of ten concentric circular trenches (bolgias)
• Sin: Simple fraud — deceit against those without special bonds of trust

Canto 18: Bolgia 1 — Panderers and Seducers

• Punishment: Marching in opposite directions, whipped by demons
• Figures: Venedico Caccianemico (sold his sister), Jason (seduced Hypsipyle and Medea)

Canto 18: Bolgia 2 — Flatterers

• Punishment: Immersed in human excrement
• Figures: Alessio Interminei, Thaïs (courtesan)
• Symbol: Their words were excrement; now they dwell in it

Canto 19: Bolgia 3 — Simoniacs (Those who sold church offices)

• Punishment: Planted headfirst in holes, feet on fire
• Figures: Pope Nicholas III (mistakes Dante for Pope Boniface VIII, who will join him)
• Episode: Dante's invective against corruption of the Church

Canto 20: Bolgia 4 — Sorcerers, Diviners, False Prophets

• Punishment: Heads twisted backward; they can only see behind
• Figures: Tiresias, Amphiaraus, Manto (founder of Mantua), Michael Scot
• Symbol: They claimed to see the future; now they can only look backward

Cantos 21-22: Bolgia 5 — Barrators (Corrupt Politicians)

• Punishment: Immersed in boiling pitch; demons with hooks tear at any who surface
• Guardians: The Malebranche (Evil Claws) — ten named demons
• Episode: Comic interlude with demons deceiving each other; demons chase Dante and Virgil

Canto 23: Bolgia 6 — Hypocrites

• Punishment: Wearing gilded lead cloaks, walking slowly
• Figures: Catalano and Loderingo (corrupt friars); Caiaphas crucified on the ground (others walk over him)
• Symbol: Beautiful exterior hiding crushing weight

Cantos 24-25: Bolgia 7 — Thieves

• Punishment: Bitten by serpents; transformed into serpents; stealing each other's forms
• Figures: Vanni Fucci (prophesies Dante's political misfortunes), Cacus, five Florentine nobles
• Episode: Elaborate metamorphoses as souls exchange human and serpent forms
• Symbol: They stole what belonged to others; now their very identity is stolen

Cantos 26-27: Bolgia 8 — Fraudulent Counselors

• Punishment: Encased in individual flames
• Figures:
• Ulysses and Diomedes (twin flame) — Ulysses tells of his final voyage beyond the Pillars of Hercules
• Guido da Montefeltro (tricked by Pope Boniface VIII into giving evil counsel)
• Episode: Ulysses' speech is one of the most famous passages in the Comedy

Cantos 28-29: Bolgia 9 — Sowers of Discord

• Punishment: Hacked apart by a demon with a sword; wounds heal, then re-inflicted
• Figures:
• Mohammed and Ali (schism in religion)
• Bertran de Born (carries his severed head like a lantern — sowed discord between king and son)
• Mosca dei Lamberti (political discord in Florence)
• Symbol: They divided what should be united; now they are divided themselves

Cantos 29-30: Bolgia 10 — Falsifiers (Four Groups)

• Punishment: Various diseases and deformities
• Falsifiers of Metals (Alchemists): Leprous, scabbed, scratching eternally
• Griffolino, Capocchio
• Falsifiers of Persons (Impersonators): Mad, running and biting
• Gianni Schicchi, Myrrha
• Falsifiers of Coins (Counterfeiters): Dropsical, swollen with thirst
• Master Adam
• Falsifiers of Words (Liars): Fevered, stinking
• Potiphar's wife, Sinon
• Episode: Master Adam and Sinon bicker; Virgil rebukes Dante for watching

Circle 9: Treachery — The Frozen Lake of Cocytus

Canto 31: The Giants

• Location: The pit rim; giants stand around the edge
• Giants: Nimrod (babbles incomprehensibly), Ephialtes, Antaeus
• Descent: Antaeus lowers them into the pit

Cantos 32-34: The Four Zones of Cocytus

Caina: Traitors to Kindred (Canto 32)

• Punishment: Frozen in ice up to their faces
• Figures: Mordred, the Counts of Mangona (brothers who killed each other)

Antenora: Traitors to Country/Party (Canto 32)

• Punishment: Frozen similarly, some deeper
• Figures: Bocca degli Abati (Florentine traitor), Count Ugolino and Archbishop Ruggieri
• Episode: Ugolino gnaws on Ruggieri's skull; tells of being starved to death with his sons

Ptolomea: Traitors to Guests (Canto 33)

• Punishment: Frozen with faces upward; tears freeze their eyes shut
• Figures: Friar Alberigo, Branca Doria
• Revelation: Some souls are here while their bodies still live on earth (possessed by demons)

Judecca: Traitors to Lords and Benefactors (Canto 34)

• Punishment: Completely frozen in ice in various positions
• Figures: Completely silent and unnamed

Canto 34: Satan at the Center

• Location: The absolute center of the earth and the universe
• Satan: A giant three-headed figure, frozen to the waist in ice
• The Three Heads: Each chews a supreme traitor:
• Center mouth (red): Judas Iscariot (traitor to Christ)
• Left mouth (black): Brutus (traitor to Caesar/Empire)
• Right mouth (yellow): Cassius (traitor to Caesar/Empire)
• Six Wings: Beating constantly, generating the freezing wind
• Symbol: Satan as parody of Trinity; absolute zero of love, motion frozen
• The Passage: Virgil and Dante climb down Satan's body, pass the center of earth, emerge in the Southern Hemisphere

PART II: PURGATORIO (The Ascent)

Ante-Purgatory

Canto 1: The Shore

• Location: The shore of the island of Mount Purgatory (opposite side of earth from Jerusalem)
• Time: Dawn on Easter Sunday
• Guardian: Cato of Utica (pagan who died for liberty; now guardian of Purgatory)
• Ritual: Virgil washes Dante's face; girds him with a rush (humility)
• Symbol: Cleansing from Hell; preparation for ascent

Canto 2: Arrival of Souls

• Location: The shore
• Event: A boat of souls arrives, piloted by an angel
• Figures: Casella (musician friend); sings one of Dante's poems
• Episode: Cato rebukes them for tarrying; they scatter to begin the climb

Cantos 3-6: The Excommunicated and the Late-Repentant

First Ledge: The Excommunicated (Canto 3)

• Location: Base of the mountain
• Figures: Manfred (son of Frederick II, excommunicated but saved at death)
• Teaching: God's mercy exceeds the Church's condemnation

Second Ledge: The Indolent (Canto 4)

• Location: The steep climb begins
• Figures: Belacqua (lazy Florentine, must wait as long as he delayed)

Third Ledge: Those Who Died by Violence, Repenting at the Last (Canto 5)

• Figures: Jacopo del Cassero, Buonconte da Montefeltro, Pia de' Tolomei

Fourth Ledge: The Negligent Rulers (Cantos 6-8)

• Location: The Valley of the Princes
• Figures: Sordello (poet, guide through this section), various kings and emperors
• Episode: Dante's invective against Italy and Florence
• Night Scene: The serpent enters the valley; angels drive it away

Canto 9: The Gate of Purgatory Proper

• Time: Night; Dante dreams of an eagle carrying him upward
• Location: The Gate of Purgatory (three steps)
• The Three Steps:
• White marble (confession/examination of conscience)
• Cracked dark stone (contrition)
• Red porphyry (satisfaction/blood of Christ)
• The Guardian Angel: Peter's angel; inscribes seven P's on Dante's forehead (peccata — sins)
• Entry: The gate opens; they enter Purgatory proper

The Seven Terraces: Purgation of the Seven Deadly Sins

Each terrace follows a pattern:

• Examples of the opposing virtue (via sculpture, voices, or visions)
• The penitents and their purgation
• Examples of the sin punished
• An angel who erases one P and speaks a Beatitude
• Passage to the next terrace

Terrace 1: Pride (Cantos 10-12)

• Purgation: Carrying enormous stones that bend them to the ground
• Opposing Virtue: Humility
• Examples of Humility: Mary's Annunciation, David dancing before the Ark, Trajan and the widow
• Figures: Omberto Aldobrandesco, Oderisi da Gubbio (illuminator), Provenzan Salvani
• Examples of Pride: Lucifer, Nimrod, Saul, Arachne, Rehoboam, etc. (carved in the pavement)
• Angel: Erases first P; speaks Beatitude: "Blessed are the poor in spirit"
• Teaching: Oderisi's discourse on the vanity of earthly fame

Terrace 2: Envy (Cantos 13-14)

• Purgation: Eyes sewn shut with iron wire; wearing hairshirts
• Opposing Virtue: Generosity/Charity
• Examples of Charity: Mary at Cana, Orestes and Pylades
• Figures: Sapia of Siena, Guido del Duca
• Examples of Envy: Cain, Aglauros (voices in the air)
• Angel: Erases second P; speaks Beatitude: "Blessed are the merciful"

Terrace 3: Wrath (Cantos 15-17)

• Purgation: Walking in blinding, acrid smoke
• Opposing Virtue: Meekness/Patience
• Examples of Meekness: Mary finding Jesus in the Temple, Pisistratus, St. Stephen
• Figures: Marco Lombardo (discourse on free will and corrupt Church)
• Examples of Wrath: Procne, Haman, Amata
• Angel: Erases third P; speaks Beatitude: "Blessed are the peacemakers"
• Teaching: Virgil's discourse on love as the root of all virtues and vices (center of the Comedy)

Terrace 4: Sloth/Acedia (Cantos 17-18)

• Purgation: Running ceaselessly
• Opposing Virtue: Zeal
• Examples of Zeal: Mary hastening to Elizabeth, Caesar's campaigns
• Figures: An abbot of San Zeno
• Examples of Sloth: Israelites in the desert, companions of Aeneas who stayed in Sicily
• Angel: Erases fourth P; speaks Beatitude: "Blessed are those who mourn"
• Teaching: Virgil's discourse on the nature of love (love can err in object or degree)

Terrace 5: Avarice and Prodigality (Cantos 19-21)

• Purgation: Lying face-down on the ground
• Opposing Virtue: Liberality/Detachment
• Examples of Poverty/Generosity: Mary's poverty, Fabricius, St. Nicholas
• Figures: Pope Adrian V, Hugh Capet (discourse on the corruption of the French royal house)
• Examples of Avarice: Pygmalion, Midas, Achan, Crassus, etc.
• Event: Earthquake and hymn — a soul is freed (Statius, the Latin poet)
• Angel: Erases fifth P; speaks Beatitude: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness"

Terrace 6: Gluttony (Cantos 22-24)

• Purgation: Starving in the presence of fruit trees and water; emaciated
• Opposing Virtue: Temperance/Abstinence
• Examples of Temperance: Mary at Cana ("What have you to do with me?"), John the Baptist, the Golden Age
• Figures: Forese Donati (Dante's friend), Bonagiunta (poet), Pope Martin IV
• Examples of Gluttony: Centaurs, Israelites rejected by Gideon
• Angel: Erases sixth P; speaks Beatitude: "Blessed are those who hunger for righteousness"
• Teaching: Bonagiunta recognizes Dante's new "sweet style"

Terrace 7: Lust (Cantos 25-27)

• Purgation: Walking through flames; two groups (heterosexual and homosexual) pass each other in opposite directions, kissing as they pass
• Opposing Virtue: Chastity
• Examples of Chastity: Mary ("I know not a man"), Diana
• Figures: Guido Guinizelli (poet Dante revered), Arnaut Daniel (Provençal poet, speaks in Provençal)
• Examples of Lust: Sodom and Gomorrah, Pasiphae
• The Wall of Fire: Dante must pass through to continue; hesitates; Virgil invokes Beatrice
• Angel: The final P is erased; speaks Beatitude: "Blessed are the pure in heart"

The Earthly Paradise (Garden of Eden)

Cantos 28-33: The Garden on the Summit

Canto 28: Entrance to Eden

• Location: A divine forest, gentle breeze, birdsong
• Figure: Matelda (a beautiful lady gathering flowers by a stream)
• Teaching: The nature of the Earthly Paradise; the rivers Lethe (forgetting sin) and Eunoe (remembering good)

Canto 29: The Mystical Procession

• Vision: An elaborate allegorical procession:
• Seven golden candlesticks (seven gifts of the Holy Spirit)
• Twenty-four elders crowned with lilies (books of the Old Testament)
• Four living creatures (the four Gospels)
• A triumphal chariot drawn by a griffin (Christ — two natures)
• Three ladies dancing on the right (Faith, Hope, Charity)
• Four ladies dancing on the left (Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance)
• Seven elders behind (remaining New Testament books)

Canto 30: Beatrice Appears

• Event: Virgil disappears; Beatrice appears on the chariot
• Episode: Beatrice sternly rebukes Dante for his unfaithfulness after her death
• Dante's Response: Weeps, confesses, swoons

Canto 31: Confession and Immersion

• Event: Dante fully confesses; is dragged through Lethe by Matelda
• Result: Sin forgotten; he sees Beatrice unveiled

Cantos 32-33: The Pageant of Church History

• Vision: Allegorical drama showing the corruption of the Church:
• The eagle (Empire) attacks the tree and chariot
• The fox (heresy) enters the chariot
• The dragon (Satan/schism) tears away the floor
• The chariot transforms into a monster
• A harlot (corrupt papacy) and a giant (French king) appear
• Prophecy: Beatrice prophesies a coming deliverer (the "DVX" — 515)
• Final Immersion: Dante drinks from Eunoe; is now "pure and prepared to rise to the stars"

PART III: PARADISO (The Ascent Through Heaven)

The Planetary Spheres (Spheres 1-7)

Canto 1: The Ascent Begins

• Location: Rising from the Earthly Paradise
• Guide: Beatrice
• Teaching: The order of the universe; all things have their natural place
• Dante's Transformation: He is "transhumanized" — words cannot describe it

Cantos 2-5: Sphere 1 — The Moon (Inconstant)

• Quality: Those who failed to keep their vows
• Appearance: Souls appear as faint reflections in the pearl-like sphere
• Figures: Piccarda Donati (forced from convent), Empress Constance
• Teaching:
• Different degrees of blessedness, all perfectly content
• The nature of the heavens and moon spots
• The nature of vows and their binding force

Cantos 5-7: Sphere 2 — Mercury (Ambitious for Good)

• Quality: Those whose good works were tainted by desire for fame
• Appearance: Souls glow more brightly; approach like fish to food
• Figures: Justinian (Byzantine Emperor)
• Teaching:
• Justinian narrates the entire history of the Roman Empire and the Eagle
• The justice of Christ's crucifixion and Jerusalem's destruction
• The Incarnation and Redemption explained

Cantos 8-9: Sphere 3 — Venus (Lovers)

• Quality: Those excessively given to love (redeemed)
• Appearance: Souls whirl in dance
• Figures: Charles Martel, Cunizza da Romano, Folco of Marseilles, Rahab
• Teaching: How different temperaments arise despite heredity; Folco's discourse against corrupt clergy

Cantos 10-14: Sphere 4 — The Sun (The Wise)

• Quality: Teachers, theologians, philosophers
• Appearance: Two circles of twelve souls each, dancing and singing
• Figures — First Circle:
• Thomas Aquinas (introduces the others)
• Albertus Magnus, Gratian, Peter Lombard, Solomon, Dionysius the Areopagite, Orosius, Boethius, Isidore, Bede, Richard of St. Victor, Siger of Brabant
• Figures — Second Circle:
• Bonaventure (introduces the others)
• Illuminato, Augustine, Hugh of St. Victor, Peter Comestor, Peter of Spain, Nathan, Chrysostom, Anselm, Donatus, Rabanus Maurus, Joachim of Fiore
• Teaching:
• Thomas Aquinas praises St. Francis
• Bonaventure praises St. Dominic
• Solomon's wisdom; the resurrection of the body

Cantos 14-18: Sphere 5 — Mars (Warriors for the Faith)

• Quality: Those who fought and died for the faith
• Appearance: Souls form a great cross of light; Christ's image flashes across it
• Figures: Cacciaguida (Dante's ancestor, crusader)
• Teaching:
• Cacciaguida describes old Florence and his own life
• Cacciaguida prophesies Dante's exile in detail
• Cacciaguida commissions Dante to write the Comedy without fear
• Roll call of warriors: Joshua, Judas Maccabeus, Charlemagne, Roland, William of Orange, Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert Guiscard

Cantos 18-20: Sphere 6 — Jupiter (Just Rulers)

• Quality: Righteous kings and judges
• Appearance: Souls form letters spelling "DILIGITE IUSTITIAM," then transform into an Eagle
• The Eagle: Speaks with one voice from many souls
• Figures (in the Eagle's eye):
• David (pupil)
• Trajan, Hezekiah, Constantine, William II of Sicily, Ripheus the Trojan
• Teaching:
• The inscrutability of divine justice
• How pagans (Trajan, Ripheus) can be saved
• Invective against corrupt Christian kings

Cantos 21-22: Sphere 7 — Saturn (Contemplatives)

• Quality: Monks and hermits devoted to contemplation
• Appearance: A golden ladder stretching upward (Jacob's Ladder); souls ascend and descend
• Figures: Peter Damian, St. Benedict
• Teaching:
• Predestination
• Denunciation of corrupt monasticism (the souls cry out; Dante is terrified)

The Fixed Stars and Beyond (Spheres 8-10)

Cantos 22-27: Sphere 8 — The Fixed Stars

• Location: The constellation Gemini (Dante's birth sign)
• Experience: Looking back, Dante sees the entire cosmos below — all seven spheres and the tiny earth
• The Triumph of Christ: Christ appears in blazing light; Mary ascends
• Examinations: Dante is examined on the three theological virtues:
• St. Peter examines him on Faith (Canto 24)
• St. James examines him on Hope (Canto 25)
• St. John examines him on Love (Canto 26)
• Adam: Dante speaks with Adam about the Garden, the Fall, language
• St. Peter's Invective: Peter denounces the corrupt papacy; the sky turns red with shame

Cantos 27-29: Sphere 9 — The Primum Mobile (First Mover)

• Quality: The outermost physical sphere; source of all motion and time
• Appearance: A point of intensely bright light (God) surrounded by nine concentric rings of fire (the angelic hierarchies)
• The Nine Orders of Angels:
1. Seraphim (closest to God)
2. Cherubim
3. Thrones
4. Dominations
5. Virtues
6. Powers
7. Principalities
8. Archangels
9. Angels
• Teaching:
1. Beatrice explains the relationship between angelic orders and celestial spheres
2. The creation of the angels and their fall
3. Denunciation of false preaching

Cantos 30-33: Sphere 10 — The Empyrean (Heaven of Pure Light)

• Quality: Beyond space and time; the true heaven; pure light and love
• Experience: Dante's vision is transformed; he can now see divine light directly

Canto 30: The River of Light and the Celestial Rose

• Vision: A river of light flowing between banks of flowers; sparks rise from the river
• Transformation: The river becomes circular; the sparks become angels; the flowers become the Celestial Rose
• The Celestial Rose: A vast amphitheater of light, with the blessed seated on petals tier upon tier
• Beatrice's Seat: Beatrice takes her seat in the third tier

Canto 31: St. Bernard

• New Guide: St. Bernard of Clairvaux replaces Beatrice
• Teaching: Bernard points out the arrangement of the Rose:
• Mary at the summit
• Below her: Eve, Rachel, Sarah, Rebecca, Judith, Ruth
• Opposite: John the Baptist, Francis, Benedict, Augustine
• Division between Old Testament saints and Christian saints
• Section for the blessed who died before the age of reason

Canto 32: The Arrangement of the Blessed

• Teaching: Bernard explains the order of the Rose in detail
• Preparation: Bernard bids Dante look to Mary to prepare for the final vision

Canto 33: The Final Vision

• The Prayer to the Virgin: Bernard's prayer to Mary on Dante's behalf (one of the most celebrated passages)
• Mary's Intercession: Mary looks toward God; grants the prayer
• The Vision of God:
• First: Three circles of three colors, yet one dimension (the Trinity)
• Second: The human image within the second circle (the Incarnation)
• Final: Dante's intellect fails; he cannot comprehend how humanity is joined to divinity
• The Flash: A flash of understanding; his will and desire are moved "by the Love that moves the sun and the other stars"

STRUCTURAL CORRESPONDENCES FOR THE ROYAL ART

Dante's Journey as Initiatory Template

The Three Guides as Aspects of Guidance

The Seven Terraces

The Planetary Spheres as Grades

KEY THEMES FOR INTEGRATION

1. The Contrapasso Principle

In Hell, punishments mirror sins (the lustful blown by winds as they were blown by passion). You become what you chose.

2. The Spiral Ascent

Purgatory is climbed in a spiral. Each terrace addresses a vice by cultivating its opposite virtue.

3. The Examination on Virtues

In the Fixed Stars, Dante is examined by Peter, James, and John on Faith, Hope, and Love.

4. The Celestial Rose

The vision of all the blessed arranged in a single flower around the divine light

5. The Three Guides / Three Stages

Virgil can take you through Hell and Purgatory but cannot enter Paradise. Reason reaches its limit. Beatrice (Revelation/Grace/Sophia) must take over. Then even she yields to Bernard (pure contemplation).

6. The Failure of Language

Throughout, Dante emphasizes that words fail—especially in Paradise. "Trasumanar significar per verba / non si poria" (to go beyond the human cannot be described in words)

7. The Political-Spiritual Unity

Dante never separates the political from the spiritual. The corruption of Florence, the Empire, the Papacy—all are spiritual crises.