The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri

The Divine Comedy

By Dante Alighieri

  • Release Date: 1555-01-11
  • Genre: Poetry
Score: 4
4
From 658 Ratings

Description

The poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven but at a deeper level, it represents, allegorically, the soul's journey towards God. At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy and the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas.

Reviews

  • on the rhythm

    5
    By Goodman837463728
    this is real form of poetry translation, with all the rhythmes at the end. love it.
  • Read it.

    5
    By seajuno
    One of the greatest literary works of all time.
  • Classic

    5
    By icykindness
    Classics are called that for a reason. Dark vivid images with turmoil as his constant companion. Simply amazing.
  • A little history...

    5
    By Grant Jason
    To people thinking this is a "comedy" would not be wrong. Just not in the sense modern terms equate it with. When Dante wrote the Divine Comedy, there were two types of literature - Comedy and Tragedy. But at the time, neither classified what story it was, but the language used in the story. A tragedy was written in a much more distinguished, higher-class language while a comedy was written in a more common vernacular so the common people could understand it. Dante wrote it as a comedy using the common vernacular so more people could understand the message, which they clearly did considering the sudden rise in church attendance based on the fear of the hell Dante depicted. A classic piece of literature that everyone should certainly read. Hope the history lesson helped.
  • comedy?

    5
    By Chef Oliver
    Comedy vs tragedy in Dante's time meant that a comedy was written in the vernacular vs Latin, Greek or a more stilted academic prose. Dante wrote this in the vernacular (comedy) so the general educated public could read it.
  • Good book

    5
    By Walt€
    To the reviewer below me… If you have to insult someone to help yourself feel better about a shaky self confidence and obviously low intelligence, well, you only hurt and shame yourself.
  • Good Book

    5
    By The Divine Comedy
    A 'comedy,' in the classic sense, is a book that starts on a bad note but ends on a good one. Hence, The Divine Comedy.
  • Well this book isn't funny at all...

    5
    By Freaks1996
    Not did I even get one laugh
  • Title

    5
    By amnhallam
    This is one of the most important allegorical and expressive pieces of literature ever written. There is a great deal of interesting facts behind the man and time through which it was written. Complaining about the title is absurd. Dante wrote this outside Florence 400 years ago in a time when literature in the Italian arts was either a tragedy or comedy. The upper tiers of the caste structure and noble house, in the areas that are now known collectively as Italy, were more incline to read tragic pieces. The content of this epic poem, although very dark and often graphic, does not designate it a "tragedy." By that categorization alone it was written as a "comedy." Before submitting poor reviews on one of the most beautiful and influential epics of literary history take the time to understand the spectrum and construct of literature. If you have an open mind and are interested in early religious influence, Italian Renaissance, or the origins of modern views of the details of the "afterlife," read Dante and you might not be disappointed. Classics remain relevant for a reason. Don't get caught up on the "Comedy" in the title you most likely won't be laughing, but you may enjoy the read.
  • Difficult translation

    2
    By Ksmith2
    I found this translation very difficult to get through. I pulled out my old paperback version from years ago and it was much more enjoyable to read. If this is your first dive into classical philosophy, get a different translation. This one is pretty difficult to get into..

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