Dante's Divine Comedy is an epic poem composed in the early 14th century by Dante Alighieri. The work captures a transitional period in Tuscany wherein society balanced its classical roots with its emerging focus on Christian theology. The poem is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Each segment represents a part of the afterlife. The narrator is led through each of these parts by a guide. In the Inferno and Purgatorio segments, the guide is the famous Roman poet, Virgil.
These stories were really striking in their imagery and detail. While some of the sins mentioned are emblematic of the morals of the time, the metaphor for the journey of the soul toward salvation is still really powerful.
I think the most powerful section of these stories to me though was the section called Limbo. This detailed the fate of people who lived before Jesus was sent to save mankind. These people are left in the first area of the inferno. They were not saved, but it was not their fault. That's a very tricky morality in my eyes, but the message of the necessity of salvation and evangelism is powerful. Of course, there were exceptions to this. Characters like Adam and Eve were saved by Jesus later on. Why didn't he save all the people in limbo?
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| Dante holding the Divine Comedy Image Information |
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