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[[Image:Gfdyte7y6.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Satan is trapped in the frozen central zone in the Ninth Circle of Hell, Inferno, Canto 34 (Satan's three faces are not clearly visible here).]]

[[Image:Ferdinand_Victor_Delacroix_006.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Dante and Virgil are ferried across the River [[Styx]] (illustration by Delacroix).]]

'''The Divine Comedy''' is a long-form poem by [[Dante Alighieri]]. Although it is strongly influenced by the poetic epics of the [[Illiad]] and the [[Odyssey]] by [[Homer]], and particularly the [[Aeneid]] by [[Virgil]], its structure is significantly different from anything that had been written before. The basic story details Dante getting lost in a dark forest, and as an act of divine grace to correct his life, embarking on a tour of the afterworld. We are introduced to his benefactor, Beatrice, who may be an allusion to a woman he loved and wrote poetry about, as well as a symbol of wisdom. She sets him under the care of Virgil, who as a wise pagan is confined to Limbo. Virgil is given permission to escort him through all the levels of [[Hell]] and [[Purgatory]]. In [[Heaven|Paradise]], he is reunited with Beatrice as his escort.  

'''The Divine Comedy''' is a long-form poem by [[Dante Alighieri]]. Although it is strongly influenced by the poetic epics of the [[Illiad]] and the [[Odyssey]] by [[Homer]], and particularly the [[Aeneid]] by [[Virgil]], its structure is significantly different from anything that had been written before. The basic story details Dante getting lost in a dark forest, and as an act of divine grace to correct his life, embarking on a tour of the afterworld. We are introduced to his benefactor, Beatrice, who may be an allusion to a woman he loved and wrote poetry about, as well as a symbol of wisdom. She sets him under the care of Virgil, who as a wise pagan is confined to Limbo. Virgil is given permission to escort him through all the levels of [[Hell]] and [[Purgatory]]. In [[Heaven|Paradise]], he is reunited with Beatrice as his escort.