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Adding pointers to articles for each cantica in advance of moving the detail on the structure of each realm.
At the start of the poem, Dante is lost in a dark forest. He tries to get back to 'the straight path', but is prevented by three savage beasts: a lion, a wolf and a leopard. As he begins to despair, he meets the ghost of Virgil, who explains that he has been sent by Beatrice to guide Dante to safety. However, his predicament is so dire that the only way to get out is first to go through Hell.
At the start of the poem, Dante is lost in a dark forest. He tries to get back to 'the straight path', but is prevented by three savage beasts: a lion, a wolf and a leopard. As he begins to despair, he meets the ghost of Virgil, who explains that he has been sent by Beatrice to guide Dante to safety. However, his predicament is so dire that the only way to get out is first to go through Hell.
===Hell===
===Hell===
''Main article: [[Dante's Inferno]]''
As Virgil and Dante make their journey, they begin with the five lesser circles of Hell:
As Virgil and Dante make their journey, they begin with the five lesser circles of Hell:
* [[Limbo]]
* [[Limbo]]
===Purgatory===
===Purgatory===
''Main article: [[Dante's Purgatorio]]''
They then escape [[Hell]] by going through the center of the Earth and meeting the entrance to [[Purgatory]]. Purgatory follows the medieval [[Catholic]] doctrine which required souls to be cleansed from the minor [[sins]] during their lives with an equal amount of time atoning for them in a like manner. Note that Purgatory and Hell are structured differently: whereas Hell punishes sinners according to the sins they have committed (eg theft), Purgatory cleanses them of the vices that led them to commit those sins (eg greed).
They then escape [[Hell]] by going through the center of the Earth and meeting the entrance to [[Purgatory]]. Purgatory follows the medieval [[Catholic]] doctrine which required souls to be cleansed from the minor [[sins]] during their lives with an equal amount of time atoning for them in a like manner. Note that Purgatory and Hell are structured differently: whereas Hell punishes sinners according to the sins they have committed (eg theft), Purgatory cleanses them of the vices that led them to commit those sins (eg greed).
===Heaven===
===Heaven===
''Main article: [[Dante's Paradiso]]''
Heaven is also divided into levels based on the good works of those who enter there from life directly or from the purification of Purgatory. Dante again questions Beatrice on what he sees and is questioned by the inhabitants of [[Heaven]] as well. The nine levels of Heaven correspond to the [[Ptolemy]] view of the planets rotation around the Earth:
Heaven is also divided into levels based on the good works of those who enter there from life directly or from the purification of Purgatory. Dante again questions Beatrice on what he sees and is questioned by the inhabitants of [[Heaven]] as well. The nine levels of Heaven correspond to the [[Ptolemy]] view of the planets rotation around the Earth:
* [[Moon]]
* [[Moon]]