How to Read Dante's 'The Divine Comedy'

Tips, Tricks, and Lists from a Fellow Reader

Introduction

The Better Books 2025 Deep Reading List began with The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. This is a beast of a classic that I was looking forward to for well over a year. I couldn’t resist the inevitable pull of Dante’s epic poem after experiencing Homer and Virgil in 2024.

The Divine Comedy consists of three canticles:

1. Inferno (34 cantos) - The canticle that most everyone is familiar with chronicles Dante’s descent into Hell with Virgil as his guide. This first part of the poem is dark and evocative, full of the kind of gory details only a creative mind like Dante’s could conjure.

2. Purgatorio (33 cantos) - Describes Dante’s ascent of Mount Purgatory and his reunion with his dead love, Beatrice. Focused on penance rather than punishment.

3. Paradiso (33 cantos) - Reveals Dante’s arrival and journey through Heaven. This canticle presents a drastic shift in tone towards the mystical and esoteric. The symbolism, allusion, and historical references are more abundant even than the …