Purgatory
...Purgatory, and Paradise. This journey is symbolic of the spiritual quest for salvation. It involves recognizing sin (the journey through hell, or the Inferno), rejecting sin and awaiting redemption (the time of purgatory), and finally achieving salvation through faith in divine revelation (seeing the light of God in Paradise.) During his journey, especially through Hell, Dante encounters historical figures from ancient Rome, characters from classical Greek mythology, and political enemies from his own era. Because of the range of people and experiences on which Dante reflects in the Divine Comedy, the work provides a portrait of almost every aspect of medieval human life.
Dante was born in Florence to an old and moderately distinguished family. Little is known about his early life, but one event from his youth impacted his entire life. Age nine attended a May Day party where he meet Beatrice and fell in love with her. Meet her again nine years later where they first spoke. Unfortunately a misunderstanding developed between them. And Beatrice died before it could be mended between them. He was heart broken but eventually married and had children. In 1285 he married Gemma Donati and had four children. Beatrice spirit dominated his emotional and religious life as well as his literary work for his entire life. He became deeply involved in the political life in Florence. Became an elected official in 1300. Dante was strongly opposed to the involvement of the pope and the church in political conflicts. He favored the renewal of roman empire to take care of worldly concerns so the church could focus solely on spirit matters. 1301 while Dante was out of Florence on a mission, the city was seized by his political enemies and was sentenced to die. He never returned to Florence for the rest of his life and lived in exhile. He died and was buried in...
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