1. Dante

2. Dante Alighieri was a major Italian poet during the Middle Ages. He is known as the “Father of the Italian language” and is most famous for his literary work, The Divine Comedy, which depicted life after death in Paradise, Purgatory, and Hell. He is also known for creating the Italian language through The Divine Comedy.

3. Early Life Is believed to have been born around 1265 in Florence, Italy. Claimed that his family descended from the ancient Romans. Claimed to have been to the nether worlds (Divine Comedy)

4. Works Convivio, a collection of Dante’s longest poems with an allegorical commentary. Monarchia, a summary treatise of political philosophy, burned after his death.

5. Exiled Dante decided to oppose pope Bonifacio VIII’s expansion policy and took a stand against the pontiff’s temporal interference. He was strongly accused of fraud and was sentenced to a 2 year exile from Florence and had to pay a fine. He didn’t pay the fine and so was sentenced to death.

6. The Divine Comedy Describes Dante’s travels through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. Allegorically represents the soul’s journey to God. Considered to be the most preeminent work of Italian literature.

7. The Divine Comedy Dante draws on real characters from ancient Greek and Roman myths and history, and from his own times. Put those historical figure in the Hell part of The Divine Comedy, showing these high figures belonging in Hell. Dante finally understands the mystery of Christ's divinity and humanity, and his soul becomes aligned with God's love at the end of Paradise.

8. “Dante’s Inferno” Dante travels through the many levels of Hell. There are different types of torture per level of Hell. Allegorically, the Inferno represents the Christian soul seeing sin for what it really is, and the three beasts represent three types of sin: the self- indulgent, the violent, and the malicious.

9. Works Cited http://www.greatdante.net/life.html http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dante/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gustave_Dor%C3%A9_- _Dante_Alighieri_-_Inferno_-_Plate_9_(Canto_III_- _Charon).jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri http://www.dantealighieri.name/