Divine Comedy (Italian: Divina Commedia) is an Italian epic poem written by Dante Alighieri, a 14th century poet from Florence, Italy. The epic's three parts (Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso) chronicle a man's journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise, and expound medieval Christian cosmological, theological, and philosophical views. Throughout the epic, the protagonist and narrator, as Dante himself, is accompanied by Roman poet Virgil and later Lady Beatrice.
The book is considered to be one of the greatest accomplishments in the Western literary tradition, and one of the finest Italian pieces of literature ever written in history. It builds on previous works by writers such as Virgil (who is a character in Dante's story) who wrote the Aeneid for Roman emperor Augustus Caesar.