The Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri (1265– 1321) was instrumental in establishing the literature of Italy, and is considered to be among the country' s  national poets  and the Western world' s greatest literary icons. His depictions of  Hell,   Purgatory, and  Heaven  provided inspiration for the larger body of  Western art  and  literature. He influenced English writers such as  Geoffrey Chaucer,   John Milton, and  Alfred Tennyson, among many others.