“Once, in the hour of matured years,
I entered a deep forest and got lost…”
— that’s how “The Divine Comedy” begins, the immortal poetic trilogy in which Dante boldly reimagined the medieval tradition of journeys through the afterlife and religious “visions,” creating a truly unique work where mysticism blends with philosophy, and allegory with a rather venomous political pamphlet.
Centuries have passed. The topical political urgency of “The Divine Comedy” long ago vanished, but the immortal beauty of Dante’s language remains, along with the force of his literary talent and the power of philosophical thought that anticipated the spiritual and moral quests of the Renaissance’s humanist geniuses.