Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) - Italian poet. Dante was the first noteworthy
poet to write in Italian and is considered one of the greatest poets in all
literature. He is best known as the author of "The Divine Comedy," a three-
Cantica epic allegory of the human soul and a monument of the Middle Ages.
Purgatory (1321) - The second part of "The Divine Comedy" describes Dante's
voyage up the mountain of Purgatory. Virgil again acts as Dante's guide up
to the entrance of the Earthly Paradise. See "Inferno" and "Paradise."
