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The Divine Comedy

by Dante Alighieri

translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    The Divine Comedy (Italian: Commedia, later christened “Divina” by Giovanni Boccaccio), written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321, is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, the last great work of literature of the Middle Ages and the first great work of the Renaissance. A culmination of the medieval world-view of the afterlife, it establishes the Tuscan dialect in which it is written as the Italian standard, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature.

    The Divine Comedy is composed of three canticas (or “cantiche”) — Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise) — composed each of 33 cantos (or “canti”). The very first canto serves as an introduction to the poem and is generally not considered to be part of the first cantica, bringing the total number of cantos to 100.

    The poet tells in the first person his travel through the three realms of the dead, lasting during the Easter Triduum in the spring of 1300.

# 01 Inferno: Canto I - Canto V - 00:43:10

Read by: Cori Samuel

# 02 Inferno: Canto VI - Canto X - 00:36:40

Read by: Annie Coleman

# 03 Inferno: Canto XI - Canto XV - 00:47:04

Read by: Denny Sayers

# 04 Inferno: Canto XVI - Canto XX - 00:30:36

Read by: Jennifer Crispin

# 05 Inferno: Canto XXI - Canto XXV - 00:35:24

Read by: Anne’s Man and Thomas’ Dad and Hugh McGuire

# 06 Inferno: Canto XXVI - Canto XXX - 00:36:44

Read by: Aaron Decker

# 07 Inferno: Canto XXXI - Canto XXXIV - 00:36:18

Read by: Marlo Dianne

# 08 Purgatory: Canto I - Canto V - 00:42:33

Read by: Catherine Eastman

# 09 Purgatory: Canto VI - Canto XI - 00:37:19

Read by: Kirsten Ferreri

# 10 Purgatory: Canto XII - Canto XVI - 00:33:15

Read by: Jennifer Crispin

# 11 Purgatory: Canto XVII - Canto XXI - 00:35:31

Read by: Kelly Bescherer

# 12 Purgatory: Canto XXII - Canto XXVII - 00:47:07

Read by: David Barnes

# 13 Purgatory: Canto XXVIII - Canto XXXIII - 00:43:32

Read by: Christie Nowak

# 14 Paradise: Canto I - Canto V - 00:41:08

Read by: David Leaman

# 15 Paradise: Canto VI - Canto XI - 00:38:33

Read by: Jennifer Crispin

# 16 Paradise: Canto XII - Canto XVI - 00:32:15

Read by: Rosalind Wills

# 17 Paradise: Canto XVII - Canto XXI - 00:39:50

Read by: JemmaBlythe

# 18 Paradise: Canto XXII - Canto XXVII - 00:42:17

Read by: Christie Nowak

# 19 Paradise: Canto XXVIII - Canto XXXIII - 00:44:09

Read by: Kirsten Ferreri

Read by various readers

Approx. running time: 12 hours & 20 minutes