There is ice in hell too, said the poet

"All the others you see here, sowers of scandal and schism, were alive, and so they are torn apart. Behind them is a demon who opens us, so crudely with the sword's cut, each one of us in this line, subservient."

These were the words written by Dante Alighieri more than seven centuries ago in The Divine Comedy, perhaps the most important work of universal literature. "But don't be alarmed, dear reader: you didn't wake up in high school again this Monday; no one is exposing the perpetrators of violence, nor is anyone talking about crimes, threats, or revenge. Today, it's about rediscovering a book and celebrating the birth of an author who, through his innovation, transformed the history of language and speech. He remains a mirror that reflects the world and is fundamental in the transition from medieval to Renaissance thought."

Born in Florence, Italy, it is unknown whether on May 21 or 29, 1265; his baptismal name was Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and he was the son of the merchant and moneylender Bellincione d'Alighiero's first marriage to Gabriella Abat. His family's comfortable position allowed him a good education, time to read, and time to develop a political and literary ideology, as well as to devote himself to writing and activism. You should know, dear reader, that Dante played a significant role in the incorporation of the Romance languages ​​into the confines of Latin and, for the world, changed the history of the word. Furthermore, at a very young age he became actively involved in the political struggle that pitted the Guelphs against the Ghibellines. He was a member of the Council of the Captaincy of the People, part of the Council of One Hundred – the citizens' parliament – ​​until he was apprehended, sentenced to two years of exile and forced to remain silent, for life, in Florentine public affairs.

However, he was already irremediably touched by poetry, captured by words, illuminated by love, and fascinated by knowledge. Thus, he would learn both the secrets of Latin rhetoric and the pleasures of the style of his own language. He developed a casual and magnificent poetic style and wrote texts such as "Il fiore" (The Flower); marvels like "Vita Nuova"—where, combining verse and prose, he tells the story of Beatrice, the love of his life; "Monarchy," a sort of rude political essay; and "De vulgari eloquentia" (On the Vulgar Eloquent Language) on the so-called "vulgar language," striking the decisive blows that would transform Latin into a "dead language." All of them crowned by the "Divine Comedy."

An allegorical narrative that describes the poet's imaginary journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, the Divine Comedy, with refined mathematics, explores the symbolism of the number three to its ultimate conclusion. Composed of 14,233 hendecasyllabic verses, it is divided into three parts, each with 33 cantos, which, combined with an initial canto, make a total of one hundred. It is narrated in the first person, and its first words read as follows:

“Halfway through life, I found myself lost in a dark forest because I strayed from the right path.”

Then the journey begins. First, to the realms of the underworld, where he is accompanied by Virgil—his favorite Latin poet—and where Dante recounts how they both travel through the Underworld. Then, the ascent to the mountain of Purgatory and, finally, the arrival at the gates of Paradise, where Virgil will give way to the blessed Beatrice and they will contemplate the true light.

Better than any other work of journey of ascent, fall, and flight, the Divine Comedy transforms all symbolism into reality and strikes a powerful note with its depiction of how the shadow of the damned increasingly darkens the flames of the nine circles of hell, each reserved for different types of offenses, faults, and sins. Greed is far darker than gluttony, less punishment for the unbaptized than for heretics, the lazy, and the lustful; special punishments for fraud and violence. Total terror in the Ninth Circle, "the deepest and most terrible," for it is reserved for traitors. There they are, all of them, in a lake of ice. Each at different depths according to the diversity of their betrayals, and at the center is Lucifer, frozen in an icy evil that will never melt.

With a certain admonition not to turn back and lose the path, Dante reaches the end of the journey. To the place where happiness is eternalized: the long-promised Paradise. There, he tells us:

“O foolish mortal pursuits! How weak are the reasons that induce you to soar and touch the earth with your wings! While some devoted themselves to the forum, and others to the aphorisms of medicine; and these followed the priesthood, and those strove to reign by force of arms, making others believe in their right through sophistry; and some revolved, and others devoted themselves to civil affairs; and many were enervated by the pleasures of the flesh, and quite a few finally gave themselves over to idleness, I, freed from all these things, had ascended with Beatrice to heaven, where I had been so gloriously welcomed!”