The “Divine Comedy” is divided into three sections: “Inferno,” “Purgatorio,” and “Paradiso.” These three parts follow Dante’s journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, respectively, and together form a spiritual progression from recognizing sin to repentance and finally to divine vision.
Each section is called a cantica, the plural being cantiche. “Inferno” presents the punishments of Hell, “Purgatorio” describes the souls being purified on Mount Purgatory, and “Paradiso” depicts Dante’s ascent through the heavens. The divisions are therefore larger structural units, not individual chapters or scenes.
The number three is central to the poem’s design. Each cantica contains 33 cantos, while “Inferno” has an additional opening canto that functions as a prologue, producing 100 cantos in total. Dante also uses terza rima, a linked rhyme scheme built around tercets. Readers sometimes confuse the poem’s three sections with the nine circles of Hell or the nine celestial spheres, which are internal structures rather than divisions of the whole work.