Paradiso is the third and final part of The Divine Comedy, Dante’s epic narrative poem. The first part of the poem, Inferno, details the initiation of Dante-as-character’s allegorical journey toward God. At the start of Inferno, middle-aged Dante is lost in the woods. He wishes he could ascend a beautiful mountain, but is blocked by three wild beasts. He is about to give up hope when he encounters the ghost of the ancient Roman poet Virgil. Dante’s dead beloved, Beatrice, has sent Virgil to rescue Dante, but they cannot avoid the beasts and climb the mountain directly. Instead, they will have to make a long pilgrimage through Hell.

The rest of the Inferno describes Dante’s journey through Hell, which is portrayed as a tightening pit of concentric circles. The souls there fall into three worsening groups: the incontinent, or people who had a disordered relationship to earthly goods; the violent; and worst of all, the fraudulent. Dante visits every circle of Hell and meets sinners undergoing ironic punishments; he also faces his own sins in the guise of damned souls. Finally, at the bottom of Hell, Dante and Virgil find Satan.