Dante Alighieri Timeline and Summary

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• Dante and Virgil arrive on Mount Purgatory.
• Dante freaks out about his shadow. Virgil reassures him.
• In the Second Spur, Dante talks to Buonconte da Montafeltro.
• Triggered by Sordello, Dante rants against Florence.
• In the Valley of the Rulers, Dante has a dream about the eagle and wakes to find himself at the gate of Purgatory.
• Dante and Virgil climb the three steps. Dante has seven Ps inscribed on his forehead. They enter Purgatory proper.
• In the first terrace, Dante takes on the bent over position of the Prideful and feels humility.
• Dante passes through the second terrace of the Envious.
• On the third terrace, where the Wrathful dwell, Dante meets Marco Lombardo and listens to his lecture on free will and political corruption.
• Dante listens to Virgil’s explanation on the structure of Purgatory: it’s built around love.
• Later, Dante asks about free will and gets another lecture from Virgil.
• On the fourth terrace of the Slothful, Dante has a nightmare about a Siren.
• On the fifth terrace of the Avaricious and Prodigal, Dante and Virgil meet Statius.
• On the sixth terrace of the Gluttonous, Dante meets Forese Donati and Bonagiunta da Lucca.
• Dante listens to Statius lecture on the generation of souls and their aery bodies.
• On the seventh terrace of the Lustful, Dante meets Guido Guinizzelli and idolizes him.
• Dante is afraid of entering the wall of flame, the exit of the seventh terrace, but Virgil tempts him with promises of seeing Beatrice on the other side. Dante walks through the flames.
• Dante dreams of Rachel and Leah.
• Virgil pronounces Dante ready for ascent to Heaven.
• In the Earthly Paradise, Dante meets Matilda.
• Dante witnesses the extraordinary procession.
• Dante is distraught at the disappearance of Virgil.
• Dante meets Beatrice, who reproaches him for his sins and forces him to confess.
• Dante passes out and is immersed, while unconscious, in the river Lethe.
• Under the Tree of Knowledge, Beatrice charges Dante with a poetic mission.
• Dante witnesses the various attacks on the chariot and its transformations as he listens to Beatrice’s prophecies.
• Dante is bathed in the river Eunoe and readied for Paradise.