It is hard to imagine that a country as rich in history and culture as Italy could trace a great deal of its heritage back to one single person. However, that is exactly the case with Dante Alighieri. Regarded as The Supreme Poet, Dante's Divine Comedy is considered Italy's most important literary work.

Dante's depiction of the afterlife through the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise is one of the most influential pieces of literature in history. It became the centerpiece for what is now the modern Italian language and changed the way that religion and the afterlife were thought of.