About the Book: The Divine Comedy: Volume 2: Purgatory
Beginning with Dantes liberation from Hell, Purgatory relates his ascent,
accompanied by Virgil, of the Mount of Purgatory-a mountain of nine levels,
formed from rock forced upwards when God threw Satan into depths of the earth.
As he travels through the first seven levels, Dante observes the sinners who are
waiting for their release into Paradise, and through these encounters he is
himself transformed into a stronger and better man. For it is only when he has
learned from each of these levels that he can ascend to the gateway to Heaven:
the Garden of Eden. The