The Italian poet Dante Alighieri died in 1321. Seven hundred years later, the world is joining Italy in commemorating a writer who is considered the father of the Italian language because he chose to write in vernacular Tuscan rather than Latin.

Dante’s masterpiece The Divine Comedy, completed in 1320, follows the narrator’s progress through the three realms of the afterlife: hell, purgatory and heaven. In the nine circles of hell he finds adulterous lovers buffeted by the winds of passion, and thieves with their hands cut off, their bodies entwined with serpents. As he descends from circle to circle, the sinners become increasingly spiteful, murderous and traitorous.

Throughout the work’s 100 sections, or cantos, Dante’s commentary on human traits and failings — on love, jealousy, greed and the politics of his day — can easily be related to our world today. His ability to evoke an almost universal story has ensured the enduring popularity of his writing. Dante’s work inspired Botticelli, Blake, Delacroix, Dalí, Doré and other artists. His ideas and imagery have found their way into films, novels, music, mobile apps and video games.