Research Article
Open Access
A Multidimensional Mathematical Analysis of Dante’s Divina Commedia
1
Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria (DEIB), Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
* Corresponding Author:
Emilio Matricciani,
[email protected]
Volume 1, Issue 1
2025
Received: 09 April 2026
Accepted: 08 June 2026
Published: 18 June 2026
Article Information
Published in
Journal of Mathematical Studies of Literature
Volume/Issue
Volume 1, Issue 1, 2025
Pages
4-20
Abstract
Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia is the preeminent work of the Italian literature and one of the greatest of the world literature. The poem allegorically represents the soul’s journey toward God passing through Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. At each stage of the journey, Dante adapts his language to the different contexts he describes, bringing together, in a single great work, the various types of language that had previously been specific to comedy or tragedy. This is why scholars speak of pluristylism. Compared to Inferno and Purgatorio, the language of Paradiso increases in complexity and in linguistic perfection to express profound theological concepts, making the reading more demanding and difficult to interpret. Since scholars unanimously find notable differences between Paradiso on the one hand, and Inferno and Purgatorio on the other, in this article I have examined whether the mathematical structure of deep language, of which Dante is unaware, is different in Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. The answer is affirmative. The multidimensional mathematical analysis – based on deep–language variables and short–term memory equivalent modelling – shows that Inferno and Purgatorio are very similar and markedly different from Paradiso. The Divina Commedia was written in hendecasyllabic verse by counting syllables. Each verse, made on the average by 7 words, matches the central value of Miller's 7±2 Law. The approach of scholars using traditional tools, and the approach of scientists using mathematical tools can reinforce each other in the more objective evaluation of literary texts, especially when comparing texts written by different authors or by the same author.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
alphabetic languages
short-term memory
geometric representation
linguistic variables
likeness index
readability index
Inferno
Purgatorio
Paradiso
Dante’s tercets
hendecasyllabic verses
Petrarca
Data Availability Statement
Data will be made available on request.
Funding
This work was supported without any funding.
Conflicts of Interest
Emilio Matricciani served as an Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Mathematical Studies of Literature at the time of manuscript submission. To ensure the integrity of the peer-review process, Emilio Matricciani was not involved in the editorial handling, peer review, or decision-making process for this manuscript, which was handled independently by another editor.
AI Use Statement
The author declares that no generative AI was used in the preparation of this manuscript.
Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate
Not applicable.
References
- De Sanctis, F. (2006). Storia della letteratura italiana (First published 1870). Rizzoli.
[Google Scholar] - Sapegno, N. (1968). La Divina Commedia. La Nuova Italia.
[Google Scholar] - Porena, M. (1969). La Divina Commedia. Zanichelli.
[Google Scholar] - Bosco, U., & Reggio, G. (2002). La Divina Commedia. Le Monnier.
[Google Scholar] - Cella, R. (2015). Storia dell'italiano. Società Editrice Il Mulino.
[Google Scholar] - Langella, G., Frare, P., Gresti, P., & Motta, U. (2019). Amor mi mosse. Letteratura italiana. L'instaurazione del canone. I nuovi classici. Dalle origini all'età comunale. Bruno Mondadori.
[Google Scholar] - Ferroni, G. (2021). Storia della letteratura italiana. Dalle origini al Quattrocento. Mondadori Università.
[Google Scholar] - Carrai, S., & Inglese, G. (2023). La letteratura italiana del Medioevo. Carocci.
[Google Scholar] - Frare, P., & Brenna, S. (2023). Dalle origini a Leopardi. La letteratura italiana e le sue grandi opere. Pearson.
[Google Scholar] - Martin, M. (1995). A Linguistic History of Italian. Routledge.
[Google Scholar] - Matricciani, E. (2019). Deep language statistics of Italian throughout seven centuries of literature and empirical connections with Miller's 7 $\mp$ 2 law and short-term memory. Open Journal of Statistics, 9(3), 373–406.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Christiansen, M. H., & Chater, N. (2016). The now-or-never bottleneck: A fundamental constraint on language. Behavioral and brain sciences, 39, e62.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Burrows, J. (2002). ‘Delta’: a measure of stylistic difference and a guide to likely authorship. Literary and linguistic computing, 17(3), 267-287.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Matricciani, E. (2022). Linguistic mathematical relationships saved or lost in translating texts: Extension of the statistical theory of translation and its application to the new testament. Information, 13(1), 20.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Green, D. M., & Swets, J. A. (1966). Signal Detection Theory and Psychophysics. Wiley, New York. http://andrei.gorea.free.fr/Teaching_fichiers/SDT%20and%20Psytchophysics.pdf
[Google Scholar] - Rybicki, J. (2012). The great mystery of the (almost) invisible translator. Quantitative Methods in Corpus-Based Translation Studies: A practical guide to descriptive translation research, 231, 231-248. https://www.torrossa.com/en/resources/an/5016442#page=242
[Google Scholar] - Crow, E. L., & Shimizu, K. (Eds.). (2018). Lognormal distributions: Theory and applications. Routledge.
[Google Scholar] - Robey, D. (1993). Scanning dante's the Divine Comedy. A Computer based Approach. Literary and Linguistic Computing, 8(2), 81-84.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Dakamsih, N. J. (2025). Threeness and the structure of Dante Alighieri's "Divina Commedia". International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Growth Evaluation, 6(1), 2105–2112. https://www.allmultidisciplinaryjournal.com/article/3629/threeness-and-the-structure-of-dante-alighieri-s-divine-comedy
[Google Scholar] - Perveen, T., Munawar, H., Zahra, M., & Lodhi, M. A. (2025). Corpus stylistic exploration of lexical patterns, semantic fields, and contextual meaning in Dante's Divina Commedia. Contemporary Journal of Social Science Review, 3(4), 114–131.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - de Callataÿ, G., & de Callataÿ-van der Mersch, C. (2026). The Secret Diagrams of Dante’s Divine Comedy. In Lectori vago. Manuscripts, Libraries, and Classical Scholarship from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period (pp. 95-113). Brepols Online.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Matricciani, E. (2023). Readability indices do not say it all on a text readability. Analytics, 2(2), 296-314.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Flesch, R. (1948). A new readability yardstick. Journal of Applied Psychology, 32(3), 221–233. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/h0057532
[Google Scholar] - Flesch, R. (1974). The art of readable writing (Rev. and enlarged ed.). Harper & Row. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.275839/page/n1/mode/2up
[Google Scholar] - Matricciani, E. (2024). Multi-dimensional data analysis of deep language in J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis reveals tight mathematical connections. AppliedMath, 4(3), 927–949.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Matricciani, E. (2025). Equivalent processors modelling the short-term memory. International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Research, 5(2), 1–28.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63(2), 81–97. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/h0043158
[Google Scholar] - Crowder, R. G. (1993). Short-term memory: Where do we stand?. Memory & Cognition, 21(2), 142-145.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Lisman, J. E., & Idiart, M. A. P. (1995). Storage of 7 ± 2 short-term memories in oscillatory subcycles. Science, 267(5203), 1512–1515.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and brain sciences, 24(1), 87-114.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Bachelder, B. L. (2001). The magical number 4= 7: Span theoryon capacity limitations. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(1), 116-117.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Saaty, T. L., & Ozdemir, M. S. (2003). Why the magic number seven plus or minus two. Mathematical and computer modelling, 38(3-4), 233-244.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Richardson, J. T. (2007). Measures of short-term memory: a historical review. Cortex, 43(5), 635-650.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Mathy, F., & Feldman, J. (2012). What’s magic about magic numbers? Chunking and data compression in short-term memory. Cognition, 122(3), 346-362.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Melton, A. W. (1963). Implications of short-term memory for a general theory of memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 2(1), 1–21.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1971). The control of short-term memory. Scientific american, 225(2), 82-91. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24922803
[Google Scholar] - Baddeley, A. D., Thomson, N., & Buchanan, M. (1975). Word length and the structure of short-term memory. Journal of verbal learning and verbal behavior, 14(6), 575-589.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Case, R., Kurland, D. M., & Goldberg, J. (1982). Operational efficiency and the growth of short-term memory span. Journal of experimental child psychology, 33(3), 386-404.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Grondin, S. (2001). A temporal account of the limitedprocessing capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(1), 122-123.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Pothos, E. M., & Juola, P. (2001). Linguistic structure and short term memory. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(1), 138-139.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Conway, A. R., Cowan, N., Bunting, M. F., Therriault, D. J., & Minkoff, S. R. (2002). A latent variable analysis of working memory capacity, short-term memory capacity, processing speed, and general fluid intelligence. Intelligence, 30(2), 163-183.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Jonides, J., Lewis, R. L., Nee, D. E., Lustig, C. A., Berman, M. G., & Moore, K. S. (2008). The mind and brain of short-term memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 59(1), 193–224.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Potter, M. C. (2012). Conceptual short-term memory in perception and thought. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 113.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Jones, G., & Macken, B. (2015). Questioning short-term memory and its measurement: Why digit span measures long-term associative learning. Cognition, 144, 1-13.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Chekaf, M., Cowan, N., & Mathy, F. (2016). Chunk formation in immediate memory and how it relates to data compression. Cognition, 155, 96-107.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Norris, D. (2017). Short-term memory and long-term memory are still different. Psychological bulletin, 143(9), 992.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Piantadosi, S. T., Tily, H., & Gibson, E. (2011). Word lengths are optimized for efficient communication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(9), 3526-3529.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar] - Matricciani, E. (2024). A Mathematical Structure Underlying Sentences and Its Connection with Short–Term Memory. AppliedMath, 4(1), 120-142.
[CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
Cite This Article
APA Style
Matricciani, E. (2026). A Multidimensional Mathematical Analysis of Dante’s Divina Commedia. Journal of Mathematical Studies of Literature, 1(1), 4-20. https://doi.org/10.62762/JMSL.2026.487587
Export Citation
RIS Format
Compatible with EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley, and other reference managers
TY - JOUR AU - Matricciani, Emilio PY - 2026 DA - 2026/06/18 TI - A Multidimensional Mathematical Analysis of Dante’s Divina Commedia JO - Journal of Mathematical Studies of Literature T2 - Journal of Mathematical Studies of Literature JF - Journal of Mathematical Studies of Literature VL - 1 IS - 1 SP - 4 EP - 20 DO - 10.62762/JMSL.2026.487587 UR - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JMSL.2026.487587 KW - alphabetic languages KW - short-term memory KW - geometric representation KW - linguistic variables KW - likeness index KW - readability index KW - Inferno KW - Purgatorio KW - Paradiso KW - Dante’s tercets KW - hendecasyllabic verses KW - Petrarca AB - Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia is the preeminent work of the Italian literature and one of the greatest of the world literature. The poem allegorically represents the soul’s journey toward God passing through Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. At each stage of the journey, Dante adapts his language to the different contexts he describes, bringing together, in a single great work, the various types of language that had previously been specific to comedy or tragedy. This is why scholars speak of pluristylism. Compared to Inferno and Purgatorio, the language of Paradiso increases in complexity and in linguistic perfection to express profound theological concepts, making the reading more demanding and difficult to interpret. Since scholars unanimously find notable differences between Paradiso on the one hand, and Inferno and Purgatorio on the other, in this article I have examined whether the mathematical structure of deep language, of which Dante is unaware, is different in Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. The answer is affirmative. The multidimensional mathematical analysis – based on deep–language variables and short–term memory equivalent modelling – shows that Inferno and Purgatorio are very similar and markedly different from Paradiso. The Divina Commedia was written in hendecasyllabic verse by counting syllables. Each verse, made on the average by 7 words, matches the central value of Miller's 7±2 Law. The approach of scholars using traditional tools, and the approach of scientists using mathematical tools can reinforce each other in the more objective evaluation of literary texts, especially when comparing texts written by different authors or by the same author. SN - pending PB - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge LA - English ER -
BibTeX Format
Compatible with LaTeX, BibTeX, and other reference managers
@article{Matricciani2026A,
author = {Emilio Matricciani},
title = {A Multidimensional Mathematical Analysis of Dante’s Divina Commedia},
journal = {Journal of Mathematical Studies of Literature},
year = {2026},
volume = {1},
number = {1},
pages = {4-20},
doi = {10.62762/JMSL.2026.487587},
url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JMSL.2026.487587},
abstract = {Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia is the preeminent work of the Italian literature and one of the greatest of the world literature. The poem allegorically represents the soul’s journey toward God passing through Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. At each stage of the journey, Dante adapts his language to the different contexts he describes, bringing together, in a single great work, the various types of language that had previously been specific to comedy or tragedy. This is why scholars speak of pluristylism. Compared to Inferno and Purgatorio, the language of Paradiso increases in complexity and in linguistic perfection to express profound theological concepts, making the reading more demanding and difficult to interpret. Since scholars unanimously find notable differences between Paradiso on the one hand, and Inferno and Purgatorio on the other, in this article I have examined whether the mathematical structure of deep language, of which Dante is unaware, is different in Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. The answer is affirmative. The multidimensional mathematical analysis – based on deep–language variables and short–term memory equivalent modelling – shows that Inferno and Purgatorio are very similar and markedly different from Paradiso. The Divina Commedia was written in hendecasyllabic verse by counting syllables. Each verse, made on the average by 7 words, matches the central value of Miller's 7±2 Law. The approach of scholars using traditional tools, and the approach of scientists using mathematical tools can reinforce each other in the more objective evaluation of literary texts, especially when comparing texts written by different authors or by the same author.},
keywords = {alphabetic languages, short-term memory, geometric representation, linguistic variables, likeness index, readability index, Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso, Dante’s tercets, hendecasyllabic verses, Petrarca},
issn = {pending},
publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}
Article Metrics
Publisher's Note
ICCK stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and Permissions
Copyright © 2026 by the Author(s). Published by Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
Journal of Mathematical Studies of Literature
ISSN: pending (Online)
| ISSN: pending (Print)
Preserved at
Portico
Portico
Scan to read this article