 But the fullest embodiment of Dante’s contribution to the tradition of Italian vernacular writing is, above all, his Divine Comedy—a work in which we see for the first time a powerful thinker, solidly grounded in Aristotle, patristic theology, and thirteenth-century scholastic debate, synthesizing and bringing these resources to bear on educating his countrymen in their own vernacular with the intention of inspiring them to pursue the happiness that rewards the philosopher.