The essay discusses the role of Divina Commedia in Goethe’s oeuvre focusing on Act V of Faust II, and examining Beatrice’s and Gretchen’s mediating function which may be interpreted as active helping roles on the road toward salvation. In a letter addressing a German translator of Dante, Goethe writes about a concept of world literature to be approached through translations. Goethe himself translated only a few lines of Inferno as Dante’s masterpiece did not play an outstanding role in his world view. However, due to his use of allegories and to the universality of religious thought, the comparison of Divina Commedia and Faust I–II may offer new perspectives
