René Guénon's book, "L'esotérisme de Dante", ("The Esotericism of Dante") was published in 1925. "Esoteric", from the Greek esoterikós, derives from esóteros, meaning secret, dark and mysterious, and it indicated, among the Greek philosophers, those doctrines reserved for a small group of initiates, and is opposed to "exoteric", which indicates those doctrines destined for a wider diffusion. The question we ask ourselves then is the following: can we really speak of an "esoteric Dante"? Is it possible that Dante, along with other poets and writers, was part of a secret sect linked either to the Templars, or to the Freemasons, or to the Rosicrucians, or to a heretical group that hid under the name "Fedeli d'amore"? Is it possible that Dante was aware of Jewish mysticism, that of the Zohar and the Kaballah? René Guénon, one of the masters of the esoteric tradition of the twentieth century, author of books on Hindu doctrines, theosophy, oriental metaphysics, to mention just some of the most important subjects he studied, highlights some of the most important hermetic themes in the Divine Comedy .