The best way to gage Aristotle’s influence on Dante’s work is to follow his progression from poet of the Vita nuova to philosopher of the Convivio to political author of De Monarchia to poet of the Commedia. This sequence establishes Aristotle’s influence before and after the Commedia as it relates to the issue of happiness and greed which prevents it; and differentiates between the mimetic poetry of the “dolce stil nuovo” and the allegorical poetry of the Commedia.