Allegory and Inferno Dante Alighieri 1265 1321 The

Dante Alighieri • 1265 -1321 • The Divine Comedy was written between 1307 -1321.

Dante’s Inferno • Contains one of the most detailed and influential literary descriptions of

Dante’s Inferno cont. • “But my own wings were not enough for this, Had

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Allegory and Inferno

Dante Alighieri • 1265 -1321 • The Divine Comedy was written between 1307 -1321. • Dante is the source of modern Italian. • His writings inspired Geoffrey Chaucer and William Blake. • Married with four children • Fell in love with a young woman (Beatrice). “At that very moment I say truly that the vital spirit, that which lives in the most secret chamber of the heart began to tremble so violently that I felt it fiercely in the least pulsation, and, trembling, it uttered these words: ‘Ecce deus fortior me, qui veniens dominabitur michi’ (Behold a god more powerful than I, who, coming, will rule over me). ”

Dante’s Inferno • Contains one of the most detailed and influential literary descriptions of Hell. • Virgil (the Roman poet) leads Dante the nine circles of Hell. • After Hell, Dante and Virgil ascend to Purgatorio (Purgatory) and travel through the seven terraces, representing the Seven Deadly Sins. • Beatrice joins Dante and they travel through Paradiso (Paradise) together.

Dante’s Inferno cont. • “But my own wings were not enough for this, Had it not been that then my mind there smote A flash of lightning, wherein came its wish. Here vigor failed the lofty fantasy: But now was turning my desire and will, even as a wheel that is eventually moved, the Love which moves the sun and the other stars. ” –Canto XXXIII

Pictures of Dante’s Hell