The Divine Comedy A Classical Quest through Hell

The Divine Comedy A Classical Quest through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise

DANTE ALIGHIERI Born in Florence, May, 1265. His family was old and of noble origin, but no longer wealthy. He held a number of significant public offices at a time of great political unrest in Italy, and, in 1302, he was exiled for life by the leaders of the Black Guelphs, the political faction in power at the time.

DANTE ALIGHIERI Guelphs vs. Ghibellines Dante = Guelph, who in general favored the Papacy over the Holy Roman Emperor. Guelphs split around 1300 White Guelphs wished to preserve Florence's independence Black Guelphs favored the Pope's control of Florence.

DANTE ALIGHIERI Dante was among the White Guelphs who were exiled in 1302 at the request of Boniface and in alliance with the Black Guelphs. The Pope said if he had returned he would be burned at the stake. Exile becomes an important topic in Dante’s work

HIS WORKS Ø Wrote in Italian Ø De Vulgari Eloquentia, on the origin and development of language Ø De Monarchia, on political theory Ø Convivio, unfinished, a compendium of knowledge Ø Vita Nuova, lyric poems and commentary; largely about Beatrice Ø Commedia , dubbed The Divine Comedy, written from 1307 -1321.

BEATRICE Dante had an arranged marriage in his youth to Gemma Donati, daughter of Manetto Donati. But Dante’s greatest love was a woman named Beatrice married another man about 1287, and died in 1290 at the age of 25. Dante met Beatrice when he was nine and she eight, at his father’s home, most likely for a May Day festival.

DANTE’S ITALY

THE PAPACY The Vatican Rome, Italy - Simony - Indulgences Pope Boniface VIII

STRUCTURE OF THE DIVINE COMEDY DANTE’S WORLD WAS ONE THAT BELIEVED IN MYSTICAL CORRESPONDENCES AND THE POWER OF NUMBERS, STARS, AND STONES DANTE’S NUMERICAL SYMBOLISM: 3 A SYMBOL OF THE HOLY TRINITY 9 THREE TIMES THREE. 33 A MULTIPLE OF 3 EVENTS OF HISTORY— CONTAINED A MYSTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. THE 7 DAYS OF CREATION 10 CONSIDERED IN THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD A PERFECT NUMBER 100, THE MULTIPLE OF 10.

THREE SECTIONS OF THE DIVINE COMEDY INFERNO, PURGATORIO, AND PARADISO 3 was a holy number to Dante— suggesting the Holy Trinity.

STRUCTURE OF THE DIVINE COMEDY Each section has 33 cantos Three major divisions of sin: (small division of poetry; canto Incontinence means “song. ”) Violence Fraudulence The Inferno includes an introductory canto, which By the time you finish makes 100 cantos total (1 oo reading, you will know which representing the idea of circle of hell you may find perfection or spiritual yourself in! enlightenment achieved after the journey). Three-line poetric structure: Terza Rima

Dante’s Use of Terza Rima Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, ché la diritta via era smarrita. Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost. Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura esta selvaggia e aspra e forte che nel pensier rinova la paura! Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say What was this forest savage, rough, and stern, Which in the very thought renews the fear. Tant’ è amara che poco è più morte; ma per trattar del ben ch’i’ vi trovai, dirò de l’altre cose ch’i’ v’ho scorte. So bitter is it, death is little more; But of the good to treat, which there I found, Speak will I of the other things I saw there. Io non so ben ridir com’ i’ v’intrai, 10 tant’ era pien di sonno a quel punto che la verace via abbandonai. I cannot well repeat how there I entered, 10 So full was I of slumber at the moment In which I had abandoned the true way. Ma poi ch’i’ fui al piè d’un colle giunto, là dove terminava quella valle che m’avea di paura il cor compunto, But after I had reached a mountain's foot, At that point where the valley terminated, Which had with consternation pierced my heart, guardai in alto e vidi le sue spalle vestite già de’ raggi del pianeta che mena dritto altrui per ogne calle. Upward I looked, and I beheld its shoulders, Vested already with that planet's rays Which leadeth others right by every road.