THE DIVINE COMEDY Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri Widely

THE DIVINE COMEDY Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri • Widely regarded as the world’s greatest poet of ideas. • He was a keen observer of everyday life. • His poem The Divine Comedy is a monumental work – vast in scope, rich in meaning, and timeless in appeal. • In this poem, Dante turned Christian ideas into great literature. • “More can be learned about how to write poetry from Dante than from any English poet. ” – T. S. Eliot

Scholar and Public Servant • Dante was born in Florence, Italy in 1265. • His father provided him with a fine education in both classical and Christian literature. • His teachers and close friends supported his poetic efforts, and by 18 Dante had taught himself how to write in verse. • However, Dante made scholarship secondary to public service, deciding to serve in the army and later pursue a career in politics and diplomacy.

Florence and Politics • As a city-state, Florence was self- governing, but was involved in a political conflict with the Holy Roman Empire. • Guelphs supported the authority of the Pope in Rome. • Ghibellines supported the authority of the Emperor. • Dante supported the Guelphs and fought the Ghibellines in the Battle of Campaldino in 1289.

Political Life and Exile • Dante became a city councilman, later a high- ranking official, and also an occasional ambassador. • However, the Guelphs later split into two factions – the Whites and the Blacks. • Dante sided with the Whites – this time against the pope – and when Florence was later controlled by the Blacks, Dante was exiled from the city. • Dante spent most of the rest of his life in exile, usually at the courts of those sympathetic to the Whites.

Dante’s inspiration • In addition to his exile, Dante drew inspiration from a broken heart. • Most of Dante’s early poetry involved a speaker who expresses love for an ideal lady just out of reach. • Though he married a woman whom he had been betrothed to as a boy, Dante loved a woman named Beatrice. • Although he only met her twice, she embodied all that was virtuous. • Her untimely death at 24 broke his heart.

The Divine Comedy • Dante wrote his masterpiece while in exile. • It consists of three sections: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. • Each section is divided into parts called cantos (“songs”). • The cantos are written in three-line stanzas in a verse form created by Dante called terza rima (aba, bcb, cdc, ded, etc. ). • Further, to Dante, the number three had a deep spiritual meaning: it suggested the divine mystery of the three persons in one God – father, son, holy spirit – central to Christianity.

The Divine Comedy Continued • Dante himself is the main character, a traveler who represents all of humanity. • First, he journeys down into the Inferno, or Hell, a hideous realm where sinners receive fitting punishments. • He then travels to Purgatory, a temporary place of punishment, and later Paradise, where he stands before throne of God. • On his journey, Dante encounters characters from mythology, history, and his own time – including some friends and enemies. • The poem, therefore, is not only an imaginative vision of the afterlife but also a rich portrait of medieval times.

The Divine Comedy Continued • Dante gave the poem the name Commedia (“Comedy”) because it ends happily. • In time, it became known as the Divine Comedy because of its spiritual content. • To many readers, the poem suggests the soul’s odyssey from darkness and sin to a glimpse of eternal glory, beauty, and truth.

The Inferno • The Inferno is the first of the three sections of The Divine Comedy. • This is the first stage of Dante’s journey through the afterlife. • He and his guide, the Roman poet Virgil, travel through the different circle, or levels, of Hell. • Dante envisions Hell as a pit within the Earth where sinners are punished in the afterlife for their evil deeds. • This pit is shaped like a cone that funnels downward. • It has nine levels: the lower the level, the worse the sinner – and the more terrible the punishment. • Limbo, Lustful, Gluttonous, Greedy, Wrathful, Heretics, Violent, Frauds, Traitors.

Essay Question (Test) for Friday: • In many works of literature, a physical journey – from one place to another – plays a central role. In The Divine Comedy, specifically The Inferno, how does Dante’s physical journey crucial to the meaning of the work as a whole? • Avoid mere plot summary. • Be insightful. • Use evidence gathered from the intro presentation, seminar, and your own reading.