Introduction: The Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri

Facts Written between 1308 and 1321 Tells of an imaginary journey Dante, the

character, takes through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.

The Journey is symbolic of the spiritual quest for salvation.

Dante is the first of the “Christian Humanists”

Christian Humanism Christian humanism emphasizes the humanity of

Jesus, his social teachings and his propensity to synthesize human spirituality and materialism. It regards humanist principles like universal human dignity and individual freedom and the primacy of human happiness as essential and principal components of, or at least compatible with, the teachings of Jesus. Christian humanism can be perceived as a philosophical union of Judeo-Christian ethics and humanist principles.[

Facts: Quest Recognizing sin (journey through Hell, or

the Inferno). Rejecting sin and awaiting redemption (the

time in Purgatory) Achieving salvation through faith in divine

revelation (seeing the light of G-d in Paradise)

Facts: Dante meets historical figures

Ancient Rome Characters from classical Greek mythology Political enemies from his own era.

An Allegory Dante’s Divine Comedy is based on an allegorical

journey. The walk through a dark and confusing world represents

the life journey of men and women, who often become entangled in daily affairs and lose their way.

The work assumes two levels of meaning: external (temporal) and internal (spiritual). Dante’s extensive literary treatment of death and afterlife aims to both comfort and warn; he envisions rewards for the righteous and doom for the unrepentant.

The Characters On his journey, Dante meets many historical figures. Even his guide,

the poet Virgil, is an important historical figure. Virgil- Dante’s guide through the depths of Hell. Historically, Virgil

lived in the first century B.C., in Northern Italy. Scholars considered him the greatest of the Latin poets (the Aeneid)

Beatrice: One of the blessed in Heaven, Beatrice aids Dante’s journey by asking an angel to find Virgil and bid him guide Dante through Hell. Like Dante and Virgil, Beatrice corresponds to a historical personage. Although the details of her life remain uncertain, we know that Dante fell passionately in love with her as a young man and never fell out of it. Dante’s imaginary journey throughout the afterlife aims, in part, to find Beatrice, whom he has lost on Earth because of her early death. Critics view Beatrice as an allegorical representation of spiritual love

Ancient Rome (Virgil would also fall under this category) Paolo and Francesca da Rimini -  A pair of lovers condemned to the Second Circle

of Hell for an adulterous love affair that they began after reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere.

Characters from classical Greek mythology Charon -  A figure that Dante appropriates from Greek mythology, Charon is an old

man who ferries souls across the river Acheron to Hell. Minos -  The king of Crete in Greek mythology, Minos is portrayed by Dante as a

giant beast who stands at the Second Circle of Hell, deciding where the souls of sinners shall be sent for torment.

Nessus -  The Centaur (half man and half horse) who carries Dante through the First Ring of the Seventh Circle of Hell.

Political enemies from his own era Pope Boniface VIII -  A notoriously corrupt pope who reigned from 1294 to 1303,

Boniface made a concerted attempt to increase the political might of the Catholic Church and was thus a political enemy of Dante, who advocated a separation of church and state.

Farinata -  A Ghibelline political leader from Dante’s era who resides among the Heretics in the Sixth Circle of Hell. Farinata is doomed to continue his intense obsession with Florentine politics, which he is now helpless to affect.

Filippo Argenti -  A Black Guelph, a political enemy of Dante who is now in the Fifth Circle of Hell. Argenti resides among the Wrathful in the river Styx.

Form, Number, and Symbol The poem contains 100 cantos (chapters) Number 100 regarded as the perfect

number in the Middle Ages. Introductory Canto The text is divided into 3 sections of 33

cantos.

Form: Composed in tercets, three-line stanzas,

and uses a rhyme scheme called terza rima.

The middle of one tercet rhymes with the first and third lines of the next tercet, giving the poem a strong sense of unity.

Number: The number 3 is important because of its

relation to the Christian Trinity. 3 divine figures—Father, Son, and Holy

Spirit—in one God.

The poem is divided into 3 parts: First part: Inferno, focuses on the power of God the

Father Evidenced by the punishments of the

damned

The poem is divided into 3 parts: The Second part: Purgatorio, focuses on

the wisdom of Christ the Son, and the hope for salvation that he offers to those awaiting final judgment.

The poem is divided into 3 parts: The Third part: Paradiso Focuses on the love of the Holy Spirit.

Time The journey takes place over 3 days Begins in Hell on Good Friday, the day of

Christ’s crucifixion, and ending symbolically in Paradise on Easter Sunday.

Role of Virgil Dante’s guide for most of the journey is

Virgil the Roman poet who died 19 years before the birth of Christ.

He explains, instructs The clarity of Virgil’s mind is contrasted with

Dante’s confusion

Role of Virgil “my true master and first author” “the sole maker from whom I drew breath.” Virgil is consigned to the first circle of Hell

because he is un-baptized along with other virtuous pagans from Classical Greece and Rome.

Virgil A perfect guide for the early part of the

journey because, for Dante, he is the ultimate symbol of what human reason can achieve without faith.

Dante saw reason as limited; it is only through faith that Dante can grasp the truth of Paradise.

Style and Language Regarded as the finest poem ever written in

Italian. Stroke of genius to use vernacular,

everyday language. All levels of imagination, reality, history,

myth, legends, politics, religion, and personal.

Finally The Divine Comedy encompasses Dante’s vision

of God’s judgment on every significant aspect of human life.

It is the supreme and culminating work of medieval thought.

Dante gives expression to nearly every major intellectual and moral issue of the Middle Ages, including his own concerns about public morality, the power of love, and the quest for spiritual salvation.

A Song to Help you remember! http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=DyRaCwgRKXk&feature=youtu.be