The Divine Comedy Miss Johnson

Dante’s Divine Comedy An Epic Narrative Poem Written between 1308-1320 Written in vernacular Italian; one of the firsts texts written in vernacular Classical traditions mixed with Christian traditions Classical Achievements celebrated Virgil is the guide for most of the story Virgil wrote the Aeneid Written between 1308-1320

Dante Born in Florence, Italy Loved a woman named Beatrice 1265-1321 Poet Loved a woman named Beatrice Died in 1290 The Father of the Italian Language

Political Atmosphere The Guelphs versus the Ghibellines urban elite and artisans For Florentine independence from the Holy Roman Empire Dante a Guelph Ghibellines Ancient feudal aristocracy Wanted Florence apart of the Holy Roman Empire Guelphs won Guelphs divided into the Blacks and the Whites in a civil war The Whites stood for independence from the Pope Dante a White The Blacks stood for dependence upon the Pope The Blacks won Dante was condemned to exile Political Atmosphere

Breakdown of the Text EX: O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing, Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou, Who chariotest to their dark wintery bed The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low, Each like a corpse within its grave, until Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow *Original Poem In Italian; Translation does not have the Terza Rima Pattern very clearly Three Canticles: the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso Each 33 Cantos Plus 1 Prologue Canto at beginning of Inferno Reflects the Trinity Tercets Terza Rima: an arrangement of triplets (tercet), especially in iambs, that rhyme ; literally means third rhyme EX: aba bcb cdc Each line contains eleven syllables 11 syllables X 3 lines = 33 syllables total

Further Breakdown of the Text In Hell Three major areas: Incontinence, violence, and fraudulence Each area has three levels 3 X 3 = 9 In Purgatory: Three major areas: misdirected, defective, and excessive Ante-Purgatory, seven terraces, and the earthly Paradise 1 + 7 + 1 = 9 In Paradise Three major areas: incomplete love, those with the four Cardinal virtues, those nearest perfection Nine Spheres

The punishment for sin is the sin itself. The Nine Levels of Hell The punishment for sin is the sin itself. Exodus 21: 23-24 “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” St Augustine: “So you [God] have ordained and so it is: that every disorder of the soul is its own punishment”

Themes and Motifs Displays medieval Christianity’s central doctrines Conflict between pre-Christian characters, like Virgil, and post- Christians Sense of sympathy for humanities sin Celebrates achievements of the classical world Allegory of the soul’s journey The natural inclination of every human being is love, a movement toward something outside the self Sin occurs when love is immoderately directed to the wrong object