Dante Alighieri Life & Works: An Introduction “Abandon all hope, you who enter here.”

Early Years Born in Florence in 1265 Impoverished? Father? Mother died when he was 8 First met Beatrice when he was 9—his ‘immortal beloved’ Brunetto Latini Writer Translator Politics & Rhetoric

Middle Years Dante enters Florentine politics in 1290 Church vs. State Pope vs. Holy Roman Emperor Guelphs vs. Ghibellines 1250 – Guelphs rule Florence 1290 – Guelphs split Black – strict papal control White – independence La Vita Nuova, 1293 Verse (sonnets) and prose commentary 1301 – Florence comes under papal rule of Boniface VIII Exiled for life in 1302 by the Black Guelphs Exile for Dante Fierce condemnation & loss of identity Beginning of new journey and education

Late Years Dante’s Exile, Roamed Italy Removed partisan viewpoints Opened world and universe for more expansive consideration The Divine Comedy as a journey of exile from the city to best see what the city truly is In The Inferno, an examination of the relationship between crime and punishment in a spiritual context

La Vita Nuova New in Italian connotes surprising, unexpected, strange The Double Voice: Protagonist vs. Narrator “To be able to write about your life you must die and come back.” —Augustine, Confessions How to write about oneself with a temporal distance? Autobiographical: A looking back— “What are the events that made me who I am?” A questioning of the encounters An examination of what it is doing to his mind Two themes 1. Examining his evolving love for Beatrice 2. Finding his voice as a poet to articulate his experience In the tradition of Troubadour poetry Poem Commentary (Brief account of their life) Pilgrim-Poet-Lover describing his journey of Encounters Feelings of passion, devotion Loss, Confusion Commitment Intellect and (vs.?) Love Dante and Beatrice, Henry Holiday, 1883.

La Vita Nuova The physical properties of Love Insomnia Loss of appetite Inability to speak with the beloved The lover turns pale Guido Cavalcanti: “ The Sweet New Style” “Love must be explored for the changes it brings to the mind.” How can the image of a woman obsess me? Love is also an intellectual experience Woman, through Love, can take man to Divinity Chapter XX: Defining Love—Force vs. Action Chapter XL: Sonnet—Private love and experience Chapter II: “Nine times…” Chapter III: Sonnet—A horrifying dream Chapter XLII: Departing from voice which narrated past events, “I hope…” The consolation of hope—an unfinished work Foundation for Divine Comedy Private mythology vs. public mythology Dante and Beatrice, Henry Holiday, 1883.

The Divine Comedy Originally entitled The Comedy by Dante A quest to experience the afterlife and live to tell the story—a pilgrimage How to classify? Epic Autobiography Romance Encyclopedia—a circle of knowledge Encounters with the liberal arts Return to starting point with new knowledge and changed perspective

The Inferno Dante’s journey through the 9 circles of hell begins on Good Friday in the year 1300 Dante has ‘lost his path’ in the dark wood The path to light above is blocked by three beasts Encounters Virgil who pledges to lead him on a journey from Hell to Heaven where he will finally be reunited with Beatrice

The Inferno Dante’s Contrapasso From Latin contra and patior meaning ‘to suffer the opposite’ Dante’s notion that the punishment of souls should match or contrast with the sin itself For Dante, this is the fulfillment of a destiny freely chosen by each individual in his life

The Inferno