Dante Alighieri His life and his work: The Divine Comedy. Inferno (Student example)

Dante Alighieri’s Life: Born in Florence in Spring of 1265 Member of the Florentine Guelphs –One of two Florentine political classes Later split into the Blacks and the Whites Dante became a member of the Whites 1301, Blacks staged coup; Dante exiled the next year

The Divine Comedy Politics in The Divine Comedy are religious and prophetic Dante wants to restore the conditions in which Christ first came – the pax Romana For Dante, the Roman Empire was divinely ordained Once the earth is returned to that unity and order, Christ’s second coming would be possible

All parts are equal in Dante Alighieri’s eyes: Three parts of The Divine Comedy are of equal length (taking into account the first canto of Inferno is a prologue) –Inferno has 34 cantos –Purgatorio and Paradiso contain 33 cantos Written in the verse style “terza rima” Rhyme scheme: aba bcb cdc etc.

TheComedy InfernoDivine

The journey into Hell Poem takes place on Good Friday in the year 1300 Virgil comes up against three beasts: Lion, leopard and she-wolf Virgil meets with Dante at the request of Dante’s love, Beatrice Virgil and Dante pass through the gates of Hell –"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate" "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here"

Limbo –Circle One Unbaptized and Virtuous Pagans –Virgil, Homer, Horace, Ovid, Socrates, Plato Active, willed sins judged by Minos: Circles Two through Five –Circle Two Persons overcome by lust –Paolo and Francesca –Circle Three Gluttons –Guarded by Cerberus –Ciaco Circles One through Three of Hell Paolo & Francesca

Circles Four and Five –Circle Four Persons concerned with material possessions Guarded by Plutus –Circle Five Wrathful persons River Styx and Phlegyas Filippo Argenti

Circle Six Lower Hell –City of Dis surrounded by Stygian Marsh fallen angels, Furies and Medusa located here heavenly angel sent to permit passage into Lower Hell –Circle Six Heretics Farinata degli Uberti and Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti

Circle Seven –Circle Seven Violent Guarded by Minotaur –Outer Ring: »Violent against people and property »Phlegethon and Centaurs –Middle Ring: »Violent against self - Suicide (Suicide Forest) »Pierre del Vigne –Inner Ring: »Violent against God, Nature, and Art »Brunetto Latini, Florentines Catello di Roso Gianfigliazzi, Paduans Reginaldo degli Scrovegni, Vitaliano di Iacopo Vitaliani

Circle Eight –Circle Eight The fraudulent Malebolge “Evil Pockets” –Divided into ten bolgia: Bolgia One: Panderers and Seducers –Jason Bolgia Two: Flatterers Bolgia Three: Simony –Pope Nicholas III

Circle Eight cont. –Bolgia Four: Sorcerers and false prophets –Bolgia Five: Barrators (corrupt politicians) Malacoda and the Malebranch –Bolgia Six: Hypocrites Catalano and Loderingo –Bolgia Seven: Thieves Centaur guard, Cacus –Bolgia Eight: Fraudulent Advisors Ulysses and Diomedes Guido da Montefeltro

Circle Eight cont. –Bolgia Nine: Sowers of Discord Sword wielding devil Muhammad –Bolgia Ten: Falsifiers Alchemists, counterfeiters, perjurers, and impersonators –Afflicted by different diseases

Circle Nine of Hell Ringed by Giants Virgil and Dante set down by Antaeus Traitors are frozen in the lake, Cocytus Zone 1: Caina – named for Cain –Traitors of their kindred Zone 2: Antenora – named for Antenor of Troy –Traitors to political entity (ie, city, state or country)

Circle Nine cont. –Zone 3: Ptolomaea – named for Ptolomy Traitors to their guests Fra Alberigo –Fiend possession of their bodies on Earth –Zone 4: Judecca – named for Judas Traitors to their lords and benefactors Encapsulated in ice Satan is located in this zone at the center

Circle Nine cont. – Hell froze over… Satan is three headed with three people in each mouth –Center mouth contains Judas Betrayed Christ –Left mouth contains Brutus –Right mouth contains Cassius Brutus and Cassius betrayed Julius Caesar “Perverted Trinity” (“The Divine Comedy”) –“Satan is impotent, ignorant, and evil while God can be attributed as the opposite: all powerful, all knowing, and good” (“The Divine Comedy”).

Leaving Hell behind Virgil and Dante climb down Satan to leave Hell Emerging in other hemisphere before dawn on Easter Sunday Dante gazes at Mount Purgatory

Works Cited: The Divine Comedy. October 20, Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia Lawall, Sarah, ed. “The Divine Comedy. Inferno.” The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. 8 th ed. New York: WW Norton & Company, Lawall, Sarah, ed. “Dante Alighieri.” The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. 8 th ed. New York: WW Norton & Company, Slides One through Five come from The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. Slides Six through 17 are cited from The Divine Comedy from the cited Wikipedia entry. Picture sources from the following sites: lava image