1. “Inferno” from The Divine Comedy
Dante Alighieri

2. Dante Alighieri Florence, Italy Poet and Elected official
He fell in love with Beatrice, there was a misunderstanding, and she died 
Dante felt horrible—never forgot her
Writings inspired by political unrest: Civil war--Florence 3 times!!!
STRONGLY opposed pope and church mixing with politics
1301, while he was away from Florence on business, his political enemies seized power and sentenced him to die so he lived in exile for the rest of his life

3. AGAIN…the hero’s journey
The Divine Comedy tells of an imaginary journey that takes Dante through a journey that is symbolic of the spiritual quest for salvation
Hell  Recognizing Sin
Purgatory  Awaiting Redemption
Paradise  Achieving Salvation through divine revelation (Seeing the light of God in Paradise)

4. The Divine Comedy
Contains 100 cantos (chapters) because 10 is the square root of 100, considered to be a “perfect number” in Middle Ages
Introduction and 3 sections of 33 cantos each
Written in vernacular (Italian) instead of Latin (used for most serious literature at the time)
Possibly contributed to decline of Latin in Europe

5. 3-3-3: What’s the deal?
Christian Trinity: Union of 3 divine figures in 1 God
Father
Son
Holy Spirit
Poem’s 3 parts:
Inferno (Hell)
Purgatorio (Purgatory)
Paradiso (Paradise)

6. Magic Number is...3
Dante’s spiritual journey takes place over 3 days, beginning in Hell on Good Friday, the day of Christ’s crucifixion, and ending symbolically in Paradise on Easter Sunday
Entire action takes place under the guidance of 3 women:
Virgin Mary  Mother of Jesus
Saint Lucia  Dante’s patron saint
Beatrice  lost childhood love

7. The Role of Virgil Virgil, a famous Roman poet who
wrote the history of Rome, and died 19 years
before the birth of Jesus
Sooooo……….even though Dante thinks Virgil and many other B.C. people were virtuous and brilliant, he still believes that they will be in Hell because they were not baptized
For Dante, Virgil is the ultimate symbol of what human reason can achieve without faith, but without faith, he believed one could not grasp the truth of Paradise

8. Beatrice—Dante’s Spiritual Guide
Symbol of Love and Faith
Sends Virgil to guide Dante through Hell and Purgatory
Dante’s journey is supposed to turn him from error/sin  truth and grace

9. Allegory
A work in which characters, settings, and events stand for abstract or moral concepts
Can be read on more than one level
Example: Ovid’s “The Four Ages” is sometimes read as an allegory for the decline of civilization

10. Background of our Excerpt
Comes from the first part—Inferno
Dante travels through the 9 levels of Hell, descending slowly farther and farther away from God until he ultimately meets Satan
At each level, Dante meets suffering souls tormented for eternity in ways that fit the sins they committed while alive

11. Layers of Hell
Dark Wood
1 (Limbo)
Gate of Hell

12. 2 LUST
Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta

13. 3 Gluttony

14. 4 Avarice, Pride, and Envy

15. 5 Wrath and Sullenness
Expressed and unexpressed anger

16. 6 Heresy
the denial of the soul's immortality

17. 7 Violence
Murder, Suicide, Blasphemy, Sodomy, and Usury

18. 8 Pimping, Seducing, Flattery, Gaining profit from religious things, Sorcery, Political Corruption, Hypocrisy, Theft, Fraudulent Rhetoric, Divisiveness, Falsification

19. 9 Treachery
Betrayal of those closest and most trusting

20. Dante’s Inferno has shaped our version of Hell. 9th circle of Hell

21. So, since it’s a comedy, this is going to be hilarious, right?
Comedy tends to have a few features:
Happy ending, especially marriage.
Less dignified characters
Language is often vernacular or low, rather than lofty.

22. The Divine Comedy.. Considered a comedy because:
Begins in a dark, terrible place (Hell) and ends in a happy, joyous place (Paradise)
Less dignified characters
All characters in Hell!
Sinners in Hell
Virgil and other pagan virtuous people not baptized
Language vernacular (Italian) vs. lofty (Latin)