Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
UNIVERSITY
Reading Package II
Week 5
Introduction to the Epic
Excerpts from The Epic of Gilgamesh
First written down around 2000 BCE, the story of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest surviving works of world
literature. Based on an actual historical figure, King Gilgamesh of Uruk (reigned c. 2700 BCE), it recounts
Gilgamesh’s travels, adventures, and his search for immortality. In the process, it provides evidence of ancient
Mesopotamian ideas about death, the place of humanity in the universe, and societal organization. The work
survives in multiple copies, and it seems to have been a compilation of several hero narratives associated with
Gilgamesh, his rival-turned-friend Enkidu, and the gods and men they encountered throughout their travels.
This selection draws on multiple sections of the “Epic”, and it gives a flavor of the whole.
Source: N.K. Sandars. trans.. The Epic of Gilgimesh. (London: Penguin Books Ltd., 1978), pp. 61,62-3,69,87-8,
102,116-7,118.
Focus Questions:
1. What does the document suggest about ancient Mesopotamian beliefs about the gods and their effects on
men?
2. What is the reaction of Gilgamesh to death, and how does this motivate his behavior?
3. Is any of this document familiar to you from other sources?
I will proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was the man to whom all things were known; this was
the king who knew the countries of the world. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he
brought us a tale of the days before the flood. He went on a long journey, was weary, worn-out with labour,
returning he rested, he engraved on a stone the whole story.
When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body. Shamash the glorious sun endowed him with
beauty, Adad the god of the storm endowed him with courage, the great gods made his beauty perfect,
surpassing all others, terrifying like a great wild bull. Two thirds they made him god and one third man.
Gilgamesh went abroad in the world, but he met with none who could withstand his arms till he came to Uruk.
But the men of Uruk muttered in their houses, 'Gilgamesh sounds the tocsin for his amusement, his arrogance
has no bounds by day or night. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh takes them all, even the children;
yet the king would be a shepherd to his people. His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's
daughter nor the wife of the noble; yet this is the shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and resolute.'
The gods heard their lament, the gods in heaven cried to the Lord of Uruk, to Anu the god of Uruk: 'A goddess
made him, strong as a savage bull, none can withstand his arms. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh
takes them all; and is this the king, the shepherd of his people? His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the
warrior's daughter nor the wife of the noble.' When Anu had heard their lamentation the gods cried to Aruru, the
goddess of creation, 'You made him, O Aruru, now create his equal; let it be as like him as his own reflection,
his second self, stormy heart for stormy heart. Let them contend together and leave Uruk in quiet.'
So the goddess conceived an image in her mind, and it was of the stuff of Anu of the firmament. She dipped her
hands in water and pinched off clay, she let it fall in the wilderness, and noble Enkidu was created. There was
virtue in him of the god of war, of Ninurta himself. His body was rough, he had long hair like a woman's; it
waved like the hair of Nisaba, the goddess of the corn. His body was covered with matted hair like Samuquan's,
the god of cattle.
In Uruk the bridal bed was made, fit for the goddess of love. The bride waited for the bridegroom, but in the
night Gilgamesh got up and came to the house. Then Enkidu stepped out, he stood in the street and blocked the
way. Mighty Gilgamesh came on and Enkidu met him at the gate. He put out his foot and prevented Gilgamesh
from entering the house, so they grappled, holding each other like bulls. They broke the doorposts and the walls
shook, they snorted like bulls locked together. They shattered the doorposts and the walls shook. Gilgamesh
bent his knee with his foot planted on the ground and with a turn Enkidu was thrown. Then immediately his fury
died. When Enkidu was thrown he said to Gilgamesh, 'There is not another like you in the world. Ninsun, who
is as strong as a wild ox in the byre, she was the mother who bore you, and now you are raised above all men,
and Enlil has given you the kingship, for your strength surpasses the strength of men.' So Enkidu and Gilgamesh
embraced and their friendship was sealed.
[Gilgamesh and Enkidu become great friends. Together they set out on a long journey to the Cedar Forest in
the North. They slay a fire-breathing monster called Humbaba who is the guardian of the forest. After their
return, Ishtar, the goddess of love, becomes infatuated with Gilgamesh and offers to marry him. Gilgamesh,
citing Ishtar's fickle nature in matters of love, refuses. Ishtar becomes incensed.]
Ishtar opened her mouth and said again, 'My father, give me the Bull of Heaven to destroy Gilgamesh. Fill
Gilgamesh, I say, with arrogance to his destruction; but if you refuse to give me the Bull of Heaven I will break
in the doors of hell and smash the bolts; there will be confusion of people, those above with those from the
lower depths. I shall bring up the dead to eat food like the living; and the hosts of dead will outnumber the
living'....
When Anu heard what Ishtar had said he gave her the Bull of Heaven to lead by the halter down to Uruk. When
they reached the gates of Uruk the Bull went to the river; with his first snort cracks opened in the earth and a
hundred young men fell down to death. With his second snort cracks opened and two hundred fell down to
death.
With his third snort cracks opened, Enkidu doubled over but instantly recovered, he dodged aside and leapt on
the Bull and seized it by the horns. The Bull of Heaven foamed in his face, it brushed him with the thick of its
tail. Enkidu cried to Gilgamesh, 'My friend, we boasted that we would leave enduring names behind us. Now
thrust the sword between the nape and the horns.' So Gilgamesh followed the Bull, he seized the thick of its tail,
he thrust the sword between the nape and the horns and slew the Bull. When they had killed the Bull of Heaven
they cut out its heart and gave it to Shamash, and the brothers rested.
[The death of the Bull of Heaven offends the gods. As compensation, they decree that one of the two heroes must
die. After a ominous dream, Enkidu passes away. Gilgamesh greatly mourns for his friend and for the fate of all
mortal men. He decides to seek the secret of immortality from Utnapishtim, the Mesopotamian Noah to whom
the gods granted everlasting life.]
Bitterly Gilgamesh wept for his friend Enkidu; he wandered over the wilderness as a hunter, he roamed over the
plains; in his bitterness he cried, 'How can I rest, how can I be at peace? Despair is in my heart. What my
brother is now, that shall I be when I am dead. Because I am afraid of death I will go as best I can to find
Utnapishtim whom they call the Faraway, for he has entered the assembly of the gods.' So Gilgamesh traveled
over the wilderness, he wandered over the grasslands, a long journey, in search of Utnapishtim, whom the gods
took after the deluge; and they set him to live in the land of Dilmun, in the garden of the sun; and to him alone
of men they gave everlasting life.
[Gilgamesh then encounters Siduri, "the woman of the vine, the maker of wine." She offers him sage advice
concerning his quest.]
She answered, 'Gilgamesh, where are you hurrying to? You will never find that life for which you are looking.
When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping. As for you,
Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice.
Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your
wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the lot of man.'
[After an arduous journey, Gilgamesh finds Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim tells the hero the story of the flood:
mankind's incessant activity had disturbed the rest of the gods, who thus decided to destroy the humans by
flooding the earth. Ea, the god of the waters, warned Utnapishtim of the coming deluge. By building a strong
ship, Utnapishtim and his family survive. The gods then repented of their action and granted immortality to the
survivor. Utnapishtim also reveals another important secret to Gilgamesh.]
'Gilgamesh, I shall reveal a secret thing, it is a mystery of the gods that I am telling you. There is a plant that
grows under the water, it has a prickle like a thorn, like a rose; it will wound your hands, but if you succeed in
taking it, then your hands will hold that which restores his lost youth to a man.'
When Gilgamesh heard this he opened the sluices so that a sweet-water current might carry him out to the
deepest channel; he tied heavy stones to his feet and they dragged him down to the water-bed. There he saw the
plant growing; although it pricked him he took it in his hands; then he cut the heavy stones from his feet, and
the sea carried him and threw him on to the shore. Gilgamesh said to Urshanabi the ferryman, 'Come here, and
see the marvelous plant. By its virtue a man may win back all his former strength. I will take it to Uruk of the
strong walls; there I will give it to the old men to eat. Its name shall be "The Old Men Are Young Again"; and
at last I shall eat it myself and have back all my lost youth.' So Gilgamesh returned by the gate through which
he had come, Gilgamesh and Urshanabi went together. They traveled their twenty leagues and then they broke
their fast; after thirty leagues they stopped for the night.
Gilgamesh saw a well of cool water and he went down and bathed; but deep in the pool there was lying a
serpent, and the serpent sensed the sweetness of the flower. It rose out of the water and snatched it away, and
immediately it sloughed its skin and returned to the well. Then Gilgamesh sat down and wept, the tears ran
down his face, and he took the hand of Urshanabi; 'O Urshanabi, was it for this that I toiled with my hands, is it
for this I have wrung out my heart's blood? For myself I have gained nothing; not I, but the beast of the earth
has joy of it now. Already the stream has carried it twenty leagues back to the channels where I found it. I found
a sign and now I have lost it. Let us leave the boat on the bank and go.'
The destiny was fulfilled which the father of the gods, Enlil of the mountain, had decreed for Gilgamesh: 'In
nether-earth the darkness will show him a light: of mankind, all that are known, none will leave a monument for
generations to come to compare with his. The heroes, the wise men, like the new moon have their waxing and
waning. Men will say, "Who has ever ruled with might and with power like him?" As in the dark month, the
month of shadows, so without him there is no light. O Gilgamesh, this was the meaning of your dream. You
were given the kingship, such was your destiny, everlasting life was not your destiny. Because of this do not be
sad at heart, do not be grieved or oppressed; he has given you power to bid and to loose, to be the darkness and
the light of mankind. He has given unexampled supremacy over the people, victory in battle from which no
fugitive returns, in forays and assaults from which there is no going back. But do not abuse this power, deal
justly with your servants in the palace, deal justly before the face of the Sun.'
Plot Summary of
THE ILIAD
Let’s begin this story back at the banquet where Paris has chosen Aphrodite as the fairest of the
fair. He claims his prize... the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen of Troy. There’s one
problem-- Helen is married to Menelaus. And Menelaus is very powerful. He’s a brother in-law
to Agamemnon, the king of Greece, or Achaia. Paris is also a powerful man. His father is Priam,
the king of Troy.
Many princes of Greece owe their allegiance to Agamemnon, and he and Menelaus have
persuaded them to wage war against Priam. The Iliad begins nine years into this long war, with
the Achaean forces encamped beside their ships near Troy. They have captured and looted a
number of towns in Trojan territory, under the dashing leadership of Achilles, the most unruly
of Agamemnon’s royal supporters.
The success of these raiding parties leads to a feud between Achilles and his Commander-in-
Chief. Agamemnon has been allotted the girl Chrysies as his prize of war, but her father, a priest
of Apollo, demands her return. The priest prays to his god. A plague ensues; and Agamemnon is
forced by the strength of public feeling to give up the girl and pacify the angry god. He retaliates
by seizing one of Achilles’ own prizes, a girl named Brises. When Agamemnon takes his own
prize of war, Brises, Achilles refuses to fight any more and withdraws his force from the
battlefield.
After an abortive truce, intended to allow Menelaus and Paris to settle their quarrel by single
combat, the two armies meet. With Achilles still sulking in his tent, the Achaeans are put on the
defensive. They are forced to make a trench and a wall round their ships and huts. But these
defences are eventually stormed by Hector, the Trojan Commander-in-Chief, who succeeds in
setting fire to one of the Achaean ships.
At this point, Achilles yields and permits his closest friend Patroclus (wearing Achilles’ armor) to
lead the Myrmidon force to the rescue of the hard-pressed Achaeans. Patroclus brilliantly
succeeds in his mission, but he goes too far and is killed under the walls of Troy by Hector. The
death of his best friend brings Achilles to life. In an excess of rage with Hector and grief for his
comrade, he reconciles himself with Agamemnon, takes the field once more, and hurls the panic-
stricken Trojans back into their town. Achilles finally kills Hector. Not content with this revenge,
he savagely abuses the body of his fallen enemy. Hector’s father, King Priam, in his grief and
horror, is inspired by the gods to visit Achilles in his camp by night, in order to recover his son’s
body. Achilles relents, and the Iliad ends with an uneasy truce for the funeral of Hector.
Plot Summary of
THE ODYSSEY
Ten years have passed since the fall of Troy, and the Greek hero Odysseus still has not
returned to his kingdom in Ithaca. A large and rowdy mob of suitors who have overrun
Odysseus’s palace and pillaged his land continue to court his wife, Penelope. She has
remained faithful to Odysseus. Prince Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, wants desperately to
throw them out but does not have the confidence or experience to fight them. One of the
suitors, Antinous, plans to assassinate the young prince, eliminating the only opposition to
their dominion over the palace.
Unknown to the suitors, Odysseus is still alive. The beautiful nymph Calypso, possessed by
love for him, has imprisoned him on her island. He longs to return to his wife and son, but he
has no ship or crew to help him escape. While the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus
debate Odysseus’s future, Athena, Odysseus’s strongest supporter among the gods, resolves
to help Telemachus. Disguised as a friend of the prince’s grandfather, Laertes, she convinces
the prince to call a meeting of the assembly at which he reproaches the suitors. Athena also
prepares him for a great journey to Pylos and Sparta, where the kings Nestor and Menelaus,
Odysseus’s companions during the war, inform him that Odysseus is alive and trapped on
Calypso’s island. Telemachus makes plans to return home, while, back in Ithaca, Antinous
and the other suitors prepare an ambush to kill him when he reaches port.
On Mount Olympus, Zeus sends Hermes to rescue Odysseus from Calypso. Hermes
persuades Calypso to let Odysseus build a ship and leave. The homesick hero sets sail, but
when Poseidon, god of the sea, finds him sailing home, he sends a storm to wreck Odysseus’s
ship. Poseidon has harbored a bitter grudge against Odysseus since the hero blinded his son,
the Cyclops Polyphemus, earlier in his travels. Athena intervenes to save Odysseus from
Poseidon’s wrath, and the beleaguered king lands at Scheria, home of the Phaeacians.
Nausicaa, the Phaeacian princess, shows him to the royal palace, and Odysseus receives a
warm welcome from the king and queen. When he identifies himself as Odysseus, his hosts,
who have heard of his exploits at Troy, are stunned. They promise to give him safe passage to
Ithaca, but first they beg to hear the story of his adventures.
Odysseus spends the night describing the fantastic chain of events leading up to his arrival on
Calypso’s island. He recounts his trip to the Land of the Lotus Eaters, his battle with
Polyphemus the Cyclops, his love affair with the witch-goddess Circe, his temptation by the
deadly Sirens, his journey into Hades to consult the prophet Tiresias, and his fight with the
sea monster Scylla. When he finishes his story, the Phaeacians return Odysseus to Ithaca,
where he seeks out the hut of his faithful swineherd, Eumaeus. Though Athena has disguised
Odysseus as a beggar, Eumaeus warmly receives and nourishes him in the hut. He soon
encounters Telemachus, who has returned from Pylos and Sparta despite the suitors’ ambush,
and reveals to him his true identity. Odysseus and Telemachus devise a plan to massacre the
suitors and regain control of Ithaca.
When Odysseus arrives at the palace the next day, still disguised as a beggar, he endures
abuse and insults from the suitors. The only person who recognizes him is his old nurse,
Eurycleia, but she swears not to disclose his secret. Penelope takes an interest in this strange
beggar, suspecting that he might be her long-lost husband. Quite crafty herself, Penelope
organizes an archery contest the following day and promises to marry any man who can
string Odysseus’s great bow and fire an arrow through a row of twelve axes—a feat that only
Odysseus has ever been able to accomplish. At the contest, each suitor tries to string the bow
and fails. Odysseus steps up to the bow and, with little effort, fires an arrow through all
twelve axes. He then turns the bow on the suitors. He and Telemachus, assisted by a few
faithful servants, kill every last suitor.
Odysseus reveals himself to the entire palace and reunites with his loving Penelope. He
travels to the outskirts of Ithaca to see his aging father, Laertes. They come under attack from
the vengeful family members of the dead suitors, but Laertes, reinvigorated by his son’s
return, successfully kills Antinous’s father and puts a stop to the attack. Zeus dispatches
Athena to restore peace. With his power secure and his family reunited, Odysseus’s long
ordeal comes to an end.
Homer: The Iliad and the Odyssey
(Three Translations of the Opening Lines)
The Iliad:
Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways, who was driven
far journeys, after he had sacked Troy’s sacred citadel.
Many were they whose cities he saw, whose minds he learned of,
many the pains he suffered in his spirit on the wide sea,
struggling for his own life and the homecoming of his companions.
Even so he could not save his companions, hard though
he strove to; they were destroyed by their own wild recklessness,
fools, who devoured the oxen of Helios, the Sun God,
and he took away the day of their homecoming. . . .
Three translations of the opening lines of The Iliad and The Odyssey.
Week 6
Ancient Literature I:
The Greek Tragedy and
Comedy
Greek Tragedy
Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy
Tragedy depicts the downfall of a basically good person through some
fatal error or misjudgment, producing suffering and insight on the part
of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear on the part of the
audience.
A true tragedy should evoke pity and fear (catharsis) on the part
of the audience.
Pity and fear are the natural human responses to spectacles of pain and
suffering – especially to the sort of pain and suffering that can strike
anyone at any time. The effect is that we feel relief in the end through
catharsis, and are purged of these feelings.
Tragedies:
The Oresteia by Aeschylus
Oedipus the King by Sophocles
Antigone by Sophocles
Medea by Euripedes
Comedies:
The Frogs by Aristophanes
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
The Oresteia by Aeschylus
• Not a single play, but rather a trilogy (though it
should have been four — one has been lost to
history) of tragedies, The Oresteia follow another
cursed family, the House of Atreus. This series is
the only surviving example of a trilogy in Greek
drama, and took first prize in the Dionysia
festival when it was first performed in 458 BCE.
The first play, Agamemnon, follows the King of
Argos as he returns home to an adulterous wife
intent on murdering him for sacrificing their
daughter, Iphigenia. The second, The Libation
Bearers, continues the story, with Agamemnon’s
children Electra and Orestes uniting to avenge
the death of their father by taking revenge on
their mother. The final installation is called The
Eumenides and concerns the legal backlash all
of these killings have, with Orestes receiving
punishment for his crimes.
Short Excerpts: The Oresteia by Aeschylus
“Nothing forces us to know
What we do not want to know
Except pain”
“Pain both ways and what is worse?”
The excerpt from The Eumenides
Athena’s dialogue with the Chorus voicing the Furies, whom will
eventually be called the “Eumenides,” a euphemistic name, meaning
“the Kindly Ones.” (Lines 977—995)
Chorus: I pray that civil strife that knows
no end to evil never may surge
and thunder through this state.
Let not the thirsting dust soak up the purple blood
of citizens, nor let men
in passion for vengeance wreak
vendetta and feud in the state,
but men of like mind
let them share with one will
both their joys and their objects of hate.
For this is the source of much health among men.
Athena: At the last they have the wisdom and sense to find
their way to words of good will.
From these faces of dread I foresee an accrual
of much that is good for these men of the state.
For so long as you in kindliness and honour esteem
these kindly ones, so you will guide aright
your town and land
in all the business that you do.
Oedipus the King by Sophocles
Perhaps the best-known of the Greek tragedies, Aristotle
used Oedipus the King as an example of perfectly
orchestrated tragedy in his work Poetics. First performed
in 429 BCE, it was the second of Sophocles’ Theban
plays to be produced, and follows a cursed family who
tries in vain to escape their fate.
The main character of the tragedy is Oedipus, whose
own father orders him executed, believing the young
child will kill him. He is rescued after being left to die in
a field and raised by another royal family as their own.
Told by an oracle that he will murder his father and sleep
with his mother, Oedipus flees home, only to end up
encountering his true parents who abandoned him long
ago. In the tragedy, Oedipus ends up enacting the oracle
through his choice and actions.
Short Excerpts:
“Tomorrow is tomorrow.
Future cares have future cures,
And we must mind today.”
春望
国破山河在
城春草木深
感时花溅泪
恨别鸟惊心
烽火连三月
家书抵万金
白头搔更短
浑欲不胜簪
“Spring View”
The country is broken, though hills and rivers remain,
In the city in spring, grass and trees are thick.
Moved by the moment, a flower’s splashed with tears,
Mourning parting, a bird startles the heart.
The beacon fires have joined for three months now,
Family letters are worth ten thousand pieces.
I scratch my head, its white hairs growing thinner,
And barely able now to hold a hairpin.
Wang Wei (712–770)
Wang Wei, the poet of landscape, has written lots of elegant
and exquisite verses, such as “bright moon lighting on the pine
forests, clear water found running on the stones”.
The tranquil feeling he gave through his poetry is utterly
touching.
A Study
Light cloud pavilion light rain
Dark yard day weary open
Sit look green moss colour
About to on person clothes come
[Literal Translation]
***
There’s light cloud, and drizzle round the pavilion,
In the dark yard, I wearily open a gate.
I sit and look at the colour of green moss,
Ready for people’s clothing to pick up.
LYRIC POETRY
IN THE EAST
FROM “MIDDLE AGES”
THROUGH “EARLY
MODERN” ERA
OMAR KHAYYAM
YUNUS EMRE
BASHO
He was a Persian polymath, philosopher, mathematician,
astronomer and poet. He also wrote treatises on: mechanics,
geography, mineralogy, music, and Islamic theology. He is
best known for his Rubaiyat poetry.
The Rubaiyat presents the deep feelings of the poet on the
following topics:
Main Ideas (Themes):
Life: Enjoy your days; carpe diem (Seize the day!).
Wine as the water of life.
Fate as “Moving Finger”.
Inevitable Death (the passage of time).
Love
Definition of “rubai”:
The term comes from the Arabic word rubá, meaning
“four.” Rubai (the singular form) is a Persian quatrain (a
stanza or poem of four lines) or a set of two couplets (a
stanza or poem of two lines). The plural form, rubayiat, is
used to describe a collection of such quatrains.
I sent my Soul through the Invisible,
Some letter of that After-life to spell:
And after many days my Soul return’d
And said, “Behold, Myself am Heav’n and Hell.”
*
Ah, my Beloved, fill the Cup that clears
To-day of past Regrets and future Fears —
To-morrow? — Why, To-morrow I may be
Myself with Yesterday’s Sev’n Thousand Years.
*
Be happy for this moment. This moment is your
life.
Animals/characters represent
Virtues=good human qualities
Vices=bad human qualities
Sources of Sufism:
The Kor’an
Hadith
Sunnah
Neoplatonism founded by Plotinus
(204-270 CE)
The quest is arduous/laborious, and difficult;
the Way is scary:
Dear nightingale,
This superficial love which makes you quail*
*to lose heart or courage in difficulty or danger
Is only for the outward show of things.
Renounce* delusion and prepare your wings
* put aside voluntarily
For our great quest; sharp thorns defend the
rose
And beauty such as hers too quickly goes.
True love will see such empty transience*
*the state of being not lasting, enduring, or permanent; transitory.
For what it is -- a fleeting turbulence
That fills your sleepless nights with grief
and blame --
Forget the rose’s blush and blush for shame!
Each spring she laughs, not for you, as you
say,
But at you -- and has faded in a day.
The Seven Valleys, the birds
journey through on the Sufi’s Way
1) Seeking, demanding, search (talab)
2) Love (‘ishq)
3) Intuitive knowledge, mystic apprehension
(ma‘rifat)
4) Detachment, independence (istighna‘)
5) Experiencing union with the Divine, unity
(tawhid)
6) Perplexity, bewilderment, awe (hayrat)
7) Poverty and nothingness, fulfillment in
annihilation (faqr u fana)
Subsistence in God (baqa)
Medieval Italy
Dante Alighieri
(1265-1321)
In Italian literature he is known as “the Supreme
Poet”, and “Father of the Italian language”.
Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio are also known
as “the three fountains” or “the three crowns”.
• Structure
– Introduction
• 3 beasts,
unable to find
the way to the
mountain with
the sun
– Inferno (Hell)
• 9 circles
– Purgatorio
(Purgatory)
• 7 terraces
– Paradiso
(Paradise)
• 9 spheres
Dante’s Method
From Dante’s Letter to Can Grande
“To elucidate, then, what we have to say, be it known that the sense of
this work is not simple, but on the contrary it may be called polysemous,
that is to say, ‘of more senses than one’; for it is one sense which we get
through the letter, and another which we get through the thing the letter
signifies; and the first is called literal, but the second allegorical or
mystic.”
In a way, Dante modified and adapted the traditional four-fold method of
interpretation put forth by Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274):
LITERAL -- the everyday meaning
MORAL -- educational lessons
ALLEGORICAL -- abstract, intellectual, conceptual symbols
ANAGOGICAL -- the deepest mysteries of the afterlife
Characters
“Peopled” by hundreds of historical, contemporary, and mythical
figures who had died by the year 1300, but who may have lived
centuries before.
Time
The action of the poem begins on Good Friday of the year
1300, at which time Dante, who was born in 1265, had reached
the middle of the Scriptural threescore years and ten, meaning
35. It ends on the first Sunday after Easter, making in all ten
days.
Historical World as Hell, and
Dante’s Social Criticism
•civil and international warfare
•political struggles
•corrupt popes seeking power and wealth
•sale of ecclesiastical offices (simony) and of salvation
(indulgences)
•world of intolerance and persecution (Inquisition
founded in 1231)
•religion is abused, and manipulated; greed, pride and
violence disguised as holiness
•prevalence of ignorance, superstition, and fear
•exposure of the evils of his world
•challenging of Church dogmas, exposing superstitions
•creation of a new Humanist philosophy radically re-
interpreting Christianity
•giving Christianity a human and earthly meaning
centered around the idea of love
•demanding the substance of true Christianity in
Christian life: love, peace, humility, forgiveness, giving,
caring about others, healing the sick, feeding the hungry
Map of the Inferno
Inferno
Circle 1
The Virtuous Pagans
Circle 2
The Lascivious/Lustful
Circle 3
The Gluttonous
Circle 4
The Miserly and the
Wasteful against kindred,
country
Circle 5
The Wrathful guests, lords, etc.
Circle 6
The Heretics
Circle 7
The Violent
Circle 8
The Fraudulent
Circle 9
The Lake of the Treacherous
Canto I
A she-wolf: Avarice
A leopard: Fraudulence
Seven circles
for the seven
deadly sins:
pride,
envy,
anger,
sloth,
greed,
gluttony
and lust.
Second illustrated ed.
Brescia, 1487
Paradiso
The Paradiso is a place of
reward. It is structured on the
Seven Cardinal Virtues:
• Faith,
• Hope,
• Love,
• Prudence (Diligence),
Justice,
• Fortitude (Courage),
Temperance (Self-Control).