Dantes Divine Comedy

One of the Best Poems of European Literature

Type of Literature
Late Medieval Literature (Dante finished

shortly before his death in 1321 AD) Originally written in the Italian vernacular Divine indicates subject matter Comedy indicates style of poem Starts off oppressive but ends on a happy note Not written in an elevated style, such as that of Homers Illiad or Virgils Anead

Dante: The Poet, Politician and Theologian

Dantes Early Life

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Born in Florence on May 29, 1265 1274 - meets and falls in love with Beatrice

Portinari (source: Vita nouva) 1283 - he marries Gemma Donati and they have four children 1280 - fights with the Guelf League and defeats the Ghibellines of Arezzo

Dante Meets Beatrice

Dantes Middle Life

1290 - Beatrice Dies 1292 - Dante writes the Vita nuova a collection

of sonnets and odes inspired by his love for Beatrice. 1295 - Joins the guild of the apothecaries for the purpose of entering public life. 1300 - Dante is prior for two months (15 June15 August), one of the six highest magistrates in Florence.

Dantes Late Life

1302 - The Black Guelfs seize power in

Florence. Dante is banished from the city for two years and forever excluded from public office. 1304 - Dante writes De vulgari eloquentia, his path-breaking history and rhetoric of vernacular literature. 1306 - Probably the year in which Dante interrupts the Convivio and begins the Comedy.

Dantes Late Life Continued

1314 - Publication of Inferno. 1315 - Dante works on Purgatorio and Paradiso,

and composes the Questio de acque et terra. 1319 - Dante moves to Ravenna, where he is the guest of Guido Novello da Polenta, lord of that city 1321 - Dante falls ill on return from Venice, where he had been sent as ambassador by Guido Da Polenta, and dies September 13 or 14.

Dantes Inspiration
Dantes love for Beatrice inspired him to write

sonnets and odes in Vita nouva. Dante pledged when he felt he was able to write a great piece of literature he would dedicate to her memory. The Divine Comedy was written for her. Dante and Beatrice never had anything more than an emotional relationship.

Dantes Divine Comedy

Numbers in Medieval Society

Number were extremely important in

Medieval Society. 100 is the square of 10, and is therefore considered the perfect number. The number 3 was associated with the Trinity and 9 was important as the square of 3.

Structure of the Divine Comedy

Contains three great divisions

Cantica One: Hell (Inferno) Cantica Two: Purgatory (Purgatorio) Cantica Three: Paradise (Paradiso) Each Cantica contains thirty-three cantos with an additional canto in Inferno serving as a prologue 33 + 33 + 33 + 1 = 100 cantos

Structure of the Divine Comedy

The three greater divisions or canticas were to

represent the Trinity. The number 9, the square of three, figures centrally in the interior structure of each of the three divisions.
There are nine circles in the Inferno There are nine ledges in the Purgatorio There are nine planetary spheres in Paradiso

Structure of the Divine Comedy

Dante varied the lengths of the individual

cantos for a purpose:

The canto length in the Inferno is chaotic, this parallels the chaos between souls and God. The canto length becomes more standardized in Purgatorio, this parallels the state of the soul and God The canto length in Paradiso is uniform, this parallels the harmony between the souls and God.

The Nature of the Divine Comedy

Allegory and Journey

Allegory is a story operating at a literal

and symbolic level, each character and action signify the literal as well as represent an idea. The Divine Comedy is a narrative that details the journey of one man, Dante, through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven.

Allegory and Journey

Dante represents every human.

The journey represents rejection of sin

(Hell), redemption of the soul (Purgatory), and finally the unification between soul and God (Heaven). The journey mirrors medieval Catholic theology.

Journey and Allegory Continued

Virgil represents

Reason, which can take Dante only through Hell and Purgatory. Beatrice, or Divine Revelation, must take Dante through Heaven.

Dante & Virgils Journey

Dante, guided by Virgil, heads down into

the Inferno. Hell is an inverted cone, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. Dante and Virgil travel through Hell and Dante recounts the sights of sinners being punished in ways that symbolically fit the sin.

Structure of Inferno (cross section)

Structure of Inferno
There are 9

concentric circles in Hell. Hell is geographically divided into Upper Hell and the Lower Hell by the Walls of the Dis.

Four Areas of Hell, Four Types of Sin

Hell is theologically divided into four

sections: Opportunisim (vestibule/outside hell) Sin of Paganism (circle 1) Sins of Incontinence (circles 2-6) Sins of Violence (circle 7) Sins of Fraud (circles 8-9)

Vestibule: Opportunism
Sin: choosing neither right nor wrong.

Punishment: floating around outside Heaven, Hell and Purgatory chasing a

banner (opportunity) being stung by bees (conscience or guilt).

Circle One: Limbo

Sin: Not knowing Jesus Christ Punishment: No physical torments,

only the emotional torment of never knowing God or experiencing Heaven (no hope).

Incontinence: Circles 2-6

Sins of incontinence are irrational sins

against God. Sins in which people give into their physical or emotional urges without regard to rational thought or moral consequences.

Circle 2: Sins of Lust

Sin: Lust or Adultery

Punishment: To have

ones soul float around in a whirlwind, just as one gave into physical desires.

Circle 3: Gluttony
Sin: to give into

ones physical desires to eat and drink regardless of consequences Punishment: To be bloated and mired in filth, while filth rains down from the sky

Circle 4: Avarice & Prodigality

Sin: Hoarding (greed) or Wasting (prodigality) without thought to consequence.
Punishment: Souls of misers push rocks into the rocks pushed

by spendthrifts

Circle 5: Anger
Sin: Wrathfulness or great anger in life
Punishment: to be immersed in the filthy

river, Styx, and constantly tear at one another Sin: Sullen, those who refused to welcome the light of God into their hearts Punishment: To forever be buried underneath the Styx, never seeing light.

Circle 6: Heretics
Sin: Heretics who denied the idea of

immortality (they thought the soul died with the body) Punishment: To exist eternally in graves in the fiery morgue of Gods wrath

Circle 7: Violence
Circle 7 is an area divided into three separate

rounds, each round is an area in which specific groups of sinners are punished. Round One: The Violent Against Neighbors Round Two: The Violent Against Themselves Round Three: The Violent Against God, Nature and Art

Circle 8: The Fraudulent and Malicious

Circle 8 consists of 10 bolgias or pockets.
They are often referred to as

malebolges, or pockets of evil. Each pocket or bolgia is where a group of specific sinners is punished.

Ten Malebolgias of Circle 8

Bolgia 1: Panderers and Seducers Bolgia 2: Flatterers Bolgia 3: Simoniacs Bolgia 4: Fortune Tellers and Diviners

Bolgia 5: The Grafters

Bolgia 6: The Hypocrites Bolgia 7: The Thieves Bolgia 8: The Evil Counselors Bolgia 9: The Sowers of Discord Bolgia 10: The Falsifiers

Circle 9: Treachery
Circle 9 includes four areas called rounds:

Round 1: Treacherous to Kin

Round 2: Treacherous to Country

Round 3: Treacherous to Guests & Hosts

Round 4: Treacherous to Their Masters

The Center: Satan

Dante Emerges from Hell

Dante views Satan and proceeds to climb

his spiny back to emerge on Earth, not far from the nine ledges of Purgatory.

1st heaven moon- who had made vows of chastity

2nd heaven Mercury-lovers of glory

3rd heaven Venus-lovers
4th heaven Sun- Theologians

5th heaven Mars- martyrs and crusaders

6th heaven Jupiter- Righteous rulers

7th heavenSaturn- contemplatives 8th heaven Fixed Stars- triumph of Christ

9th heaven Primum mobile- nine orders of angels

10th Empyrean-