Download Introduction Inferno W 2014

Introduction: The
Divine Comedy
Dante Alighieri
Facts
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Written between 1308 and 1321
Tells of an imaginary journey Dante takes
through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.
The Journey is symbolic of the spiritual
quest for salvation.
Dante is the first of the “Christian
Humanists”
Christian Humanism
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Christian humanism emphasizes the humanity of
Jesus, his social teachings and his propensity to
synthesize human spirituality and materialism. It regards
humanist principles like universal human dignity and
individual freedom and the primacy of human happiness
as essential and principal components of, or at least
compatible with, the teachings of Jesus. Christian
humanism can be perceived as a philosophical union of
Judeo-Christian ethics and humanist principles.[
Facts: Quest
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Recognizing sin (journey through Hell, or
the Inferno).
Rejecting sin and awaiting redemption (the
time in Purgatory)
Achieving salvation through faith in divine
revelation (seeing the light of G-d in
Paradise)
Facts: Dante meets historical figures
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Ancient Rome
Characters from classical Greek mythology
Political enemies from his own era.
Divine Comedy
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This work provides a portrait of almost
every aspect of medieval human life.
Allegory
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Defined as: a work in which the characters
and events are to be understood as
representing other things and symbolically
expressing a deeper, often spiritual, moral,
or political meaning.
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The symbolic expression of a deeper meaning
through a story or scene acted out by human,
animal, or mythical characters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29XBn3M6
ZGs
An Allegory
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Dante’s Divine Comedy is based on an allegorical
journey.
The walk through a dark and confusing world represents
the life journey of men and women, who often become
entangled in daily affairs and lose their way.
The work assumes two levels of meaning: external
(temporal) and internal (spiritual). Dante’s extensive
literary treatment of death and afterlife aims to both
comfort and warn; he envisions rewards for the
righteous and doom for the unrepentant.
The Characters
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On his journey, Dante meets many historical figures. Even his guide,
the poet Virgil, is an important historical figure.
 Virgil- Dante’s guide through the depths of Hell. Historically, Virgil
lived in the first century B.C., in Northern Italy. Scholars considered
him the greatest of the Latin poets (the Aeneid)
 Beatrice: One of the blessed in Heaven, Beatrice aids Dante’s
journey by asking an angel to find Virgil and bid him guide Dante
through Hell. Like Dante and Virgil, Beatrice corresponds to a
historical personage. Although the details of her life remain
uncertain, we know that Dante fell passionately in love with her as
a young man and never fell out of it. Dante’s imaginary journey
throughout the afterlife aims, in part, to find Beatrice, whom he has
lost on Earth because of her early death. Critics view Beatrice as
an allegorical representation of spiritual love
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Ancient Rome (Virgil would also fall under this category)
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Paolo and Francesca da Rimini - A pair of lovers condemned to the Second Circle of
Hell for an adulterous love affair that they began after reading the story of Lancelot and
Guinevere.
Characters from classical Greek mythology
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Charon - A figure that Dante appropriates from Greek mythology, Charon is an old
man who ferries souls across the river Acheron to Hell.
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Minos - The king of Crete in Greek mythology, Minos is portrayed by Dante as a giant
beast who stands at the Second Circle of Hell, deciding where the souls of sinners
shall be sent for torment.
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Nessus - The Centaur (half man and half horse) who carries Dante through the First
Ring of the Seventh Circle of Hell.
Political enemies from his own era
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Pope Boniface VIII - A notoriously corrupt pope who reigned from 1294 to 1303,
Boniface made a concerted attempt to increase the political might of the Catholic
Church and was thus a political enemy of Dante, who advocated a separation of
church and state.
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Farinata - A Ghibelline political leader from Dante’s era who resides among the
Heretics in the Sixth Circle of Hell. Farinata is doomed to continue his intense
obsession with Florentine politics, which he is now helpless to affect.
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Filippo Argenti - A Black Guelph, a political enemy of Dante who is now in the Fifth
Circle of Hell. Argenti resides among the Wrathful in the river Styx.
Form, Number, and Symbol
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The poem contains 100 cantos (chapters)
Number 100 regarded as the perfect
number in the Middle Ages.
Introductory Canto
The text is divided into 3 sections of 33
cantos.
Form:
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Composed in tercets, three-line stanzas,
and uses a rhyme scheme called terza
rima.
The middle of one tercet rhymes with the
first and third lines of the next tercet, giving
the poem a strong sense of unity.
Number:
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The number 3 is important because of its
relation to the Christian Trinity.
3 divine figures—Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit—in one G0d.
The poem is divided into 3 parts:
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First part:
Inferno, focuses on the power of G-d the
Father
Evidenced by the punishments of the
damned
The poem is divided into 3 parts:
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The Second part: Purgatorio, focuses on
the wisdom of Christ the Son, and the hope
for salvation that he offers to those awaiting
final judgment.
The poem is divided into 3 parts:
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The Third part: Paradiso
Focuses on the love of the Holy Spirit.
Time
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The journey takes place over 3 days
Begins in Hell on Good Friday, the day of
Christ’s crucifixion, and ending symbolically
in Paradise on Easter Sunday.
Action
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The entire action of the poem takes place
under the guidance of three ladies:
The Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ who
mediates between G-d and man.
Saint Lucia, patron saint of Dante and all
those without spiritual sight.
Beatrice, Dante’s love, who leads him into
paradise
Role of Virgil
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Dante’s guide for most of the journey is
Virgil the Roman poet who died 19 years
before the birth of Christ.
He explains, instructs
The clarity of Virgil’s mind is contrasted
with Dante’s confusion
Role of Virgil
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“my true master and first author”
“the sole maker from whom I drew breath.”
Virgil is consigned to the first circle of Hell
because he is un-baptized along with other
virtuous pagans from Classical Greece and
Rome.
Dante’s Attitude
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His writing reflects his strict Christian
beliefs and his sympathy for the emerging
humanism of the Renaissance.
Virgil
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A perfect guide for the early part of the
journey because, for Dante, he is the
ultimate symbol of what human reason can
achieve without faith.
Reason
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Reason uses logic and fact to arrive at the
truth.
Dante saw reason as limited; it is only
through faith that Dante can grasp the truth
of Paradise.
Beatrice
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Dante’s symbol of love and faith.
She sends Virgil through Hell and
Purgatory.
She is the only one who can lead Dante to
Paradise.
The love of Beatrice is expected to turn
Dante from error forever.
Journey toward truth and grace via love.
Style and Language
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Avoids lofty language generally used in
important works.
The epic has a happy ending.
Makes the title “Divine Comedy”
appropriate.
Language sparse, direct, and idiomatic—
reflecting ordinary speech.
Style and Language
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Regarded as the finest poem ever written in
Italian.
Stroke of genius to use vernacular,
everyday language.
All levels of imagination, reality, history,
myth, legends, politics, religion, and
personal.
Finally
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The Divine Comedy encompasses Dante’s vision
of God’s judgment on every significant aspect of
human life.
It is the supreme and culminating work of
medieval thought.
Dante gives expression to nearly every major
intellectual and moral issue of the Middle Ages,
including his own concerns about public morality,
the power of love, and the quest for spiritual
salvation.
A Song to Help you remember!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyRaCw
gRKXk&feature=youtu.be