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Dante’s Inferno
Background, literary devices
Allegory

A narrative that serves as an extended metaphor. Allegories
are written in the form of fables, parables, poems, stories,
and almost any other style or genre. The main purpose of an
allegory is to tell a story that has characters, a setting, as well
as other types of symbols, that have both literal and figurative
meanings. The difference between an allegory and a symbol
is that an allegory is a complete narrative that conveys
abstract ideas to get a point across, while a symbol is a
representation of an idea or concept that can have a different
meaning throughout a literary work.
Tripartite Structure

The Divine Comedy is made up of three canticles,
Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso, which together
number one hundred cantos. Each canticle has its
own tripartite structure. Cantos 1-9 of each
canticle are a sort of "preface" to a larger segment
that begins in canto 10. The Inferno contains 34
cantos. Canto 1 is the introduction to the Divine
Comedy as a whole; it is followed by the 33
cantos of the Inferno proper (Purgatorio and
Paradiso are the same length).
Canto

A sub-division of an epic or narrative poem
comparable to a chapter in a novel.
Canticle

A hymn or religious song using words from
any part of the Bible except the Psalms.
Tercet (or terzine)

A three-line unit or stanza of poetry. It
typically rhymes in an AAA or ABA pattern.
Terza Rima

A three-line stanza form with interlocking
rhymes that move from one stanza to the
next. The typical pattern is ABA, BCB,
CDC, DED, and so on.
Hendecasyllabic line

A Classical Greek and Latin metrical line
consisting of eleven syllables, a spondee (a
metrical foot consisting of two accented syllables /
' ' /.) or trochee (a metrical foot consisting of an
accented syllable followed by an unaccented
syllable), a choriamb (Greek and Latin metrical
foot consisting of long, short, short, and long
syllables / ' ~ ~ ' /), and two iambs (a metrical foot
consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by
an accented one), the second of which has an
additional syllable at the end / ' ' / ' ~ ~ ' / ~ ' / ~ ' /.
Contrapasso

A thematic principle involving situational
irony in which a punishment's nature
corresponds exactly to the nature of a
crime.
Psychopompos

A spirit-guide who leads or escorts a soul
into the realm of the dead. (In the Inferno
this guide is Virgil)
Dante Alighieri




(1265-1321)
lived in a restless age of political conflict
between popes and emperors
there came the need for harmonizing
philosophy and Christianity
considered one of the last medieval poets
(barely a generation later the first
humanists were to spring up)
Dante Alighieri



When he was nine Dante met a Florentine
woman (also nine) whose grace and beauty
so impressed him that in his poetry she
became the idealized Beatrice.
She is believed to have been Bice, the
daughter of Folco Portinari, and later the
wife of Simone dei Bardi.
The young Beatrice died on June 8, 1290