Dante Alighieri and The Divine Comedy

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Dante Alighieri and The Divine Comedy
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• Dante was an Italian poet during the Middle Ages.
• He wrote a large poem called The Divine Comedy, a
  masterpiece of literature.
• The Divine Comedy isnt funny, like the word
  comedy would lead us to think. Back then, it
  also included works that ended happily.
• In the story, Dante journeys through Hell so,
  the story is his version of Hell and its sections.

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Biography of Dante

• born in Florence, Italy, in 1265
• exiled from Florence in 1300
• political party was overthrown

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The Comedy

• It is unknown when Dante began writing his
  masterpiece The Comedy, a long poem.
• A long time ago, a comedy meant writing that
  began in sorrow and ended in joy.
• Dante just called his work The Comedy. Later
  Italian writers called it The Divine Comedy.

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When he finished

• It appears that he had finished the first of its
  three parts by 1314.
• He finished the last part only shortly before his
  death in 1321.

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Brief Plot

• begins with Dante in a dark wood.
• Trying to find his way out he climbs up a
  mountain, but it driven back by three beasts who
  block him.
• In fear, he runs toward an approaching man to ask
  for help.
• The man is Virgil, his guide through Hell,
  Purgatory, and Heaven.

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• Virgil tells Dante that he has been sent by
  Beatrice (a woman who Dante loved) to guide him
  through his spiritual journey.
• Dante follows Virgil, who conducts him through
  Hell, a funnel-shaped region in the earth, with a
  series of levels that form narrowing circles on
  which various kinds of evil deeds are punished,
  down to the center.

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• They reach the end of the funnel and the
  directions for up and down are reversed.
• Here, they enter a tunnel which leads them out on
  the other side of the earth, opposite of
  Jerusalem.
• They are at Mount Purgatory, and they climb it.
• At the summit of the mount, they find Eden, the
  earthly Paradise.

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• In Paradise, Beatrice, Dantes lover, accompanies
  him to Heaven.
• Once he gets to Heaven, he sees all of the hosts
  (angels) of Heaven, and he is given a vision of
  the glory of God.
• This is where the poem ends.

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• The Divine Comedy is composed of over 14,000
  lines.
• Those lines are divided into three canticas (or
  hymns), Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise.
• Each cantica is divided into 33 cantos (or a
  large division of poetry).
• 3 is a very prominent number in this work.

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Dantes Hell

• located inside the earth
• There are nine circles or levels in the shape of
  a funnel.
• Each circle is smaller than the one above and
  contains a different class of sinners.
• Lesser sins are punished in the top circles.
• As sins become worse, the punishment gets worse,
  and the circles narrow.
• Lucifer is in the center of the lowest circle
  (frozen lake) along with the worst sinners.

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Greek Influence

• The five rivers of the Greek underworld appear in
  the work.
• four in The Inferno
• Lethe as the transition from Purgatory to
  Paradise
• Charon acts as a ferry operator and refuses Dante
  because he is not dead.
• Minos (son of Zeus and Europa), is transformed
  into a bull-monster.