Peña, Jose Mari M.

BSA 3rd year

The Divine Comedy is a long narrative poem written in Italian circa 1308–21
by Dante Alighieri. It is divided into three parts: Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio
(Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise).

1. Please provide a short summary of the first part: Inferno. (400-500 words)
70 pts.

In the year 1300, Inferno opens on Good Friday evening. Dante Alighieri
was walking through a dark wood when he lost his way and is now trembling
through the woodland. He tries to ascend up to a mountain where the sun is
shining but is stopped by three animals: a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf. Dante
retreats to the shadowy trees, terrified and powerless. Here, poet and tour guide
Virgil shows up and offers to lead Dante. Virgil predicts that they will pass through
Hell on the way to Heaven, where Dante's beloved Beatrice is waiting. He
continues by saying that when Beatrice and two other holy women saw Dante
stranded in the woods, they sent Virgil to lead him.

Sinners are punished in various sections of hell's nine circles; the poets
observe their behavior and punishments and occasionally speak with them—
learning their sins, crimes, and misgivings—as the two main characters journey
through hell, marked by the menacing inscription "abandon all hope, you who enter
here." Many of the characters in hell are Florentines or mythical beings from Greek
and Roman mythology who were modified for Dante's story. They enter the Ante-
Inferno, a part of Hell that is further away from the main part of Hell. Here, souls
who in life were unable to choose between good and evil are forced to run in vain
after a blank banner day after day while being bitten by hornets and having worms
lick their blood. Dante observes their misery with disgust and compassion. The real
border of Hell, the river Acheron, is then crossed by him and his companion thanks
to the ferryman Charon. Virgil and many other famous poets and writers from
antiquity are among the pagans who are kept in Limbo, the First Circle of Hell,
because they died without knowing Christ. The circles of hell shrank as the poet
descended, the punishments becoming more severe and terrible with each passing
round as the poet moved more away from God and closer to Lucifer, the ruler of
hell. There is no fire or brimstone in Hell's final circle; instead, there are freezing ice
landscapes.

In the dramatic conclusion, Dante and Virgil confront the three-headed

monster Lucifer who has been submerged waist-deep in the ice. When God threw
Peña, Jose Mari M.
BSA 3rd year

him down from Heaven, his body pierced the center of the Earth. Judas, who
betrayed Christ, as well as Cassius and Brutus, who betrayed Julius Caesar, are
three of history's three worst sinners that are chewed in each of Lucifer's mouths.
Holding on to the frozen tufts of Lucifer's hair, Virgil guides Dante down the giant
figure of Lucifer. The poets eventually arrive at the Lethe, also known as the river
of forgetfulness, and go from there to leave Hell and return to Earth. On Easter
morning, soon before sunrise, they come out of Hell.

2. What is the main theme in The Divine Comedy? Explain your answer. (200-
300 words) 30 pts.

The spiritual journey that man takes during life is the central theme of The
Divine Comedy. He discovers the characteristics of sin and its effects on this
journey. Upon realizing the nature of sin, how it defiles the soul, and how it pulls
people away from God, they grow to despise it (sin). If taken literally, the status of
souls after death is the topic of the entire work. However, if the work is interpreted
allegorically, the subject is man and how, via free will and actions of merit or
deficiency, he justly deserves to be rewarded or punished. It tells the tale of man's
journey to God. The political subject that permeates the entire poem is a significant
secondary theme. Political conflict had split Florence's Guelf and Ghibelline
populations into two enmity-filled parts. The Guelf party was connected to Dante's
family. Dante was eventually forced to leave Florence permanently due to political
considerations. The carnage and suffering of endless wars, as well as medieval
theology, influenced Dante's idea of hell. However, some of it is the product of his
own unquenchable resentment over the protracted period of living in poverty in
exile and depending on the generosity of noblemen. He might have been a
respected person in Florence.