Dante’s

Inferno
And the Divine Comedy
 The
Poet
• Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), of
Florence, Italy. One of the
greatest poets of the Western
tradition (with Homer, Virgil,
Milton, Goethe).
• His masterpiece (The Divine
Comedy) embodies the
Thomistic* synthesis of Greek
philosophy & the Biblical
worldview.
 The Thomistic
View
• From St. Thomas Aquinas (5 Ways)
• Believing that reason can, in principle, lead the
mind to God, Aquinas defended reason's
legitimacy, especially in the works of Aristotle.
The philosophy of Aquinas continues to offer
insights into many lingering problems in
Metaphysics, the Philosophy of Mind,
Philosophy of Religion and Ethics.
 of the
Divine
Comedy
 of the
Divine
Comedy
• Three Parts:
– The Inferno (Hell). A depiction of the consequences
of unchecked evil.
– The Purgatorio (Purgatory). A representation of
human nature in this life (of which purgatory is an
extension): the conflict between good and evil.
– The Paradiso (Heaven). The ultimate, supernatural
end of human life. The vision of God.
 The Divine
“Comedy”
• Comedy
– Not humorous/slapstick/laugh-out-loud
– A form of writing that begins in fear and
ends happily.
– Main character attains a happy ending – a
healing vision of God – and receives a
divine message to deliver.
Issues to Consider
– Political realities
• Corruption vs. honesty
– Moral realities
• The freedom that comes from accepting just
laws vs. the self-slavery of lawlessness
– Mystical realities
• The individual’s self-absorption vs. his
trusting surrender to the divine
 More Issues
• Love as the source of both good and
evil.
• The paradox of free will: is it
compatible with a scientific
(Aristotelian) picture of the workings
of human nature?
• The relationship between body and
soul.
 Dante:
“The subject of the work, then, in its literal
sense is the state of souls after death – and this
is without qualification, since the whole
progress of the work hinges on and about this
subject. Whereas if the work is taken
allegorically, the subject is this: man becoming
liable to the justice which rewards and punishes,
inasmuch as by the exercise of his freedom of
choice he merits good or ill.”
letter to Can Grande
 The Purpose
• Dante said he wanted the poem to:
– Liberate people still living in the
world from a state of misery and lead
them to a state of happiness.
– Praise Beatrice and the saving graces
he received through her.
 Ah… Beatrice…
• Dante wrote his entire Divine Comedy
because he was obsessed with a
woman, Beatrice, and in love with her,
thus making her his guide through
heaven in the Paradiso
• Look for how love is represented in
Inferno… what does this mean about
love?
 Historical
Background
• Guelphs • Ghibellines
– Anti-imperial/democratic – Pro-imperial
attitude – Represented aristocracy
– Desired constitutional – Opposed papal territorial
government power
– Represented indigenous – Expelled from Florence
peoples in 1289
– Pro-pope (looked to him Became the White Guelphs
for support) • White guelphs
• Black guelphs – Wanted to minimize
all outside interference
– Wanted to enhance
their papal connections
 Ah… Florence
• Dante was one of the White Guelphs and
was exiled from his beloved home town of
Florence. He never got over this. You could
say that the placement of his characters and
figures in hell is highly represented of his
political feelings… don’t get any ideas…
 Obsessed with 3
• Significance of the number Three
– Reflects the mysterious reality of the
Godhead
– Each of the three parts contains 33 cantos
– Basic unit of verse is the terzine
• 33 syllables
• 3 lines
– Beatrice – associated with the number 9
 Poetic Structure
• Terza Rima
• 3 lines intertwined, first and
third rhyme, second rhymes with
the first of the next tercet
• ABA BCB CDC DED EFE …
 Contrapasso
• The idea that the punishment fits
the crime, in other words how
one’s sin matches the
punishment they must endure
for all eternity.
• See cartoon for an example.
 Main Characters-
• Dante Allegorical
– The poet who is also the Christian sinner
• Virgil
– The poet who is also human wisdom (the best a
man can become without divine grace)
 Canto I-
Introduction to
Comedia
• Introduction to the entire Divine Comedy
– Setting: Dark Woods
– Setting: Good Friday, 1300
• April 8, 1300
– Catholic church’s first “Holy Year”
» Jubilee period stressing spiritual
repentance and renewal.
• Dante is 35 years old when taking place (but
is writing in “past tense” so older as a writer)
The geography and
structure
• Dante’s Underworld is a series of
concentric circles, each one moving deeper
into the earth
• The entrance is through the dark woods
• There are rivers and multiple circles within
circles at some levels
 There are
many
depictions of
Dante’s Hell
in art and
literature… do
your own
research for
some extra
insight, or
maybe extra
credit!
 Other Poetic
Elements
• Alliteration
• Allusion
• Imagery
• Symbolism
• Conceit (will learn!)
• Extended Metaphor
• Allegory/ Parable