Dante’s Divine Comedy

One of the Best Poems

of European Literature

Type of Literature

Late Medieval Literature (Dante finished shortly before his death in 1321 AD)

Originally written in the Italian vernacular“Divine” indicates subject matter“Comedy” indicates style of poem

– Starts off oppressive but ends on a happy note

– Not written in an elevated style, such as that of Homer’s Illiad or Virgil’s Anead

Dante: The Poet, Politician and Theologian

Dante’s Early Life

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)Born in Florence on May 29, 12651274 - meets and falls in love with Beatrice

Portinari (source: Vita nouva)1283 - he marries Gemma Donati and they

have four children1280 - fights with the Guelf League and

defeats the Ghibellines of Arezzo

Dante Meets Beatrice

Dante’s Middle Life

1290 - Beatrice Dies1292 - Dante writes the Vita nuova a collection

of sonnets and odes inspired by his love for Beatrice.

1295 - Joins the guild of the apothecaries for the purpose of entering public life.

1300 - Dante is prior for two months (15 June-15 August), one of the six highest magistrates in Florence.

Dante’s Late Life

1302 - The Black Guelfs seize power in Florence. Dante is banished from the city for two years and forever excluded from public office.

1304 - Dante writes De vulgari eloquentia, his path-breaking history and rhetoric of vernacular literature.

1306 - Probably the year in which Dante interrupts the Convivio and begins the Comedy.

Dante’s Late Life Continued1314 - Publication of Inferno. 1315 - Dante works on Purgatorio and Paradiso,

and composes the Questio de acque et terra. 1319 - Dante moves to Ravenna, where he is the

guest of Guido Novello da Polenta, lord of that city

1321 - Dante falls ill on return from Venice, where he had been sent as ambassador by Guido Da Polenta, and dies September 13 or 14.

Dante’s InspirationDante’s love for Beatrice inspired him to write

sonnets and odes in Vita nouva.Dante pledged when he felt he was able to write

a great piece of literature he would dedicate to her memory. The Divine Comedy was written for her.

Dante and Beatrice never had anything more than an emotional relationship.

Dante’s Divine Comedy

Numbers in Medieval SocietyNumber were extremely important in

Medieval Society. 100 is the square of 10, and is therefore

considered the perfect number.The number 3 was associated with the

Trinity and 9 was important as the square of 3.

Structure of the Divine Comedy

Contains three great divisions

– Cantica One: Hell (Inferno)

– Cantica Two: Purgatory (Purgatorio)

– Cantica Three: Paradise (Paradiso)Each Cantica contains thirty-three cantos with

an additional canto in Inferno serving as a prologue

33 + 33 + 33 + 1 = 100 cantos

Structure of the Divine Comedy

The three greater divisions or canticas were to represent the Trinity.

The number 9, the square of three, figures centrally in the interior structure of each of the three divisions.– There are nine circles in the Inferno– There are nine ledges in the Purgatorio– There are nine planetary spheres in Paradiso

Structure of the Divine Comedy

Dante varied the lengths of the individual cantos for a purpose:– The canto length in the Inferno is chaotic, this

parallels the chaos between souls and God.– The canto length becomes more standardized in

Purgatorio, this parallels the state of the soul and God

– The canto length in Paradiso is uniform, this parallels the harmony between the souls and God.

The Nature of the Divine Comedy

Allegory and Journey

Allegory is a story operating at a literal and symbolic level, each character and action signify the literal as well as represent an idea.

The Divine Comedy is a narrative that details the journey of one man, Dante, through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven.

Allegory and JourneyDante represents every human.The journey represents rejection of sin

(Hell), redemption of the soul (Purgatory), and finally the unification between soul and God (Heaven).

The journey mirrors medieval Catholic theology.

Journey and Allegory Continued

Virgil represents Reason, which can take Dante only through Hell and Purgatory.

Beatrice, or Divine Revelation, must take Dante through Heaven.

Dante & Virgils Journey

Dante, guided by Virgil, heads down into the Inferno.

Hell is an inverted cone, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom.

Dante and Virgil travel through Hell and Dante recounts the sights of sinners being punished in ways that symbolically fit the sin.

Structure of Inferno (cross section)

Structure of Inferno

There are 9 concentric circles in Hell.

Hell is geographically divided into Upper Hell and the Lower Hell by the Walls of the Dis.

Four Areas of Hell, Four Types of Sin

Hell is theologically divided into four sections:

– Opportunisim (vestibule/outside hell)

– Sin of Paganism (circle 1)

– Sins of Incontinence (circles 2-6)

– Sins of Violence (circle 7)

– Sins of Fraud (circles 8-9)

Vestibule: OpportunismSin: choosing neither right nor wrong.Punishment: floating around outside

Heaven, Hell and Purgatory chasing a banner (opportunity) being stung by bees (conscience or guilt).

Circle One: Limbo

Sin: Not knowing Jesus ChristPunishment: No physical torments,

only the emotional torment of never knowing God or experiencing Heaven (no hope).

Incontinence: Circles 2-6Sins of incontinence are irrational sins

against God. Sins in which people give into their physical or emotional urges without regard to rational thought or moral consequences.

Circle 2: Sins of LustSin: Lust or AdulteryPunishment: To have

one’s soul float around in a whirlwind, just as one gave into physical desires.

Circle 3: GluttonySin: to give into

one’s physical desires to eat and drink regardless of consequences

Punishment: To be bloated and mired in filth, while filth rains down from the sky

Circle 4: Avarice & Prodigality

Sin: Hoarding (greed) or Wasting (prodigality) without thought to consequence.

Punishment: Souls of misers push rocks into the rocks pushed by spendthrifts

Circle 5: Anger

Sin: Wrathfulness or great anger in life Punishment: to be immersed in the filthy

river, Styx, and constantly tear at one anotherSin: Sullen, those who refused to welcome the

light of God into their heartsPunishment: To forever be buried underneath

the Styx, never seeing light.

Circle 6: Heretics

Sin: Heretics who denied the idea of immortality (they thought the soul died with the body)

Punishment: To exist eternally in graves in the fiery morgue of God’s wrath

Circle 7: Violence

Circle 7 is an area divided into three separate rounds, each round is an area in which specific groups of sinners are punished.

Round One: The Violent Against NeighborsRound Two: The Violent Against

ThemselvesRound Three: The Violent Against God,

Nature and Art

Circle 8: The Fraudulent and Malicious

Circle 8 consists of 10 bolgias or pockets.

They are often referred to as malebolges, or ‘pockets of evil.’

Each pocket or bolgia is where a group of specific sinners is punished.

Ten Malebolgias of Circle 8Bolgia 1: Panderers and SeducersBolgia 2: FlatterersBolgia 3: SimoniacsBolgia 4: Fortune Tellers and DivinersBolgia 5: The GraftersBolgia 6: The HypocritesBolgia 7: The ThievesBolgia 8: The Evil CounselorsBolgia 9: The Sowers of DiscordBolgia 10: The Falsifiers

Circle 9: TreacheryCircle 9 includes four areas called rounds:Round 1: Treacherous to KinRound 2: Treacherous to CountryRound 3: Treacherous to Guests & HostsRound 4: Treacherous to Their MastersThe Center: Satan

Dante Emerges from Hell

Dante views Satan and proceeds to climb his spiny back to emerge on Earth, not far from the nine ledges of Purgatory.

1st heaven “moon”- who had made vows of chastity

2nd heaven “Mercury”-lovers of glory

3rd heaven “Venus”-lovers

4th heaven “Sun”- Theologians

5th heaven “Mars”- martyrs and crusaders

6th heaven “Jupiter”- Righteous rulers

7th heaven”Saturn”- contemplatives

8th heaven “Fixed Stars- triumph of Christ

9th heaven “Primum mobile”- nine orders of angels

10th “Empyrean”-