| Dante's writing is probably the primary classic literary work of the
transition period between the Medieval and Renaissance cultures of
European history. The hopes and visions of the medieval theology
are beautifully expressed by Dante, in a way that those who followed
would never quite be able to duplicate, once the more secular
humanistic trends became to gain in strength.
As it is very old, you would probably find it in the classic literature
section of the local bookstore. I'm sure there's a 'Cliff Notes' too,
but a conceptual overview would hardly do justice to Dante.
'Required reading,' I think, for students of European intellectual history
and Western religion.
kind regards,
todd
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| Dante's Divine Comedy is a very long poem, originally in Italian, set
in the year 1300 and actually written a little after that. Many good
English translation now exist. I like Dorothy L. Sayers's, which has
lots of good explanatory notes and preserves the original meter and
rhyme scheme. It is available from Penguin Books.
The poem has three major sections, each long enough to publish as a
separate book. They are Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise (or Inferno,
Purgatorio, and Paradiso, if you prefer). The poem is an allegory;
that is, the places and people in it represent spiritual states and
qualities as well as simply being themselves. Allegory was a dominant
peotic form in Dante's era. Dante's own allegory is a little different
from most in that he uses real (or realistic) people to represent moral
qualities; he doesn't just introduce a figure named, say "Wisdom" or
"Wrath" and expect you to identify with that.
The basic plot of the story is this: Dante has lost his spiritual path.
His dead love, Beatrice, sees this from heaven and sends the spirit of
the Roman poet Virgil to guide him. Virgil gives Dante a guided tour
of Hell and Purgatory, then turns him over to Beatrice, who guides him
through Heaven, to the sight of God. Allegorically, this represents
Dante's realization of his sin (Hell), penance for it (Purgatory), and
return to a state of grace (Heaven).
I shouldn't emphasize the allegory too much, though it provides the
framework for the travelogue (and it *is* a travelogue). Along the
way, Dante meets and talks with many interesting people about many
interesting subjects. All of the people were historical individuals
(give or take a few mythical beings like centaurs).
Many people have considered the Comedy the greatest work of Western
literature.
Earl Wajenberg
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"The Divine Comedy" also has a veneer of political commentary, since
certain figures whom Dante meets on the way to Paradise are members of
warring factions, Guelphs, who supported papal authority, or
Ghibellines, who supported the power of Germanic emperors in medieval
Italy; others are either allies or enemies of the Florentine
city-state. So in a way, you need a historical scorecard.
Nonetheless, La Divina Commedia can be read as beautiful poetry, in
Italian (the work is one of the first to be written in Italian, rather
than Latin) or in English. Everyone who studies Italian learns the
first lines of the work -
Nel mezzo del camin' di nostra vita
Mi ritrovai in una selva oscura
- I think it's one of the best descriptions of a mid-life crisis ever
written...
At the midway point on the road of life
I found myself in a darkened forest...
gloria
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