Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Dante born in Florence—

more like an independent Greek city-state than a city

Florence entering into its period of greatness at the time of his childhood

A republic—ruled by a large group—rather than a democracy

His life as related to the Comedy Little known of his life Though born in modest

circumstances, he never had to seek gainful employment

Could devote his life to study and literature

Met Beatrice, love and muse of his life, when he was 9 and she was 8

Vita Nuova From moment they met, he was

overcome by love for her Had a vision, wrote “To every

captive soul and gentle heart” in response to that vision

She was the unattainable; both married another

Beatrice died in 1290; Dante inconsolable, but was finally able to set down the story of his love in Vita Nuova

Describes his spiritual regeneration through his pure love for Beatrice

The (Divine) Comedy Resolved to write of Beatrice

what has never been written about any woman

Carried this out in his Comedy—later became known as the Divine Comedy

Not comedy in the usual sense, but in the sense that it begins in despair and ends in bliss

A long narrative poem written in terza rima—an epic, but more of a spiritual epic, written rather than spoken (true also of the Aeneid)

Structure of The Comedy Three books or canticles Each canticle is divided

into 33 cantos Verse schema is terza

rima—stanzas of three lines with interlocking rhymes

Multiples of the number three abound within the work

Characters and Themes Works both as a literal

story and an allegory Dante himself is a

character—a sort of Everyman—on quest for redemption-salvation

Begins mid-journey in a sort of mid-life crisis “alone in a dark wood” having lost the straight path

Virgil as Mentor-Guide Dante meets the shade of

Virgil—great Roman poet and author of The Aeneid—who represents Human Reason

Virgil leads Dante through descent into hell (parallel to epic protagonist’s journey into the underworld)

Hell shaped like a cone, lesser sins at the wide top and gravest sins at narrow bottom where Satan lives

Purgatory After descending to

the depths of hell, Dante must climb the mountain of purgatory (Canticle Two)

Here sinners are purging themselves for entrance into paradise or heaven

Paradise In the third book,

Beatrice comes to escort Dante into Paradise, where he is assured of his salvation

Dante experiences a final rapture as he gazes directly at God, the source of all Love