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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 Homers Illiad or Virgils Anead
Portinari (source: Vita nouva) 1283 - he marries Gemma Donati and they have four children 1280 - fights with the Guelf League and defeats the Ghibellines of Arezzo
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 June15 August), one of the six highest magistrates in Florence.
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.
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.
Dantes Inspiration
Dantes 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.
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.
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
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
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.
(Hell), redemption of the soul (Purgatory), and finally the unification between soul and God (Heaven). The journey mirrors medieval Catholic theology.
Reason, which can take Dante only through Hell and Purgatory. Beatrice, or Divine Revelation, must take Dante through Heaven.
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
There are 9
concentric circles in Hell. Hell is geographically divided into Upper Hell and the Lower Hell by the Walls of the Dis.
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: Opportunism
Sin: choosing neither right nor wrong.
only the emotional torment of never knowing God or experiencing Heaven (no hope).
against God. Sins in which people give into their physical or emotional urges without regard to rational thought or moral consequences.
Punishment: To have
ones soul float around in a whirlwind, just as one gave into physical desires.
Circle 3: Gluttony
Sin: to give into
ones physical desires to eat and drink regardless of consequences Punishment: To be bloated and mired in filth, while filth rains down from the sky
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 another Sin: Sullen, those who refused to welcome the light of God into their hearts Punishment: 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 Gods 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 Neighbors Round Two: The Violent Against Themselves Round Three: The Violent Against God, Nature and Art
malebolges, or pockets of evil. Each pocket or bolgia is where a group of specific sinners is punished.
Circle 9: Treachery
Circle 9 includes four areas called rounds:
his spiny back to emerge on Earth, not far from the nine ledges of Purgatory.