The Divine Comedy

A Classical Quest through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise

 Dantes
Paradiso
Structure:
The Quest
For
Salvation

Inferno
Purgatorio
 DANTE ALIGHIERI

Born in Florence, May,

1265.
His family was old and of
noble origin, but no
longer wealthy.
He probably spent a year
at the University of
Bologna as part of his
education, studying the
Trivium and the
Quadrivium, typical of
Medival curriculum.
 BEATRICE

As customary, Dante Dante met Beatrice

had an arranged when he was nine and
marriage in his youth she eight, at his fathers
to Gemma Donati, home, most likely for a
daughter of Manetto May Day festival.
Donati.

But Dantes greatest Beatrice married

love, and the greatest another man about
single influence on his 1287, and died in 1290
work, was a woman at the age of 25.
named Beatrice.
 BEATRICE

Beatrice was Dantes angel. He

could not touch her, because this
was the age of Courtly love.

Dantes life and work were

dedicated to her.

Dantes muse and inspiration

the female aspect behind the
genius.

She is the divine light of love.

 DANTES MEDIEVAL WORLD

Dantes world was The Middle Ages was

threefold:
The world of politics
The world of theology
The world of learning
His Comedy utilizes all
three; these areas are
interdependent, so that it
is impossible to say that
one was more important
than the other.
dominated by the
struggle between the
PAPACY
and the
EMPIRE.
Both thought that they
were of divine origin and
indispensable to the
welfare of mankind.
 THE PAPACY

The Vatican
Rome, Italy

One of the few remaining city-states in the world.

CONSTANTINE I THE EMPIRE

WHERE CHURCH AND STATE

WERE FIRST IN CONFLICT.
 CAUSE OF THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN
THE PAPACY AND THE EMPIRE

In the 8th Century the Papal This claim created great

claim to temporal power was strife and discord in the
empire.
justified by the
DONATION OF CONSTANTINE
which stated that the emperor,
had given power of the empire
Nothing new between
to the Pope before leaving for politics and religion . . .
Byzantium.

Later this was discovered to be a

FORGED DOCUMENT!
 THE IMPORTANCE OF VIRGIL

In the Middle Ages Virgil was

regarded as a sage and
necromancer.
His poems were opened in a manner
of divination called Sortes.

The book was opened at random

and a verse was selected as an
answer to some question.
Does this sound kind of like a Quija Board?
 VIRGIL 70 B.C.E. 19 B.C.E

He was the greatest of Virgil is also revered as

the Roman poets.
His Aeneid provided the
pattern for the structure
of Dantes Hell.
Virgil was chosen as
Dantes guide through
Hell, because Dante saw
him as his master and
inspiration for his poetic
style.
the poet of the Roman
Empire.
The Aeneid tells of the
Empires founding.
Virgil also wrote in his
fourth ecologue of the
coming of a Wonder Child
who will bring the Golden
Age.
This was interpreted in
the Middle Ages as the
coming of Christ.
 STRUCTURE OF
THE DIVINE COMEDY

DANTES NUMERICAL
DANTES WORLD WAS ONE
SYMBOLISM:
THAT BELIEVED IN MYSTICAL
3 A SYMBOL OF THE HOLY
CORRESPONDENCES AND THE
TRINITY
POWER OF NUMBERS, STARS,
9 THREE TIMES THREE.
AND STONES
33 A MULTIPLE OF 3

THE 7 DAYS OF CREATION

EVENTS OF HISTORY
CONTAINED A MYSTICAL 10 CONSIDERED IN THE

SIGNIFICANCE. MEDIEVAL PERIOD A

PERFECT NUMBER
100, THE MULTIPLE OF 10.
 THREE SECTIONS OF THE DIVINE COMEDY
INFERNO, PURGATORIO, AND PARADISO

3 was a holy
number to Dante
suggesting the Holy
Trinity.
 STRUCTURE OF
THE DIVINE COMEDY

Each section has 33 cantos Three major divisions of sin:

(small division of poetry; Incontinence

canto means song.) Violence

The Inferno includes an Fraudulence

introductory canto, which
makes 100 cantos total (1oo
representing the idea of
perfection or spiritual
enlightenment achieved after
By the time you finish
reading, you will know which
circle of hell you may find
yourself in!
Three-line poetric structure:

the journey). Terza Rima

 Dantes Use of Terza Rima
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita Midway upon the journey of our life
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, I found myself within a forest dark,
ch la diritta via era smarrita. For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

Ahi quanto a dir qual era cosa dura Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say
esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte What was this forest savage, rough, and stern,
che nel pensier rinova la paura! Which in the very thought renews the fear.

Tant amara che poco pi morte; So bitter is it, death is little more;
ma per trattar del ben chi vi trovai, But of the good to treat, which there I found,
dir de laltre cose chi vho scorte. Speak will I of the other things I saw there.

Io non so ben ridir com i vintrai,10 I cannot well repeat how there I entered,10
tant era pien di sonno a quel punto So full was I of slumber at the moment
che la verace via abbandonai. In which I had abandoned the true way.

Ma poi chi fui al pi dun colle giunto, But after I had reached a mountain's foot,
l dove terminava quella valle At that point where the valley terminated,
che mavea di paura il cor compunto, Which had with consternation pierced my heart,

guardai in alto e vidi le sue spalle Upward I looked, and I beheld its shoulders,
vestite gi de raggi del pianeta Vested already with that planet's rays
che mena dritto altrui per ogne calle. Which leadeth others right by every road.
 THE INFERNO

THE SIGN ABOVE THE GATES TO THE ENTRANCE TO HELL

 THE SPIRALING INFERNO

DANTES HELL IS A ITS REGIONS ARE

ARRANGED IN A SERIES
HUGE FUNNEL OF DESCENDING
SHAPED PIT. CIRCULAR STAIRCASES
THAT DIMINISH IN
THE CENTER IS
CIRCUMFERENCE THE
LOCATED BENEATH DEEPER THAT VIRGIL AND
JERUSALEM. DANTE TRAVEL.
THE NINE REGIONS THE HIGHER UP A
ARE DESIGNATED SINNER, THE LIGHTER
THE SIN, THE DEEPER THE
FOR A PARTICULAR SINNER, THE DARKER
SIN. AND MORE TERRIBLE THE
SIN.
DANTES
FUNNEL
SHAPED
HELL
Circle of Hell Sin
Vestibule Uncommitted
Acheron River
Circle ILimbo Virtuous Unbaptized
Circle II Lustful
Circle III Gluttonous
Circle IV Prodigal, Avaricious
Circle V (Styx) Wrathful
City of Dis: Capitol of Hell

Circle VI Heretics
Circle VII: Violence
Against Neighbors,
Self, God, Nature
Abyss (Geryon)
Circle VIII: Fraud
Malebolge Panderers, Seducers, Flatterers,
(Evil Ditches) Simonists, Soothsayers, Grafters
Hypocrites, Thieves, False Counselors,
Counterfeiters, Falsifiers
Circle IX (Cocytus) Traitors to:
Kindred, Country, Guests, Masters
 AT THE BOTTOM OF THE INFERNO

DANTES
SATAN

THE
EPITOME
OF EVIL,
THE
FALLEN
ANGEL
CONCEPT OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION

PUNISHMENTS IN HELL CONTRAPASSO:

ARE REGULATED BY THE
LAW OF RETRIBUTION. SUFFER THE
OPPOSITE
THESE PUNISHMENTS PUNISHMENT OF
ARE RELATED TO THE SOULS BY A PROCESS
SINS EITHER BY EITHER RESEMBLING
ANALOGY OR
ANTITHESIS. OR CONTRASTING
WITH THE SIN ITSELF
AS ONE SINNED IN LIFE,
SO HE OR SHE IS
PUNISHED IN DEATH.
 POINTS TO REMEMBER

THE INFERNO IS PART IT IS ALSO AN

OF A WORK CALLED ALLEGORY.
THE DIVINE
COMEDY. THE MORAL PURPOSE
IS TO POINT OUT TO
IN THE MIDDLE AGES THOSE STILL LIVING
COMEDY MEANT THE ERROR OF THEIR
SOME HUMAN WAYS AND TO PUT
EXPERIENCE THAT THEM ON THE PATH OF
BEGAN IN TRAGEDY SALVATION.
AND ENDED IN
HAPPINESS.
THE FINAL
GOAL:

SALVATION
BY
THE CROSS
 In your WNB, make a chart to keep track of the
cantos and levels of hell:

Canto Circle/Region Sinners Punishment Allusions

Symbols
 Cantos 1-2
The Dark Wood
Three Beasts:
Leopard
Lion
She-wolf

Virgil as Guide

Three Blessed Women:

Virgin Mary
St. Lucia
Beatrice
Dante, the speaker, Canto 1:
suddenly finds himself lost
in a dark forest.
Mid-Life Crisis
The Call
He tries to climb up a hill Meeting with the Mentor
but he is blocked by three
beasts: a leopard, a lion,
and a she-wolf, so he is
trapped.

He is alone in the dark

valley when suddenly a
spirit appears. This is
Virgil, the Roman poet.
When Dante asks about the beasts, Virgil tells him that the
she-wolf will kill anyone who tries to pass her, but
someday the great Greyhound will come and destroy her
and send her back to Hell.

Because of the beasts, Virgil tells Dante that he must take

a different path and that he will guide Dante.

Virgil also tells Dante that they must first pass through
Hell and see the eternal punishment of the sinners before
being able to reach Heaven.

Then Virgil sets out on the journey and Dante follows

behind him.
Symbol: The
Shadowed Forest
represents the dark
time in Dantes life.
He has come to a
crossroads, perhaps a
mid-life crisis, where
he is questioning
good and evil and
the purpose and
meaning of his life.
 The Three Beasts by Priamo della Quercia (1444-1452)
Symbols: The three beasts (leopard, lion, and she-wolf) are symbols
that represent the three divisions of sin (fraud, violence, and
incontinence). These are the sins that were believed to have caused
the downfall of humankind, and since Dante is at a crossroads in his
life, this journey is intended to make him question his life and what
punishment might await him for the sins he has committed.
Symbolism and Allusion:
The three beasts might also She-Wolf by
Gustave
symbolize the politics of the Dore
day. Because of the conflict
between the Pope and the
Emperor, leadership was
continually in question. The
Lion by
Greyhound was believed to Gustave
be an allusion to the hope for Dore
a future leader who would
come to save Italy.
Allusion: Virgil--Publius
Vergilius Maro (70 BC 19 BC)

Virgil was the Roman poet of

the epic The Aeneid. He is
considered Romes greatest
poet, and he was an inspiration
to Dante.

In the poem he serves as Dantes

guide and mentor, as Dante even
refers to how much he has been
influenced by him.
A poet was I, and I sang that just
Son of Anchises, who came forth from Troy,
After that Ilion the superb was burned

But thou, why goest thou back to such annoyance?

Why climb'st thou not the Mount Delectable
Which is the source and cause of every joy?"

"Now, art thou that Virgilius and that fountain

Which spreads abroad so wide a river of speech?
I made response to him with bashful forehead.

"O, of the other poets honour and light,

Avail me the long study and great love
That have impelled me to explore thy volume!

Thou art my master, and my author thou,

Thou art alone the one from whom I took
The beautiful style that has done honour to me.
Behold the beast, for which I have turned back;
Do thou protect me from her, famous Sage,
For she doth make my veins and pulses tremble.'

"Thee it behoves to take another road,"

Responded he, when he beheld me weeping,
"If from this savage place thou wouldst escape;

Because this beast, at which thou criest out,

Suffers not any one to pass her way,
But so doth harass him, that she destroys him;

And has a nature so malign and ruthless,

That never doth she glut her greedy will,
And after food is hungrier than before.

Many the animals with whom she weds,

And more they shall be still, until the Greyhound
Comes, who shall make her perish in her pain.
 Canto 2:

Dantes Refusal
of the Call
&
Beatrice Calls
for Back-up
Paraphrase of Canto 2
Dante calls on the Muses, the ancient goddesses of art and inspiration, to ask them to help
him tell his story.
O Muses, o high genius, help me now. . .

As he begins to tell his story, he thinks that he is not strong enough to face the terrors of
Hell. He knows of only two other men who have returned after their journeys to the
afterlifethe Apostle Paul (the successor of Peter) and Aeneas (the one who fathered
Sylvius). He does not feel worthy of the greatness of either of these two:
But why should I go there? Who sanctions it?
For I am not Aeneas, am not Paul;
nor I nor others think myself so worthy.

He reminds Virgil that he was even too cowardly to face the hill and the beasts who blocked
his way. When Virgil found him, Dante had already given up and had started downhill.

Virgil tells Dante that his feelings of cowardice are common to man, but then he tells him
about how he came to be his guide:
I was among those souls who are suspended;
a lady called to me, so blessed, so lovely
that I implored to serve at her command.
Virgil has been assigned to the outer edge of HellLimbo, that is (well learn more
about this later). Beatrice came down from Heaven to Limbo to ask Virgil for help.
Beatrice was Dantes unrequited love from life. She learned about Dantes suffering
from St. Lucia (a 4th century saint of sight and grace) who was also in Heaven and who
had heard about Dante from the Virgin Mary.

These three womenBeatrice, St. Lucia, and Maryare all looking out for Dante, and
Virgil questions why Virgil hesitates with such fear when these women put such faith in
him and Beatrice was crying and begging Virgil to help.

Dante seems to feel reassured after hearing about Beatrice:

"O she, compassionate, who has helped me!
And you who, courteous, obeyed so quickly
the true words that she had addressed to you!

This gives Dante the strength to continue on the path with Virgil:
Now go; a single will fills both of us:
you are my guide, my governor, my master."
These were my words to him; when he advanced

I entered on the steep and savage path.

 The
Nine
Muses
Dante and Beatrice ascend to the Heaven of the Moon (Giovanni di Paolo 1540)

Allusion to the Muses: The Muses are the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne
(Memory); they are the goddesses of literature, music, dance and other
intellectual pursuits.

Dante invokes the muses to gain poetic inspiration to tell the story of his journey
through Hell with Virgil.

The allusion is important as a poetic device. The invocation of the Muses is a

common motif that appears in classical poetry.
Allusion to St. Paul
St. Paul is considered one of the most
influential of Christs followers and early
missionaries of Christianity. His conversion
on the road to Damascus is the most
famous story about him. He is also
responsible for writing the Epistles in the
New Testament. Fourteen of these
epistles are believed to be written by him.

Dante refers to him when he hesitates

before following Virgil through the gates
to Hell. Dante feels inferior in comparison
to St. Paul and Aeneas, who are the only
men Dante knows of who have returned
from a journey to Hell.
The Three Women
Allusion: Beatrice,
The Virgin Mary, and
St. Lucy are all
believed to be
watching over Dante.
Beatrice intervenes
on behalf of Dante
and begs Virgil to
help him in his time
of suffering.
 Word Choice
and Imagery:

Rugged pass,
deathless world, dark
air, battle, dark land,
shadows, phantoms,
fires flaming, wars,
Canto 2 Passage Analysis

She said: "You, Beatrice, true praise of God,

Why have you not helped him who loves you so
That for your sake hes left the vulgar crowd?

Do you not hear the anguish in his cry?

Do you not see the death he wars against
upon that river ruthless as the sea?

No one within this world has ever been so

quick to seek his good or flee his harm as
Iwhen she had finished speaking thus

to come below, down from my blessed station;

I trusted in your honest utterance,
which honors you and those whove listened to you.
When she had finished with her words to me,
she turned aside her gleaming, tearful eyes,
which only made me hurry all the more.

And, just as she had wished, I came to you

I snatched you from the path of the fierce beast
that barred the shortest way up the fair mountain.

What is it then? Why, why do you resist?

Why does your heart host so much cowardice?
Where are your daring and your openness

as long as there are three blessed women

Concerned for you within the court of Heaven
and my words promise you so great a good?
 Canto 3
Gates of Hell
Vestibule
Abandon all hope ye
who enter here.
Cowards
The Indecisive Angels

Punishment:
They are stung by insects
and endlessly chase
banners.

Acheron River
Charon
 Canto 4
Circle 1: Limbo

The Unbaptized and

Virtuous Pagans
Punishment:
Boredom
Forever separated
from God
Virgil, Homer, Horace,
Ovid, Socrates, Plato
 Canto 5
Circle 2

Lust
Punishment:
The lustful souls are
blown about in a
violent storm, without
hope of rest.

Minos
Francesca da Rimini
and her lover Paolo
 Canto 6
Circle 3

Gluttony
Punishment:
They are forced to live in
vile freezing slush,
guarded by Cerberus.

Ciacco of Florence
Florentine Politics
Last Judgment
 Canto 7
Circle 4

Avarice
Prodigality
Punishment:
The Miserly and
Spendthrift push great
heavy weights together,
crashing them time and
time again

Plutus
Fortuna
 Cantos 7-8
Circle 5

Wrath
Sullenness
Punishment:
The Wrathful fight each
other on the surface of
the Styx, while the
Sullen gurgle beneath it.

Phlegyas
Filippo Argenti
Fallen Angels
 Cantos 8-9
City of Dis

Lower Circles of Hell

Circles 6-9

Furies and Medusa

Harrowing of Hell
Theseus
Hercules
 Canto 10
Circle 6
Heresy
Punishment:
Heretics are trapped
in flaming tombs

Farinata
Cavalcanti
Guelphs and
Ghibellines
Epicurus
 Canto 11
Tomb of Pope Anastasius

The Stench

Intermission

Virgil pauses to explain

the structure of Lower
Hell and Gods plan
outlined by Aristotle in
his Nichomachean Ethics.
 Cantos 12-17
Circle 7
Violence:
Punishment:
Murderers: They drown in the river Phlegethon,
filled with boiling blood, while the Minotaur
guards them, and if they attempt to escape, they
are shot with bows and arrows by centaurs.
Suicides: They have become stunted and gnarled trees
with poisoned fruit and twisting branches from which
their bodies will hang while the Harpies, foul birdlike
creatures with human faces, make their nests.
Blasphemers, Sodomites and Usurers: They are showered
with flakes of fire that rain down against their naked bodies,
while they are stretched, running, or huddled on burning
sand. Sodomites can't stop running just as they couldn't stop
their passions. Usurers have to stare at the money they made
on earth with fire raining down on them.
 Cantos 18-22
Circle 8 Bolges 1-5
Fraud
Panderers and Seducers: They are forced to march,
single file around the circumference of their circle,
constantly lashed by horned demons.
Flatterers: They are immersed forever in a river of
human excrement, like what their flatteries were.
Simonists: They are turned upside down in large
baptismal fonts cut into the rock, with their feet set
ablaze by oily fires. The heat of the flames burns
according to the guilt of the sinner.
Astrologists, seers, sorcerers , diviners: Their heads
have been twisted around to face backwards, and thus
they are forced to walk backwards around the
circumference of their circle for all of time.
Grafters : They are thrown into a river of boiling
pitch and tar. If they try to escape the pitch, a horde
of demons armed with grappling hooks and barbs
stands guard over them, ready to tear them to pieces.
 Cantos 23-30
Circle 8 Bolges 6-10
Fraud
Hypocrites : They are forced to wear heavy lead robes as
they walk around the circumference of their circle. The
robes are golden and resemble a monks cowl but are lined
with heavy lead, symbolically representing hypocrisy.
Thieves: Serpents, dragons, and other vengeful reptiles
torture the thieves endlessly. The bites of some of the
snakes cause the thieves to spontaneously combust, only to
regenerate their bodies for further torment in a few
moments. They are pursued by the monstrous fiery Cacus.
Deceivers: They are constantly ablaze, appearing as
nothing so much as living, speaking tongues of flame.
Creators of discord and scandal: They are forced to walk
around the circumference of the circle bearing horrible,
disfiguring wounds inflicted on them by a great demon
with a sword.
Falsifiers: They endure different degrees of punishment
based on horrible, consumptive diseases such as rashes,
dropsy, leprosy and consumption.
 Cantos 31-34
Circle 9
Betrayal
CanaTraitors to kindred: They are immersed in
ice up to their faces.
AntenoraTraitors to country/political entities:
They are immersed in ice and forced to eat out the
skull of another sinner or have their skulls eaten by
another sinner.
PtolomaeaTraitors to their guests: They lie supine
in the ice, which covers them, except for their faces.
Their bodies on Earth are immediately possessed by a
demon, so what seems to be a walking man has reached
the stage of being incapable of repentance.
JudeccaTraitors to their lords and benefactors:
They are completely encapsulated in ice, distorted in
all conceivable positions. Satan appears upside down
with three faces, and in each mouth eternally being
eaten are Brutus, Cassius, and Judas Iscariot.
Ugolino della Gherardesca Cantos 32-33
and Sons Count Ugolino and
Archbishop Ruggieri
Circle 9: Antenora