Dante

The Early Years… Dante Alighieri was born in 1265 in

Florence, then a virtual city-state and perhaps the wealthiest mercantile center in the world.

The Early Years… Dante began his career as a love poet, one

of a group who developed a "new sweet style" (dolce stil nuovo)

Poems on the mysteries

and ecstasies of courtly love.

The Early Years… After the death of his exalted Beatrice

(Beatrice Portinari, 1266-90), he plunged into the study of philosophy and Provençal poetry.

Dante included her as a character symbolic of God’s message of faith and love in his masterpiece, The Divine Comedy.

The Middle Years… By 1295, however, Dante had entered into

a political career, rising to become one of the city's leaders, only to find himself banished from Florence under sentence of death in 1302 when a rival faction rose to power.

The Work… This is the first work written in Italian

Vulgare rather that Latin which helped to establish a national language (like Canterbury tales did in England).

Written in Terza Rima = aba bcb cdc ded……. a very difficult scheme.

The Work… The piece is an allegory. God’s gradual revelation to an unsuspecting

and unprepared pilgrim. Through this we see a rational human soul

choosing salvation of his own free will. The journey is a metaphor. The pilgrim,

Dante, is Everyman.

The Work… Dante uses 1. real life characters 2. autobiographical moments 3. eschatological (the body of religious

doctrines concerning the human soul in its relation to death, judgment, heaven, and hell) detail

4. mythological characters

The Structure of ThreeAfter the initial canto, the three major sections of the

work (The Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso) are divided into 33 cantos, representing the age of Christ when he died.

The work also represents The Trinity & Holiday• The Inferno represents the power of God the Father (Good Fri)

• Purgatorio represents the wisdom of Christ the Son (Sat.)

• Paradiso represents the love of the Holy Spirit (Easter Sun)

INFERNO Conceptualby Barry Moser

An Eye for an Eye Contrapasso – In Dante’s Inferno there is

a logical punishment for every offence.

Best tour of hell! http://people.ek Newu.edu/kingt/inferno/

*What the Hell… Test-

http://www.4degreez.com/misc/dante-inferno-test.mv

* This test and Dante’s Inferno is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not to offend or

attack anyone’s beliefs!