Dante Alighieri1265-1321

The Inferno

The Divine Comedy

• If you are struggling to find humor in your reading of the Inferno, don’t worry. The whole work is regarded as a comedy in the sense that it ends happily with Dante ascending to Heaven.

Terza Rima

• Dante introduced this three-line stanza probably to suggest the Holy Trinity

• A-B-A, B-C-B, C-D-C, D-E-D etc.

• Iambic feet are generally preferred in English– Iambic trimeter u/ u/ u/– Iambic tetrameter u/ u/ u/ u/ – Iambic pentameter u/ u/ u/ u/ u/

Tuscan

• Dante’s use of the common vernacular – the language of the people – is hugely influential in the Tuscan dialect being accepted as a unified Italian language

• Chaucer had much the same effect in Britain with his use of Middle English versus French

What the Hell!

• The visit to the underworld seems to say that, in the pattern of Christ, ascent first requires descent, a deeper understanding of the possibilities of degradation and of demeaned actuality before consciousness can be converted to conviction.

The hell you say!

• The purpose of Hell is

to explain the causes of

Dante’s inability to

ascend the mountain.

He must recognize

the values responsible for his first missteps. Hell is the place of disaffection, where many false commitments must be unlearned

The Three Beasts

Three Beasts

• The Leopard, Lion, and the She-Wolf all function as allegorical representations of Dante’s sins. He must journey through Hell before he can ascend to Heaven

She-Wolf: sins of excessive animal appetiteBAD

Lion: sins of bestial violenceWORSE

Leopard: sins of fraudWORST

Apocalyptic Scripture

• Dante sees himself as a prophet similar to Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel

• The Inferno is a journey of religious faith and salvation and a biting commentary on Italian politics

• As you read, consider this: Where in Dante’s Hell do we belong and how would the poet envision us if we were there?

Seven Deadly Sins(In descending order)

• Lust

• Gluttony

• Avarice

• Acedia

• Wrath

• Envy

• Pride

Structure in the Inferno

• Description of area• Demon threatens/ Virgil protects• Description of sin• Interaction with sinners• Transition to next area

• Order can vary, but this comprises most of what happens in each circle

Description of Area

• Dante’s descriptions are always vivid. We hear, feel, see, smell, touch the foulness of the place

The Threat of the Demons

• Many of the demons that the travelers encounter are half-human, half beast, creatures borrowed from Virgil, who borrowed them from classical Greek sources

Find and Note the Description of the Following Characters in the

Inferno• Virgil – Dante’s symbol for HUMAN

REASON

_ “Glory and light of poets . . . my true master and first author . . . immortal sage.”

1. Describe who the character is.

2. Find appropriate passages from the poem to describe the character.

You Find Them

• Charon• Minos• Dido• Paulo and Francesca• Cerberus• Minotaur• Centaurs• Harpies• Old Man of Crete

Charon

Minos

Dido

Paulo and Francesca

Cerberus

Minotaur

Centaur

Harpy

Old Man of Crete

The Wood of the Suicides

Geryon

Construct a Map of Hell

1. Start at the center of Hell where Dante and Virgil climb over Lucifer to appear in the “other hemisphere.’

2. Who is there and why? Satan is sealed in ice and beating his wings. He has three faces, and in the mouth of each are Judas Iscariot, Brutus, and Cassius. Each is there for betraying his master

Lucifer

Lucifer

• What do you notice about the image of Lucifer?

• What is the significance of Lucifer, the arch-demon, weeping?

• The image of Lucifer is static and remote. Why does Dante not talk to him?

Read How to Read Dantepp. ix - xvii

• Prepare a page of notes/observations for a graded class discussion tomorrow.

• I will guide the discussion, but the onus will be on you to make intelligent observations regarding the work

• Try to focus on the allegorical meaning of the work. The introductory essay should help you with that