By Dante Alighieri

The Middle Ages

 time between the fall of the
Western Roman Empire and the
beginning of the Early Modern
Period
 divided
limited artistic into: Dark,
rapidly High and
centuries of
and cultural increasing European
Late Middle Ages
output, including population  prosperity and
historical brought about growth came to
records, when great political a halt
compared with and social
later times change

476 - 100 1000 - 1300 1300 - 1500

Crisis of the Middle Ages
 Great Famine
 Black Death
 social unrest and endemic
warfare
 Peasants' Revolt
 Hundred Years' War
 the Great Schism of the
Catholic Church
Progress in the Middle
Ages
 within the arts and sciences
 renewed interest in ancient
Greek and Roman texts led to
what has later been termed the
Italian Renaissance
 the invention of printing
 era of discovery began
 produced writers: Dante
Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio,
Francesco Petrarch, & Geoffrey
Dante Alighieri
 an Italian poet from
Florence
 known as "the
Supreme Poet"
 "Father of the Italian
language“
 born to a noble
Florentine family
 embroiled in a
struggle between
Dante Alighieri
 put on trial when forces loyal to
the pope seized power
 did not appear and was
banished for two years and
given a 5,000 florin fine
 was condemned to death by
burning
 forced into exile and spent the
last 20 years of his life
wandering through Italy
Dante Alighieri

Onorate
l'altissimo
poeta

“Honour the
most
exalted
poet.”
The Divine Comedy
 considered as the
central epic poem of
Italian literature
 composed of three
canticas: Inferno
(Hell), Purgatorio
(Purgatory), and
Paradiso (Paradise)
—
 canticas: composed
each of 33 cantos
Setting

Inferno Purgatorio Paradiso

Principal Characters

Dante Virgil Beatrice

 Midway upon
Plot the
journey of
our life
I found myself
within a
forest
dark,
For the
straight-
forward
pathway
Plot
 Dante sets out on the night
before Good Friday, and finds
himself in the middle of a dark
wood.
 He sees a sunlit hill but
is unable to climb it as
he encounters three
beasts.
 Beatrice, along with the
Virgin Mary, sends
Virgil to guide him to salvation.
Plot
The Nine Circles of Hell
 Each circle represents further
and further evil
 It culminates in the center of
the earth, where Satan is held.
 Each circle's sin is punished in a
fashion fitting their crime.
 Sinners are afflicted by the
chief sin they committed for all
of eternity.
 They descend through hell and
Plot

All hope abandon,

ye who enter here.
Plot
 Satan is
impotent,
ignorant, and
evil – the exact
opposite of
God.
 The two poets
climb down
Lucifer, passing
through the
center of the
Plot
Terraces of Purgatory
 It is located exactly opposite
Jerusalem in the globe.
 As the pilgrims entered
Purgatory, an angel inscribed
the letter “P” on Dante’s
forehead seven times.
 The letters were erased one by
one as he made his way through
the seven areas.
Plot
Terraces of Purgatory
 It was composed of terraces
where inhabitants could move
on to higher realms after a time
of purification.
 Each terrace was designed to
purge its dead souls of one
particular deadly sin.
 After the seventh terrace, an
angel directed Dante and Virgil
Plot
 Virgilbid Dante farewell, for this
was as far as human reason
would allow a non-Christian to
go.
 Dante noticed a beautiful
garden where he was informed
that across the river beside it,
Beatrice waited.
 He expressed remorse for his
sins and confessed them.
Plot
Nine Spheres of Heaven
 These are concentric and
spherical, similar to Aristotelian
and Ptolemaic cosmology.
 Souls are allotted to the point of
heaven that fits with their
human ability to love God.
 Thus, there is a heavenly
hierarchy. All parts of heaven
are accessible to the heavenly
soul.
 That is to say all experience God
Plot
Nine Spheres of Heaven
 One’s level is determined by
how much one allows oneself to
experience God above other
things.
Plot
 From the ninth sphere, Dante
ascends to a region beyond
physical existence where the
souls of all the believers form
the petals of an enormous rose.
 Beatrice leaves Dante with Saint
Bernard, because theology has
here reached its limits.
 Saint Bernard prays to Mary on
behalf of Dante. Finally, Dante
comes face-to-face with God
Himself, and is granted
understanding of the Divine and
Plot
 In union with the Divine, Dante
was left to behold the glory of
God on his throne.
 God appears as three equally
large circles within each other
representing the Father, the Son
and the Holy Spirit with the
essence of each part of God,
separate yet one.
Plot
O how scant
is speech
And how
feeble
To my
conception
Plot
 Dante's soul, through God's
absolute love, experiences a
unification with itself and all
things:
"but already my
desire and my will
were being turned
like a wheel, all at
one speed by the
Love that turns
the sun and all the
other stars.”
Themes
Sites of Interest
 http://www.divinecomedy.org/
 http://web.eku.edu/flash/inferno/
 http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/paradis
 http://www.worldofdante.org/
 http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/in
dex.html