Dante and his World

Daniela Cunico Dal Pra, Lecturer in Italian Language and Culture, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

dcunicod@uncc.edu

Dante’s Italy

Dante Alighieri

Image of Florence in XIV Century: Madonna del Bigallo frescoes.

Florence in Dante’s time

• No social networks: squares as places for gathering.• No newspapers or magazines: public proclamations.• No TV: public announcements.• No movie theatre: ballad tellers/singers.• No public schools: private tutoring at home. Who can afford

education?• Not much literacy…then? See an example of a visual Bible:

Cappella_Scrovegni_Giotto_Padua• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0-0EEq9b14

Durante degli Alighieri: DANTEFacts

• Father of Italian language: Sommo (=supreme) Poeta, Il Poeta (=The Poet);• He was born in Florence in 1265, and died in Ravenna in 1321;• Major Italian Poet of Middle Ages;• By a noble Guelph family;• 1295 Member of Medici and Speziali Guild to participate to public life.• 1300 Active politically in Florence: appointed as Priore• 1302 Condemned to exile while he was traveling on a diplomatic mission; • 1307-1312 composed the Comedía, later called by his friend and contemporary

poet Giovanni Boccaccio La Divina Commedia;• La Divina Commedia is considered the greatest literary work in verses composed in

modern Italian language; it is a masterpiece of world literature.

Culture

• In the late Middle Ages, the poetry was still written in Latin, therefore was accessible only to a limited affluent audience. • Dante writes a treatise, De vulgari eloquentia/On Eloquence in the Vernacular,

on defense of the use of the volgare― vernacular ―in literature. He himself would even write in the Tuscan dialect for works such as Vita Nova/The New Life (1295) and the Divine Comedy; this choice, set an important evolution in Italian literature, becoming an illustrious precedent for Italian writers Petrarch and Boccaccio. As a result, Dante played an instrumental role in establishing the national language of Italy. Dante's significance also extends past his home country; his depictions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven have provided inspiration for a large body of Western art, and are cited as an influence on the works of John Milton, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, and Lord Alfred Tennyson, among many others. • In addition, the first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, or the

terza rima/terzina, is attributed to him.

Firenze, Biblioteca Laurenziana. Manuscript of 1380

Meaning of Divine Comedy for Dante’s contemporary people:

• Characters, facts and events were recognizable;• The denounce of corruption of the clergy was a topic discussed by the

public opinion;• The vision and the exploration of the otherworld was very popular;• The narrative structure and the use of the vernacular/volgare

facilitated the learning of philosophical concepts to larger audiences;• The terzina (terza rima), and hendecasyllable with chained rhymes

facilitated the memorization, and was apt to be recited;• Many expressions with moral content found in the Commedia were

easy to memorize and cite.

Dante’s Mission

• When Dante was sent into exile, he fell into a deep crisis. • He could have fallen into depression, or ordeal a plot against the

actual Florentine government, or use his poetic skill to persuade people that the political crisis was due to a moral diffused decadence. • Question: How to bring back mankind to a primitive spirituality ?• Feeling the necessity of a superior world, Dante had the perception

that he had been called by the Providence to a mission for redemption; for himself and for the other people. • Dante was convinced that he could contribute with his work to the

pursuit of a deep social and political reformation, under the joined guidance of two recognized authorities: the emperor (secular power) and the pope (spiritual power).

HOW?

• By writing a Poem in verses that all people could:• Understand by language• Appreciate by the subject of the narration• Enjoy because it is fascinating, engaging, and …compelling!

The Commedia!

• Allegorical Poem, with Moral and Spiritual purposes; (Definition of allegory?)• Genre: Visions (very popular in the Middle Ages). To be specific, it starts with a nightmare, it

becomes a dream and finally ends with a vision.• Comedy: theatrical, realistic, interesting , dramatic, fun, didactic (Definition?)Cultural and literary references used by Dante: a) Scholastic Philosophy: Aristotle, Saint Augustin and Saint Thomas Aquinas;b) Astronomy: Averroës (Arabic), Ptolemy (Egyptian);c) Latin and Greek mythologyd) Latin and Greek classic literature (foundation of Dante’s education, and justification for his

invention):• the Aeneid by Vergil. In Dante’s mind the descent of Aeneas (protagonist of the Aeneid, and

founder of Rome) still living in the underworld was part of God’s Providential Plan, as the preparation for the Universal Monarchy based in Rome.

• The Odysseys by Homer: Odysseus descends before his death in the Ades to meet Achilles.e) The Bible (Vetus Latina, or Vulgata)! (Saint Paul went to the Hell too!)

Allegory

Architecture of the outer world (medieval cosmology, and philosophy)• Perfect symmetry of the three (three!) worlds.• Earth is motionless, at the center of the universe (Ptolemaic theory)• Around the Earth: the 9 concentric skies of the Ptolemaic system,

surrounded by a 10th fixed and immaterial sky, the Empyrean. Here resides God’s Court.• LuciferLucis fĕro (fallen Angel), expression of the Evil: when he rebelled

to God, he was thrown to the opposite of the Supreme Good: at the center of Earth. He is half implanted in the Terrestrial Hemisphere, and half in the Austral Hemisphere (entirely occupied by the water). • Earth, terrified by Lucifer, retracted, by creating a cone shaped abyss, with

the tip at the center; on the opposite Hemisphere it formed a mountain: the Mount Purgatory . On top of Purgatory that emerges from the waters, the Poet locates the Terrestrial Heaven.

Lucifer, Doré

Dante’s CosmosIs formed, with the axis beginning in Jerusalem (where is the Hell’s entrance):• the Earth (with inside the Hell), • the Purgatory (with on top the Terrestrial Heaven), • the 9 skies of the Paradise (with the Mystic Rose on top).

Dante’s Cosmos

Map of the World by Pietro Vesconte, 1320

The Outer worlds’ symmetry corresponds to the Poem’s symmetry

• Three cantiche /sections (Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso);• 33 canti for each cantica (+one introductory to Inferno);• Dante’s political vision (gradually: Florence, Italy, Empire) expressed in

the Canti VI;• Dante’s entrance to each reign narrated in Canti IX;• Each of the three Worlds is divided in 9 partsa) 9 gironi of Inferno, b) 9 regions of Purgatory (Antipurgatory 7 balze/crags+ Terrestrial

Paradise)c) 9 skies of Paradise.

Plot of the Commedia• Dante narrates in first person • Journey begins on March 25, Good Friday,1302. • Dante is in the “middle of his life” (37!!!) when he finds himself lost in a dark forest. Scared,

he tries to reach the top of a hill illuminated by the sun, but he does not succeed, because his path is blocked by three ferocious animals: a loin, a lion and a she-wolf. When Dante is almost going to succumb to the she-wolf (and loosing his hope), luckily the spirit of Virgil (sent by Beatrice)* appears and announces that one day a greyhound will chase the she-wolf from all the cities, by throwing her in the hell (from where the human’s sins let her slip out).

• Vergil from here will guide Dante to find his salvation/redemption, but through a different path: he will accompany him through the Damnation of the Hell, the atonement of the Purgatory, to the “Heaven on Earth” (on top of the Mount of Purgatory); here Beatrice will supersede Vergil’s role as a guide. She will accompany Dante to visit the “nine skies of Paradise”, until they will reach the Empyrean, where is God. In order to be able to contemplate God, the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation of Christ, Dante will be assisted also by another guide, Saint Bernard: he will obtain and intercession by the Virgin Mary.

• When the vision will end, Dante’s Willingness will finally be free from sin and will move in harmony with God’s Willingness.

Beatricebeatus=blissfulBeatrix (she) who brings blissfulness

Additional symbolic number: 3 (medieval number of Perfection)

• Trinity• Three Cantiche• Three Beasts• Three Women (Beatrice, Saint Lucy, Virgin Mary)• Three Guides (Beatrice, Vergil, Saint Bernard)• Three Poets encountered (Vergil, Sordello, and Stazio)• Terza Rima --listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_IcpifLHGI

The Allegorical Journey• Dante imagines to make this fantastic trip in 1300, in occasion of the Jubilee

proclaimed by Pope Boniface VIII.• On the Holy Week, starting on April 8th, for 7 days Dante goes through the 9

cerchi of the Hell, climbs Mount Purgatory, ascends to the Empyrean, and finally he is able to contemplate for an instant God. For his and for mankind’s redemption.• The initial Dark Forest is Dante’s personal backsliding, but also the general

decline of human society, due to the decadence of the two authorities (Spiritual and Secular).• Dante tries to leave the Dark Forest by heading towards the Luminous Hill:

the Sun behind the Hill represents the Grace.• But the three beasts ――loin, lion and she-wolf (representing bad disposition)

— cross Dante’s road. He won’t be able to reach the Hill until the greyhound (=veltro) will come.

Organization of Dante’sThree Worlds

Allegorical Journey• Therefore the only way left for Dante to escape from the evil, is the

Reason. • The Reason can contribute saving the sinner Dante in two ways:1. By representing the terrible punishments arranged by the Justice;2. By frequently recalling the sinner that sooner or later by destiny

everyone will die. Who is able to wisely use the free will, will pursuit the Double Happiness (human and spiritual) assigned by God’s Providence.

• Only with the contribution of the Grace, Dante and Humankind could have access to the Revelation.• Therefore for Dante is necessary this journey throughout the Inferno,

Purgatorio and Paradiso.

Role of the Guides:

1. Vergil will conduct Dante through the Inferno, with the purpose of helping him to gain back his self control;

2. Beatrice will bring him • to the acknowledgement of the

Divine Mercy radiating from the Paradise• To the contemplation of God.

Codex Barberini, the oldest illustration of the Divina Commedia

Illustration of the Commedia

• http://bradypus.net/it/sites/default/images/download/C.10_LEZ_3_parte2.pdf (Sandro Botticelli, XV century)• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_aTOxO7nQA• http://www.divinecomedy.org/divine_comedy.php3?gallery?contents • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhEnbwNoPec (Gustave Doré,

XVIII century)• http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/collection/international/print/b/blake/dan

te.html (William Blake, XIX century)• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGwl6KAHJIg (Salvador Dalí, XX

century)

Videos

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS4We4MDheg (Liguoro, Bertolini and Padovan: Dante’s Inferno, 1911)• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBGq11ODudA (Vittorio Gassman,

2012. 4’ 39”).• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igC8UcnAZHE (Roberto Benigni,

2006).• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVIk8siAKXc (Piazza Santa Croce)• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUYXGB8Uk4M (Documentary)• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zQMJB8PSJM (Dante’s Inferno

Game Movie)

References• Hainsworth, Peter. Dante : a Very Short Introduction. First ed.

Oxford ;New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. Print.• Mazzotta, Giuseppe. Dante's Vision and the Circle of Knowledge.

Princeton UP, 1993. Web.• Shaw, Prue. Reading Dante : from Here to Eternity. First ed. New York:

Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. Print.