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The Divine Comedy: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso

Dante Alighieri

Start date: January 1, 2020

Finish date: March 31, 2020

Discussion: Old School Classics, Pre-1915

Why we're reading this: First Quarter Long Read 2020
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Old School Classics, Pre-1915

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Mar 30, 2014 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: hf-medieval-europe, italian-literature, classics, poetry, read-2014, italy, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you

From BBC Radio 4 - Classical Serial:
Blake Ritson, David Warner and John Hurt star in Stephen Wyatt's dramatisation of Dante's epic poem - the story of one man's incredible journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise.

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
ché la diritta via era smarrita.

In Episode 1: Inferno, the thirty-five year old Dante (Blake Ritson) finds himself in the middle of a dark wood, in extreme personal and spiritual crisis. But hope of rescue appears i ...more

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Jan 14, 2020 Maggie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, christian, poetry, classics, european

In the 12th century Italy, there were two political factions, the Ghibellines, who supported the Holy Roman Emperor, and the Guelphs, who supported the pope. Later, in Florence, the Guelphs split into the Black Guelphs, who supported the pope, and the White Guelphs, who supported the emperor. Dante was a White Guelph, and when the Black Guelphs rose to power, Dante was exiled and sentenced to death, and lived in exile for the rest of his life.

This context is particularly important in reading Div In the 12th century Italy, there were two political factions, the Ghibellines, who supported the Holy Roman Emperor, and the Guelphs, who supported the pope. Later, in Florence, the Guelphs split into the Black Guelphs, who supported the pope, and the White Guelphs, who supported the emperor. Dante was a White Guelph, and when the Black Guelphs rose to power, Dante was exiled and sentenced to death, and lived in exile for the rest of his life.

This context is particularly important in reading Divine Comedy. Dante, lost in dark woods (which symbolises his exile), journeys through the three stages of afterlife, inferno (hell), purgatory, and paradise. He learns how each area is divided (hell into stages of worsening sin, purgatory into stages of redeemable sin, and paradise into different types of holy beings), and sees the people that populate each area. In hell and purgatory, he is led by Virgil, the Ancient Greek poet, but in paradise, which Virgil is not allowed to enter as he did not know Christ, Dante is led by Beatrice, a lady whom he loved but died early.

Divine Comedy is both a religious and political commentary. As a religious work, it shows Dante's personal and sometimes unique beliefs. Hell for example is interestingly divided in increasing severity of sin into the sins of incontinence (e.g. the lustful, the gluttonous), sins of violence (against others, then self, then God), sins of deceit against those who have no cause to trust (e.g. flatterers, hypocrites, thieves), and finally sins of deceit against those who have cause to trust (traitors). Each division is further subdivided into different types of sin. The classification is interesting in that it is not murderers who are judged to have the worst sin, but instead sin is judged based on intention. In paradise, Dante reveals that goodness is essentially defined by love, and the greatest good is in those with the greatest love. We learn along the way of his favourite saints, of who he deems to be the best Christians and the worst sinners, and of his thoughts of virtues like charity and faith.

As a political and social commentary, Dante uses Divine Comedy to lament about the corruption in Florence. He attacks his political enemies as well and corrupt rulers, popes and religious leaders, and praises the people he respects and his friends. His most brutal attacks are reserved for people like Pope Boniface, who was the main driving force behind Dante's exile. His journey from hell to paradise serves as a form of hope and a reminder that his real-life exile is not permanent.

I read the Kirkpatrick translation and it is excellent. The introduction are annotations are informative and helpful in explaining the context of the text, the different people Dante mentions, the locations he mentions, and the symbols he uses. The annotations are sufficient to give an adequate understanding of the text, although they do get occasionally too lengthy in the third section, and I had to skim them to avoid hampering my reading pleasure of the text. As Kirkpatrick explains, it is difficult to translate both the Italian rhythm and rhyme, as Italian words, unlike English words, tend to end in vowels. However he did adhere to the terse rim, reproducing the poetic meter while balancing this well with the accuracy of the translation. ...more

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