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Long-promised section on sources
===Simile===
===Simile===
The Divine Comedy is notable for its use of [[simile]]. Throughout the work, Dante casts his net wide to find comparisons for the unearthly sights he describes, drawing from [[history]], [[nature]], [[meteorology]], [[biology]] and [[physics]], amongst many sources. In the most typical examples, the simile is introduced first, and then the sight which is compared to it is described; common forms are "''Quale ... tale ...''" and "''Come ... cosí ...''". In many cases, similes are long and elaborate; for example, near the start of Inferno XXI, nine lines are devoted to describing the boiling pitch used by [[Venice|Venetian]] shipbuilders, which is then used as a simile for the tar in which the souls of [[barratry|barraters]] meet their fate.
The Divine Comedy is notable for its use of [[simile]]. Throughout the work, Dante casts his net wide to find comparisons for the unearthly sights he describes, drawing from [[history]], [[nature]], [[meteorology]], [[biology]] and [[physics]], amongst many sources. In the most typical examples, the simile is introduced first, and then the sight which is compared to it is described; common forms are "''Quale ... tale ...''" and "''Come ... cosí ...''". In many cases, similes are long and elaborate; for example, near the start of Inferno XXI, nine lines are devoted to describing the boiling pitch used by [[Venice|Venetian]] shipbuilders, which is then used as a simile for the tar in which the souls of [[barratry|barraters]] meet their fate.
==Sources==
In writing the Divine Comedy, Dante drew on a wide range of sources:
*A primary source for theological matters is the [[Bible]]. Dante makes frequent allusions both to specific verses from both the Old and New Testaments, and to the philosophy of [[St Paul]] and others.
*Next in importance after the Bible are the [[philosophy|philosophical]] works of Aquinas and Aristotle. The organization of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory is based on Aquinas' categorization of sin, and both are also invoked in regards to particular points of doctrine. Other thinkers such as [[Plato]] are also drawn on.
*Many elements, particularly in the [[Inferno]], are taken from [[Greek]] [[mythology]]. These include the mythical beasts that appear, and the rivers of [[Hades]]. The main source for these would have been [[Roman]] poets such as [[Virgil]].
*Dante appears to have had a keen interest in science, as he often draws parallels with scientific discoveries that would have been quite new at the time in order to describe events and places, or to explain points of philosophy.
The modern reader should note that even the texts of well-known writers were nowhere near as readily available in Dante's day as they are today. Much of what he had read would have been in the form of commentaries, incomplete transcripts or collections of quotations, which accounts for certain gaps in his knowledge (for example, [[Odysseus]]' long speech makes no reference to the actual events of the [[Odyssey]]). Nevertheless, the Comedy as a whole is a major achievement in synthesizing Christian and classical thought into a meticulous and coherent vision of what the afterlife might look like, with even small details rooted firmly in sources such as those listed above.
Having said all the above, it should also be made clear that the poet's own imaginative and philosophical talents played an important role: the Divine Comedy is much more than a mere assimilation of the work of others, and on several points Dante is unafraid to differ from the prevailing views of the time.
==Influence==
==Influence==