The Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy is a long poem by Dante Alighieri. Although it is strongly influenced by the poetic epics of the Illiad and the Odyssey by Homer, and particularly the Aeneid by Virgil, its structure is significantly different from anything that had been written before. The basic story details Dante getting lost in a dark forest, and as an act of divine grace to correct his life, embarking on a tour of the afterworld. We are introduced to his benefactor, Beatrice, who may be an allusion to a woman he loved and wrote poetry about, as well as a symbol of wisdom. She sets him under the care of Virgil, who as a wise pagan is confined to Limbo. Virgil is given permission to escort him through all the levels of Hell and Purgatory. In Paradise, he is reunited with Beatrice as his escort.
Structure
The poem is in three main parts, or cantiche:
- Inferno (Hell) - 34 cantos
- Purgatorio (Purgatory) - 33 cantos
- Paradiso (Heaven) - 33 cantos.
Each of these is divided into a number of cantos (or canti) as indicated; there are 100 cantos in total. Each canto is around 130-150 lines long.
The entire work is written in terza rime, a rhyme scheme where lines, each of eleven syllables, are in groups of three (terzine). The first and last lines of each terzina rhyme with each other, while the second rhymes with the first and last lines of the next terzina. For example, the first three terzine of each canto have the rhyme scheme aba, bcb, cdc. Each canto ends with a single line, which rhymes with the second line of the final terzina.
Translations
Translations of the Divine Comedy into English almost always conserve the divisions between cantos. However, some are in prose rather than verse, and those that are in verse may use a different rhyme scheme and meter, or none at all. These choices depend on the objectives of the translation.
Synopsis
The dark forest
At the start of the poem, Dante is lost in a dark forest. He tries to get back to 'the straight path', but is prevented by three savage beasts: a lion, a wolf and a leopard. As he begins to despair, he meets the ghost of Virgil, who explains that he has been sent by Beatrice to guide Dante to safety. However, his predicament is so dire that the only way to get out is first to go through Hell.
Hell
Main article: Dante's Inferno
As Virgil and Dante make their journey, they begin with the five lesser circles of Hell:
In each place, Dante questions the souls dwelling there, called ‘shades’ due to their lack of a body. All the shades will be resurrected and given new bodies, and continue in their deserved location. He identifies many people from history as well as his political contemporaries. He describes each location by poetic symbols referring alternately to Greek and Roman mythology, as well as Biblical and historical events.
The four lower circles of Hell are inside a walled city called Dis. The first of these (the sixth circle overall) punishes Heresy. The seventh circle is split into three regions, where different forms of violence are punished:
- Violence against others, including tyranny
- Violence against oneself, ie suicides and wanton spendthrifts
- Violence against God or nature, including blasphemers, usurers and homosexuals.
Then they descend to the eighth circle, which is home to those guilty of different forms of minor fraud:
- Seducers
- Flatterers
- Simonists
- Soothsayers
- Stirring up Lawsuits
- Hypocrites
- Thieves
- Evil Counselors
- Sunderers
- Liars
The ninth and lowest circle, situated at the center of the earth, is set aside for traitors. In the ultimate depths of this circle, the travelers come upon Satan and the three worst human offenders:
In Dante’s time, Julius Caesar was honored as the first emperor of Rome, and Rome brought the ‘Pax Romana’. [1]
Purgatory
Main article: Dante's Purgatorio
They then escape Hell by going through the center of the Earth and meeting the entrance to Purgatory. Purgatory is depicted as an incredibly high mountain on an island in the world's southern hemisphere (note that Dante described a spherical Earth almost 200 years before Christopher Columbus' voyage).
The mountain is encircled by seven ledges, known as cornices, where each of the Seven Deadly Sins is cleansed. As Dante goes up the mountain, his own sins are also cleansed to prepare him for his journey into Heaven. As they travel through Purgatory, Virgil and Dante again meet many historical figures as well as Dante's contemporaries. There are many references to Florence and other cities in Italy, and he uses the various levels of Purgatory to malign his political foes, and corrupt Church leaders. Classical figures are mainly absent, as their lack of Christian faith prevents them from entering.
At the end of Purgatory before he enters Heaven, Virgil departs and Dante is left to Beatrice as his guide. [2]
Heaven
Main article: Dante's Paradiso
Heaven is also divided into levels based on the good works of those who enter there from life directly or from the purification of Purgatory. Dante again questions Beatrice on what he sees and is questioned by the inhabitants of Heaven as well. The nine levels of Heaven correspond to the Ptolemy view of the planets rotation around the Earth:
Beyond these levels (and outside time itself) are:
- The motionless Heaven (or Empyrean)
- Mary’s throne
- 9 angelic circles
- God’s throne with the elders
His allusions are again rooted in Greek and Roman mythology which he relates to Christian virtues and doctrines, symbols from astrology, Biblical history, Church teaching, and honored political figures. The high position of Mary is emphasized as it was the prevailing belief of the time.
Dante ends in Paradise, and is given the task of returning to life and writing down what he has seen for the benefit of those still living. He equates this purpose to that of the man the apostle Paul wrote about who ascended to the 3rd Heaven in a vision, or that the Apostle John wrote in the Apocalypse (Revelation). [3]
References
- ↑ The Divine Comedy, By Dante Alighieri, Translated by Charles Singleton, Bollingen Series 80, Vol 1: Inferno. Copyright 1970 by Princeton University Press.
- ↑ The Divine Comedy, By Dante Alighieri, Translated by Charles Singleton, Bollingen Series 80, Vol 2: Purgatorio. Copyright 1973 by Princeton University Press.
- ↑ The Divine Comedy, By Dante Alighieri, Translated by Charles Singleton, Bollingen Series 80, Vol. 3: Paradiso. Copyright 1975 by Princeton University Press.