Inferno

In his letter to the Galatians, Saint Paul writes that in order to live in Christ men must die to themselves, offer up their struggles to Christ and make a conscious decision to let Christ live and work through them. In order to understand Dante’s Divine Comedy it is vitally important to make the distinction and state that it is not a roadmap that explicitly directs readers physically through hell, purgatory, and heaven. The Divine Comedy is an allegorical journey that reveals the nature of sin,…

Plato's teaching, along with other things such as grabs for powers, not knowing how to translate from Hebrew to English, along with non-biblical writings such as Dante's "Inferno" (which was really just his personal condemnation of the Church - CK THIS) and Milton's "Paradise Lost" (which loosely quoted Scripture, not word for word -- CK THIS) and, most important of all, the willingness of people to accept traditions and teachings as the truth w/o actually reading the Scriptures to find out for…

This paper will discuss Canto XIX of Dante’s Inferno, where the poet presents a character named Pope Nicholas III. Superficially, Pope Nicholas III seems to be motivated by money and greed. Deeper insight gained from close reading reveals; however, that Pope Nicholas III has lost the good of the intellect in the sense that he is obsessed with power and being in charge and believes that he can gain this power through bargaining. This thesis will be demonstrated by means of the principle of close…

Dante The Mindful Hero Unlike most epic hero journeys, The Inferno by Dante Alighieri is more modern than most. Dante expresses a journey that society can relate to. The majority of epics, the protagonist is a person that society can look up to rather than relate to them. When the audience reads stories about strong characters, and they see the outcomes of their actions, they aspire to be like them and crave strength. What makes Dante Alighieri unique and unlike other epic heroes is that he…

In his letter to Can Grande, Dante explained that his writing is “‘polysemous’, that is, having several meanings;” (20). Dante’s Inferno can be read in a literal sense, as most works are, but it is meant to be read in allegorical, moral, and anagogical senses as well. Reading a work of literature in a literal sense involves interpreting the words in the most basic sense, but Dante’s work has a much deeper meaning. The allegorical sense allows the reader to grasp the views the writer has of…

Chapter 1: The story's setting is France during the winter of 1815. The opening scene describes the slow arrival of the Pharaon, a merchant ship owned by Morrel and Son. The main character of the story and first-mate of the Pharaon, is Dantes. Since the captain of the ship, Leclere, has died, Morrel soon promotes Dantes to captain. Dantes is well-liked by all of the sailors, except Danglars, who is jealous of Dantes' favorable position with the owner, and hopes to discredit the…

After being exiled from Heaven, Satan suddenly awakens in Hell, chained near the lake of fire. He finds Beelzebub next to him and begins a discussion about their fate and new path for himself and his followers. Satan and Beelzebub escape from the lake of fire and praise themselves about it. Then the monologue of Satan begins. The verses of 242 to 263 emphasize the theme of hierarchy and order in the universe and Satan’s disobedience and revolt against it. The passage can be divided into three…

meaning and purpose for Dante is about avoiding sin in addition to doing good. For Perpetua and Felicitas, a life of purpose is achieved through devotion to God, furthermore Plato would say to live a meaningful life is to live a life of reason. Inferno is Dante Alighieri’s journey through the many layers of hell with his trustee guide Virgil, Dante’s favorite Roman poet. Dante finds himself lost in the woods, “Midway in our life’s journey, I went…

Dante Alighieri’s Inferno was one of the first major works in what would later be known as standard, Tuscan Italian. While the Inferno was important, it was not the first, sole nor main cause of the rise of Tuscan Italian. Many authors both before and after the time of Dante were just as, if not more, influential in the rise of the Tuscan Italian dialect as Dante Alighieri’s work. Although influential in ending the Latin language’s monopoly of written language in Italy and extending the…

Purgatorio, Canto II The second canto in “Purgatorio”, even more so than the first, is an explanation of how, and in what state, new souls arrive in Purgatory. The canto begins with Dante explaining that he and Vigil are still on the beach near the ocean. From the beach Dante looks out over the water and notices some sort of bright light, but he can not immediately determine what it es. The light seems to be moving towards Virgil and Dante at an incredible speed. At first, it seems that Virgil…