Dante Alighieri: The Divine Comedy

welcome in this session of the instant expert series we will take a journey through hell and into heaven led by the Italian poet Dante in his work The Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy is an epic poem said in the year 1300 and a details Dante's trip through the afterlife his journey is prompted by a spiritual crisis in midlife when he finds himself lost in the woods as you can imagine the woods that Dante finds himself lost in represent a personal sense of confusion and darkness this is the kind of symbolism that will see throughout Dante's long journey but before we go with Dante to the other side of reality we need to understand what prompted him to write of such a trip we also need to understand why this poem is considered a masterpiece of literature and political commentary of course every author leaves their personality and their opinions in their work but Dante especially uses his Divine Comedy as a vehicle for expressing his anger at the corrupt government of his native city Florence the poem is filled with inhabitants of Florence Italy and the ancient world who appear sometimes in heaven sometimes in hell depending on where Dante felt they would end up one of the uses of the poem and critics disagree as to which use was most important in Dante's mind is its use as political and historical commentary Dante was an extremely well-educated man so full of knowledge about the world but he at one time wanted to write an encyclopedia Dante had then great intelligence a wide range of knowledge and strong opinions that he was not afraid to express he also had a deeply spiritual nature and longing for truth the Divine Comedy is more than a tour through the world of the Dead it's Dante's search for personal meaning as he sees and hears what those who went before him have experienced let's look at Dante's life and times before we review his epic poem Dante was born in Florence in 1265 and as he tells us in the Divine Comedy he was a Gemini Dante was especially intrigued by astronomy astrology and mathematics and his knowledge of these subjects is obvious his family name was Alighieri and although they were not one of Florence's most powerful families they did have political and financial influence the family had in fact been exiled for more than 10 years prior to Dante's birth a result of their political involvement this practice of exiling people who were out of favour with the current government was common then and was a faith destined for Dante in his adult life medieval Italy was not a united country the Holy Roman Empire centered in Germany had little influence in Italy the most powerful figure in Italy was the Pope who ruled certain areas that were known as the papal States folks at that time didn't hesitate to act as heads of state some Pope's commanded troops in battle the papal States were mostly centered around Rome and this left the rest of Italy divided into independent provinces and city-states these smaller principalities constantly made and broke treaties with each other and with the Pope as they feared being overthrown by each other so while the time of Dante was supposed to be civilized there was no consistent or enlightened rule in his home Dante married when he was about 20 it was an arranged marriage as was the custom and the couple had at least three children but those events had little meaning to Dante compared to the day he met bayit Ricci his inspiration they were children when they met Dante was 9 and bayit reach a was 8 he loved her immediately and dedicated his life to her at first sight he didn't see her again for nine years at their second meeting they at reach a spoke to him for the first time calling him by name they probably had few meetings after that Dante wrote many poems about peut Ricci her loveliness and grace to him she embodied love will see bayit Ricci in the Divine Comedy as Dante's guide in heaven they at reach a died young in her 20s but her influence on Dante was lifelong we may question the love of a nine-year-old especially since he never had what we would call a relationship with bayit Ricci however their relationship and his feeling for bayit Ricci is in the best tradition of the medieval concept of courtly love in those times marriages were arranged and not meant to be alliances of love men and women found true love outside of marriage true love that is courtly love is not necessarily a sexual relationship but more of an idealized feeling like a nice chivalry for his late bayit reaches roll as Dante's spiritual inspiration is very real no matter what we may think of their human relationship to return to Dante's life he studied extensively both in theology and in philosophy he also served in the Army in two important Florentine battles and was politically active he was very outspoken in criticizing Pope Boniface the eighth who ruled from 1294 to 1303 this Pope was later instrumental in Dante's exile from Florence and the Pope appears in the Divine Comedy theya treatise last words to Dante are a condemnation of this Pope Dante was part of a powerful ruling faction in Florence but fortunes changed and the opposing party seized charge of the city Dante was in Rome when the new party took control and charged him with graft plotting against the folk and conspiring against the Peace of Florence in his absence Dante was sentenced to death by burning that began Dante's exile from Florence he dreamed that one ruler would bring order to Italy and an end to the constant plotting and his exile he hoped that the Holy Roman Emperor Henry the seventh would do this when Henry died without extending his authority to Italy Dante lost hope for the country's rule and that he could return to Florence Dante like so many Italian citizens deeply loved his native city where his family had lived for many generations this loyalty to home made his exile even more bitter the Divine Comedy was written in Dante's exile a time when he lived in a number of different courts throughout northern Italy he was respected for his intelligence knowledge and political talents Dante died while on a diplomatic mission to Venice he's buried in the Italian city of Ravenna in a monastery of Franciscan friars now we'll give a brief overview of the Divine Comedy before we tell you some of the details of this work first the title the word comedy in this instance doesn't mean something that's amusing it's taken from an Italian word that means a prosperous ending after a difficult beginning the poem was written in Italian which was a revolutionary thing in Dante's time most important works then were written in Latin Italian was considered the language of the masses and it was a new concept that people would read and enjoy poetic literature the comedy is written in three books hell purgatory and paradise each book is a place in the world beyond our own and dante visits each of these realms not only do we see what happens there but we get to know how the realms are physically constructed most editions of the book show artists renderings of the levels and geography of hell purgatory and paradise based on Dante's explicit descriptions he's divided these places into specific circles and each one represents the result of an earthly experience for good or bad we'll go into detail about that later it's interesting to notice Dante's use of numbers there are three books in the Divine Comedy which correspond to three places in the afterlife there are 33 short poems called kantos in each book the extra canto that introduces the Divine Comedy makes for a total of 100 Kantos each poem is written in a particular form where each three lines has a rhyming element health purgatory and paradise are divided into nine major sections but each has an additional vestibule or level making a total of ten levels in each realm dante use numbers symbolically especially the numbers 3 9 10 and 100 in Christian theology 3 is the number of the Holy Trinity goddess Father Son and Holy Spirit in the Middle Ages 10 was considered a number of perfection multiples of 3 and 10 abound in the book there isn't time to go into other occult details but Dante's poetry is filled with numerical and astrological significance for example each of 3 sections of the book ends with the word stars this use of astrology and numbers goes beyond superstition he's pointing out that there's an orderly structure to God's universe and that structure is represented in this poem there are scholars who spend their whole lives going through Dante's work and searching for meanings we can only describe some of the most significant parts of this complex story which asks a question that we all want to know about what happens after we die and now let's look at the most popular of the three books that make up the Divine Comedy the inferno then we'll explore the other two books purgatory and paradise in his first verse in the inferno the entire poem is told in the first person by Dante Dante says when I had journeyed half of our life's way I found myself within a shadowed forest for I had lost the path that does not stray most scholars agree that Dante is referring to the biblical age of 35 when he refers to half our life's way but even if we didn't know that we know that Dante is saying that halfway through his life he found himself lost Dante uses an interesting phrase that he's lost the path that does not stray for mystics this means that Dante has lost the spiritual path a path that is always straight to God so Dante says that he was on the path but now he's lost he can't even remember how he got to the forest because he was too full of sleep when he strayed from the path this is a reference to being asleep to God which resulted in the poet's adventure three beasts appear frightening Dante but a guide comes to help him the Roman poet Virgil who wrote the epic poem the Ennead the Aeneid is discussed in another session of the instant expert series but we should know a little of it here the Aeneid the story of Italy's founding predicts that Italy will be the world's first civilized government but the ideal Roman justice has obviously been lost by Dante's time so perhaps Dante hoped that his poem could inspire a rebirth of the noble spirit that Virgil predicted a footnote here Italy and Europe would experience a cultural rebirth in the Renaissance which started about a hundred years after the comedy was written also the hero of the Aeneid Aeneas goes through many trials to found Italy and Rome including a trip to the underworld of the Dead a trip Dante is about to take to return to the woods Virgil offers to lead Dante through hell the inferno Dante is afraid he knows that Virgil's hero Aeneas and the Christian Saint Paul went to hell during their lifetime but how can he expect to live through such a trial he doesn't think himself a hero or a saint Virgil reassures Dante and says that he Virgil was sent by bayit Ricci Dante's beloved to guide him here is a description of Dante's Hell first it's shaped like a funnel and into earth getting smaller towards the center Satan is at the center of the funnel receiving all the dirt and pain that washes down from the earth on the way down this funnel Dante and Virgil go through levels each level describes a kind of sin and punishment to match some of the levels are divided by rivers chasms or walls at each level sinners are punished according to the type and degree of their sin the two proceed to the gates of Hell and read the famous inscription abandon all hope you who enter here now Dante begins his trip through the inferno a place of devastating horror he and Virgil first entered the beste Buhl to hell a place where people who lived without commitment to either good or evil are punished by eternally chasing a flag that's beyond their grasp then the two enter the first of nine descending concentric circles the levels of the inferno the first circle is limbo for people who live good lives but were never baptized into the Catholic religion they're not being punished but they do suffer the pain of never seeing Dante's Christian God there are great poets here such as the Greek Homer and many of the ancient world's philosophers a few biblical figures who died before the time of Jesus Christ were taken out of limbo to heaven they include Adam Noah Moses and others it should be noted that this Catholic doctrine is still taught and is also a belief in many Protestant faiths given the fact that most people on the earth now and in the past live in countries with little interest in or exposure to Jesus Christ it's interesting that Western religions grant salvation only to their own followers in contrast Eastern religious philosophies often view love for any God as valid and redeeming Virgil and Dante enter the second circle of the inferno where a judge assesses each sinner and assigns the correct circle for punishment this is really where hell begins and it's marked by a dark whirlwind rising from a cleft in the ground that was caused by an earthquake at the time of Jesus Christ's crucifixion this circle is for the sin of lust and Virgil points out some famous lovers in the violent winds Dante is moved by two famous lovers one of whom was married the two fell in love while reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere when they reached the part of the story where Lancelot kisses Guinevere they couldn't keep themselves from imitating that and as they say to Dante that day we read no further Dante's view of love must be remembered here as many of his time felt ideal love was spiritual not physical the next circle is for the sin of gluttony and there is an unending rainstorm here that makes the damned souls howl continuously a three-headed dog tears the souls apart in an ongoing action one of the attributes of Hell is that there is no end to the punishment it keeps repeating itself in this circle dante speaks with the florentine named choco which means pig choco predicts the outcome of a Florentine political struggle and tells Dante that there are only two just Florentines and no one listens to them this is the first of Dante's many interactions with Florentines and other Italians who ask about each other and comment on the past or future of Italy often what they said reflects Dante's opinions or hopes in this first interchange Dante asks where two dead Florentines are and chaco tells Dante that he will meet them further down in hell in the fourth circle of hell dante and virgil meet pluto the god of wealth and see those who sinned through greed or through overspending these two groups are forever rolling huge boulders against each other as they taunt each other for having the opposite characteristic but both groups the hoarders and the spenders share the same basics in the fifth circle is for the wrathful and the sullen the wrathful souls are stuck in mud and they strike each other with their hands heads and feet beneath them and the stagnant water are the souls of the sullen it's easy to understand these punishments those who are angry are literally stuck in the act and those who pout are ignored and silent under water virgil and dante take a ferry to the next circle as the boat starts to sink under Dante's weight the soul of a florentine named Argenti comes from under the water to ask for help dante recognizes him as a violent and selfish man who acted against florence and dante curses him other souls in the water pull Argenti down and furiously attack him which pleases dante while Dante seems unkind we need to remember his intense loyalty to florence and his anger with those who harmed his home Dante and Vergil reach a city gate and after an encounter with demons an angel opens the gates of the two travelers the first sins which we just saw punished in Upper Hell our sins caused by lack of control over the physical body now Dante and Virgil are in the part of Hell reserved for those who sin through immorality through purposeful wrongdoing they come to the sixth circle where heretics are punished a heretic is a person who speaks falsely against a religious ideal in this hell it's reserved for those who would speak against the Catholic Church the heretics live in prisons or in flaming tombs a number of ghosts speak to Dante during his travels and one emerges from a flaming tomb it's another Florentine a man who twice exiled Dante's ancestors he tells Dante that one day Dante too will know what it feels like to be an exile certainly this ghost is experiencing the pain of Exile in Hell Dante is worried about the ghosts prediction but Virgil tells him not to think of it when Dante sees bayit reach a hill understand the future now the travelers Crossin abyss and they're assaulted by an unbelievable odor so strong that they have to pause to get used to it then Dante and Virgil enter the realm of sins of violence the seventh circle these sins are divided into three sections for three kinds of sins sins against others against self and against God nature and art since against others are punished by immersion in a boiling river of blood the sinners are immersed at different depths depending on the severity of their crime the second ring since against self is the forest of suicides the trees in this wood are souls who have killed themselves they produce poison instead of fruit since they have destroyed their bodies they will never have them back not even on Judgment Day in the third section for those who commit sins against God nature in the arts virgil and dante find a desert under a rain of fire they walk along the edge of the forest of the suicides to avoid the burning sands and then come upon a stream that crosses the desert as they walk along its banks dante recognizes one of the sinners in the sand as Brunetto Latini an influential Florentine writer and philosopher Platini tells Dante that he will have an illustrious career but will suffer politically dante expresses his gratitude if latinas works which were an education for Dante but tini names a number of Florentines priests and philosophers saying that they like him are homosexuals the sin that brought him to the section for sins of violence against nature the stream that Dante and Virgil walk along falls into the next Circle Circle eight for sins of theft there are ten sections in the circle of theft each level gives a particular punishment for a particular kind of fraudulent for example the first section is for seducers the second is for flatterers among the other sins in the eighth circle are hypocrisy fortune-telling and theft flatterers are punished by being submerged in human excrement in one trench are the sinners who bought and sold Church positions their punishment is to be buried so that only their feet show and flames burn their souls the flames of one pair of feet shines especially bright indicating an intense degree of guilt dante discovers that this is pope nicholas the third nicholas says that he's waiting for pope boniface the eighth to take his place you may recall the pope boniface was partially responsible for Dante's exile the ghost tells Dante that Pope Boniface will in time be replaced by Pope Clement v because Pope Clement will put the church in the hands of the French it's important to remember that Dante's views of the church and politics have greater meaning than simple social commentary dante viewed the church as the divine authority on earth he also felt that ethical leadership by kings was important to the morals of all citizens when he criticizes these power figures he's condemning not just them personally but making a statement on the desperate events in the world that happened when people are not given spiritual support through good leaders in church and state as dante and virgil make their way through circle eight they see an array of tortures and recognize a number of the sinners among circulates more colorful punishments is the one reserved for fortune tellers as punishment for looking into the future their heads are twisted around so that they face backwards they walk backwards too as virgil and dante make their way to the end of the eighth circle a demon tells them that a cliff they want to take collapsed around the time of the crucifixion the to take an alternate route and come upon the spirit of Caiaphas who advised the Romans to kill Christ Caiaphas is crucified on the ground in a path where other sinners walk on him continuously Virgil discovers that he was lied to by the demon the bridge they wanted to take is intact but now the two have no choice other than to climb a steep cliff as they travel they encounter many Florentine thieves one of them is so embarrassed at being seen by Dante that he tries to upset Dante by foretelling the events that precede Dante's exile the thieves are being punished by serpents which raises Dante's opinion of snakes immeasurably at this point Dante makes a sarcastic remark about Florence's Fame which as he can see from the many Florentines who inhabit hell has spread beyond the earth this makes Dante sad for his City and himself before the to leave the eighth circle they see Ulysses a Greek hero he is punished with other evil counselors because he helped bring about the defeat of the ancient city of Troy he also was an explorer who urged his men to go beyond known realms which led to their deaths in his Virgil and Dante come to the ninth section of the eighth circle of theft for the sewers of discord sinners here are mutilated torn apart to show how they've torn apart the Christian Church here we see the Islamic spiritual leader Mohammed split apart from the chin through the torso this horrible image is one of the most disturbing in the inferno because it implies a complete lack of understanding or respect for any faith other than the Catholic religion there is a school of thought that Dante's characters and situations are symbolic and that his trip through the inferno is not to be taken literally the pain that the sufferers go through could represent the tortures of guilt or anguish either on this earth or another but when Dante uses major spiritual leaders from other faiths as examples of sinners it's hard to find a symbol that they would stand for since their background is not symbolic of anything in Western culture we can only assume that Dante believed as did many in medieval Europe the church teachings were literally true including condemning those who believe differently otherwise it would be hard to find sin in Muhammad's life since he brought tremendous spiritual insight to his people as well as a code of laws that raise their earthly consciousness Dante and Vergil come to the lowest region of hell the ninth circle reserved for traitors the traitors are divided into those who mistreated their families their country their guests and worst of all their masters for each of these kinds of traitors there is a fitting punishment of course the first section for traitors against family is named after Cain the biblical Cain who murdered his brother Abel although we have not put them all down here each section of each circle is named for a particular figure who embodies the sin of that section in this section named for Cain Dante sees two brothers who killed each other over their inheritance their punishment is that they are immersed to the neck in ice and are so close together that their hair intertwines at the sight of Dante they start to cry and their tears turn to ice and freeze on their eyelids in the second section for those who betrayed their guests Dante sees a monk whom he thinks is still alive he's told that sometimes an evil soul will go to hell before his body is dead the body is kept alive by a demon until it dies a natural death this particular sinner is from Genoa and Dante makes a rude remark about that city saying that its sinners are so evil that they go to hell before their time now Virgil and Dante reached the last section for those who betrayed their masters it's named after judas iscariot betrayer of jesus and that its center is Satan frozen from the waist up in a lake some sinners are immersed in the ice some lie on it and some stand on their heads there is an icy wind caused by the constant motion of three sets of huge back like wings under each of Satan's three faces Satan holds in his three mouths three great sinners Judas in the center and Brutus and Cassius Julius Caesar's murderers on either side Satan weeps bloody tears Virgil says to Dante it is time for us to leave we have seen everything and the two make their way out of hell continuing their descent by climbing down the side of Satan when they reach Satan's hip they reverse and climb up Dante thinks they will end up back in hell but Virgil explains that they've passed the center of the earth and though they descended in the northern hemisphere they will now come out in the southern hemisphere Virgil explains that when Satan who was called Lucifer when he was an angel was cast out of heaven he was thrown into the world and where he struck the earth is covered with water the ground he pushed out of the earth became mount purgatory which is where the travelers now go as they leave the inferno and catch their first glimpse of the sky dante says we emerged to see once more the stars before we go through purgatory and paradise we should explain a little about Dante's Inferno the most widely read of the three books and the one most frequently praised for its rich poetry one reason for this popularity may be painfully obvious it is easier for us to identify with Hell than with heaven for one thing the Inferno has places that are similar to earth there are woods lakes deserts these might not be pleasant but we understand them it's hard to understand a subtler realm comprised of light or music which we'll see in the next two sections also we understand the actions of the sinners in the inferno their sins are our sins if one cares to call them that we could say that their actions are actions that we've seen or participated in in some way who hasn't been selfish or spoken unkindly about their boss so we learn consequences here in Dante's Inferno even if the crimes and consequences are beyond what we think of as reasonable we learned that each action brings a reaction if not in the present then at some future time this is a valid lesson in morality as well as practicality even if we don't subscribe to Dante's Roman Catholic theories let's go on now to the realm of purgatory Dante and Virgil second stop and the second book in the Divine Comedy physically hell was a funnel that bled into the earth purgatory is a cone-shaped mountain on top of it and is closer to heaven than hell is purgatory is on the other side of the earth from Jerusalem according to Dante there are two parts to purgatory a first section of two ledges like the vestibule to hell and the second section of seven terraces one for each of the seven deadly sins with the less severe sins on the higher levels altogether these make up nine levels to purgatory the 10th level the top of the mountain is the Garden of Eden purgatory is the place of hope and its inhabitants both to remember their earthly lives and are grateful for this place and the opportunity it provides them to redeem themselves there is music here and kindness if he'll was like earth that it's worst this is like Earth at its best virgil and dante reach purgatory before dawn on easter before they can climb the mountain dante has to wash off the stain of the inferno they see a ship approaching it carries a group of souls one of whom Dante recognizes as a musician and composer of some of Dante's lyrics the group of spirits sing but are interrupted by Purgatory's guardian who reminds them that they need to start their mission on the island first virgil and dante pass through the two sub levels of purgatory these are for people who were thrown out of the catholic church or who neglected their religious duties and for people who were so busy with their daily lives that they ignored the spiritual these are the negligent souls and they wade in a valley for their turn to go up the mountain virgil and dante sleep here that evening and wake up the next day to find themselves at the main entrance to purgatory just as someone judged those entering into hell and sent them to their proper punishment here in purgatory an angel meets each person and puts 7ps on their forehead one for each level or sin the first sin is pride and on the first terrace pilgrims along the way see carvings of famous acts of humility the pilgrims on this mountain are called penitence because they are making penance for their sins this is how they will win the right to go to heaven or as Dante calls it paradise once again Dante and Virgil encounter souls on the journey they go to the second terrace for the sin of envy dante realizes that climbing becomes easier when a terrace is complete and the p letter on his forehead that corresponds to that terrace is gone at the second terrace a lady from the Italian city of Siena speaks to Dante she regrets her Envy which was greater than her love for her City and she asks Dante to say good things about her to her neighbors as Dante and Virgil complete the second terrace another P is gone from Dante's forehead virgil tells dante that material possessions can cause envy and fear of sharing but spiritual possessions only increase when they're given away the 3rd terrace is for the sin of and the penitents here must walk in an irritating cloud of smoke Dante sees visions in the smoke visions of insane anger he and Virgil go on to the fourth terrace where Souls rush towards them with enthusiasm this is the place where those who committed the sin of laziness must learn to do the opposite most of these busy souls don't stop to talk but a few tell Dante their sad stories the next three terraces are for sins of excess greed gluttony and lust we've seen these sins in hell too but the nature of the sins there was much more harmful than the sins being atoned for by Purgatory's penitence on the fifth terrace Pope Adrian the fifth is among the sinners who live facedown reciting prayers and Psalms suddenly Dante and Vergil feel an earthquake and all the spirits say loud glory to God in the highest the Spirit explains that the quake is a sign that one of the souls has finished its penance the Spirit is a Roman author and poet and he is so pleased to meet Virgil that he stays with the two for the rest of their journey through purgatory on the last terrace there is a river of flames for those who committed the sin of lust here Dante sees some of the earliest singers and songwriters the Provencal troubadour is known for their love songs Dante is told to walk through the river of flames but he's afraid too then Virgil tells him that his beloved peut reaches behind the flames and Dante walks through them he suffers greatly from this although his skin is not marred by the fire the pilgrims go to the top of the mountain and Virgil tells Dante that his mission is complete now Dante will be his own guide Dante is in the Garden of Eden now and he finds Matilda a beautiful young woman who leads him along the bank of a clear stream the river of forgetfulness they come upon a magnificent procession on the other side of the river bayit Ricci arrives in a chariot and greets Dante with a reprimand for his sins he weeps at the thought of them and then faints with remorse when he comes to Matilda leads him across the river of forgetfulness and Dante forgets his sins and meets peut reach a with a joyful heart bayit Ricci is so beautiful to him that he can only stare at her finally the procession reassembles itself around a tree dante falls asleep and when he awakens almost everyone is gone bayit reach a tells him to carefully observe and later write down what happens next the remnants of the procession and the blossoming tree are destroyed by an eagle a fox and a dragon a wanton woman gets into the chariot that had pulled bayit reach a and a giant joins her when he sees the harlot look at Dante he beats her and falls the chariot into the woods eh-eh-eh explains these things to dante and prophecies and riddles when he becomes confused she says that she wants him to understand that his intellect cannot comprehend everything then she promises to speak clearly to him in the future Beatriz a asks Mathilde to lead Dante to the river that restores memory of good deeds after drinking the water there Dante feels pure and prepared for the next realm that of paradise he says I came back from those holiest waters new remade reborn healed of winters scars perfect pure and ready for the stars the last book of the Divine Comedy Paradise has been poured the hardest to understand and we can imagine that it is hard to describe where God lives Dante the poet explains heavens geography like this there are nine spheres beyond the earth in this order the moon which stands for faith Mercury which stands for hope Venus which stands for love the Sun which represents prudence Mars which represents strength Jupiter which represents justice Saturn which represents work the fixed stars and ninth a realm called the prime mover which as its name suggests causes the movement of all heavenly bodies according to medieval thought all matter was given life by God's mind and the force of God was the energy behind this ninth realm the prime mover then beyond the ninth realm was the tenth called the Empyrean empyrion is beyond time and space it's the infinite realm of God the angels and the saved these structures of planets and gods force were Dante the poets interpretation of astronomy combined with Christian theology bayit reach a is Dante's guide through heaven which is divided by virtues instead of sins Souls here have forgotten the Earthly Delights still remembered by those in purgatory the only feeling in paradise is love and its expression is through light they are tree chase shines with light and the virtues are illustrated by light just as darkness and pain illustrated the passages of Hell many readers feel that this book is the least successful yet it was written last and should represent Dante's most complete spiritual understanding and artistic achievement now the poet has lost some of his bitterness and political stridency Dante completed the inferno and purgatory around 1315 he died six years later and paradise was published after his death so it must have been written right before that time here is a brief synopsis of Dante's trip to paradise it's noon on the first day of spring when Dante and Beatrice cover around them brightness and the music of the spheres they are in the sphere of fire flown there faster than thought as they progress through the spheres of virtue eh-eh-eh grows more and more beautiful with each ascension the souls are glowing lights they don't have physical forms except for those in the Empyrean the furthest place in the sphere of Mercury Dante meets Justinian who wrote the Roman legal code Justinian discusses the role of Roman rule as part of the Divine Plan for Humanity in the sphere of the Sun Dante sees st. Thomas Aquinas the Catholic theologian and Solomon the biblical King st. Thomas discusses the merits of st. Francis of Assisi and Francis's religious order of the Franciscan monks he Thomas regrets the religious order that he founded the Dominicans whom he says have forsaken their divine purpose Dante and Beatriz a go through realm after realm each one brighter each one having more and more illustrious Saints and each one adding to baya tree taste the light and beauty finally they reach the realm of the fixed stars and Dante looks back to earth how small it is in God's perspective then Dante looks up at a vision of Jesus Christ then of his mother Mary the two go toward the Empyrean the last abode as Saints Peter James and John come forward to question Dante on his understanding of faith hope and love when Dante says that his understanding of love is based on both reason and halation all the souls can't enjoy they come to the realm of light only light this is the Empyrean where dante can see the saints in their bodily forms at first he sees a river of light which becomes a white rose its petals are rows of saints bayit reach a points out a place reserved for the Emperor Henry the seventh the ruler Dante hoped would unite Italy angels fly from the heart of the roast the petals and take their places their bayit preach a joins the saints and angels in the rows and tells dante to look up to mary's seat above them all bayit reach a has completed her work with Dante she was his youthful infatuation his muse of poetry and his guide to this state of light always urging him on with loving inspiration Dante looks at Mary who nods granting Dante the chance to see God's face Dante looks at the heart of the white rose and says I saw within its depth how it conceives all things in a single volume bound by love of which the universe is the scattered leaves and in the face of God Dante seems to see the image of a person this is the answer from the depths of hell through the delights of Earth to the center of all-knowing and the mind of God in each place humanity exists and the underlying force that created and unites humanity as Dante says is the love that moves the Sun and the other stars this is the end of the session

Channel: Eric Masters

Views: 119,691

Keywords: Dante, Alighieri, Divine, Comedy, Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso, Hell, Purgatory, Paradise, Nine, Circles, Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, Treachery, Seven, Terraces, Proud, Envious, Wrathful, Slothful, Covetous, Gluttonous, Lustful, Spheres, Heaven, Hope, Love, Primum, Angels, Audio, Collection, Contain, Treasury, Hundred, Classic, Include, Info, Life, Time, Author, Theme, Characters, Story, Outline, Concise, Detailed, Abridgement, Discussion, Values, Great, Work, Literature, Bio, IntelliQuest, World, 100, Greatest, Books, #005

Id: PGsuTJUL57Q

Length: 37min 4sec (2224 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 25 2012