A Tour of HELL!
Dante and the Medieval Mindset
Intro to Dante
-- Inferno, Purgatorio,
Paradiso
3 Day Journey (Easter)
Dantean Numerology
(Fri/Sat) Inferno = 33 cantos + 1 intro
(Sat) Purgatorio = 33 cantos
(Sun) Paradiso = 33 cantos
rhyme scheme
100 = perfect
number in M.A.
lit. either narrative or dramatic
extended metaphor -- people, actions,
places, objects that equate w/
meanings outside the text
Intro to Dante
Dante’s Political Problems in Florence
Beasts of Worldliness
(Malice & Fraud)
(Violence & Ambition)
(Incontinence)
Intro to Dante
Journey
Hell Purgatory Heaven Symbolic Helpers
Dante’s
structure of
Hell
Mount
Purgatorio
Paradiso
(Heaven)
Dante in
Limbo with
the
“Virtuous
Pagans”
King Minos (in Hell) determines which
ring of Hell sinners will spend eternity
with a wrap of his tail (ex. 3 wraps =
third ring)
Francesca da Rimini and her husband’s
brother Paolo Malatesta (about to start
sinnin’, when hubby put a knife in their
hearts)
Francesca and Paolo now spend eternity
in a tempest that keeps them swirling in
their emotion, but unable to control it...
as they sinned in life, so shall they be
punished in Hell
Crossing the River Styx
Charon
Dante
Virgil
Ciaphas (condemned Christ to be
crucified) is now crucified to the floor of
Hell to be trampled upon throughout
eternity
Muhammad condemned to be split from his
body with entrails hanging out for all
eternity because he created a split from
the “true” faith.
Count Ugolino and Friar Alberigo
(contemporaries of Dante’s) frozen in the
lake of Cocytus while Ugolino gnaws upon
Alberigo’s head with a vengeance.
**Note: Friar Alberigo wasn’t even dead
when Dante published the Inferno!
Three-headed Satan chews for eternity on
Judas, Brutus and Cassius. His wings
(meant for him to fly for God’s purposes)
freeze him perpetually in the rivers of Hell
at the center of the Earth
Dante Discussion!
1.WhywritetheDivineComedy?
2.HowisDantean“Everyman,”orwhatdoDante’stravelsrepresentforall
people?
3. Ofthepunishmentsofthesinnersatvariouslevels,whichismostappropriate
forthecrime/sin?Leastappropriate?Why?
4. WhichdescripGonsofthepunishmentdoyoufindmostarGsGc/most
effecGvelyconceived/detailedandwhy?
5. Dantehasverydifferentideasthanwedoaboutwhatcrimesaremoreserious
thanothers.Whatarethosedifferencesandhowmightweaccountforthem?
6. HowisDante’sworkrepresentaGveofhisGmeperiod?culture?poliGcal
atmosphere?WhyisitimportantthatthisiswriOeninItalian,ratherthanLaGn?
7.ComeupwithyourowndiscussionquesGontoaskoftheclass.(Makeit
thoughtprovoking!)