Braving the Fires of Hell For Love Dante: Inferno Braving the Fires of Hell For Love

The Renaissance rebirth of classical arts human beings in the center of things, rather than God balance, symmetry, beauty of this world architecture, painting, sculpture, literature

The Music of the Spheres From Joseph Campbell, Creative Mythology, p. 100.

The Caduceus of Hermes/Mercury

The Caduceus of Hermes/Mercury

The Caduceus of Hermes/Mercury Centre de Sante, Island of St. Pierre & Miquelon

The Music of the Spheres 1

Music of the Spheres: Bottom Detail Three heads Leopard, lion, wolf – represent incontinence, violence, fraud Thalia – buried beneath them, must ascend through the center Thalia represents comedy & playful & idyllic poetry Where have you seen a leopard, lion and wolf before? Hint: Dante, Canto I

Mind of God = source of energy Mentis Apollineae vis has movet undique musas “The Energy of the Apollonian Mind sets these Muses everywhere in motion“

Italy in the Late Middle Ages / Renaissance

Firenze

Florence - Ravenna

Popes vs. Holy Roman Emperors “lay investiture” struggle since the early Middle Ages between the Pope and Holy Roman Emperor for Power HRE Henry IV & Pope Gregory VII at Canossa

Popes vs. Holy Roman Emperors “lay investiture” struggle since the early Middle Ages between the Pope and Holy Roman Emperor for Power HRE Henry IV & Pope Gregory VII at Canossa

Political Situation in Italy Guelphs / Ghibellines 1140 – battles among German families: Welfs vs. the Hohenstaufens Ghibellines: Imperial Party - agricultural Guelphs: support pope – mercantile Rivalry lasted until 1529

Political Situation in Florence Guelphs defeat Ghibellines in 1289 at Campaldino and Caprona, begin to fight among themselves. 1300 Florence divided into Black Guelphs continued to support the Papacy White Guelphs opposed to Papal influence (Boniface VIII). Dante supported White Guelphs, 1302 - exiled when the Black Guelphs took control of Florence. Emperor Henry VII was disgusted by supporters of both sides when he visited Italy in 1310 1334 Pope Benedict XII threatened excommunication to anyone who used either name.

Dante Alighieri 1265 -1321 Prominent Florentine family Father – White Guelph The Divine Comedy, La Vita Nuova, other important works Renewed the Italian language – made it a literary language

Beatrice Portinari When Dante was nine, he met Beatrice He saw her again when he was 18 One of great examples of courtly love – from afar, never requited She and he married other people She dies at 25 years old

Structure Divine “Comedy” => comedy begins in chaos and ends in order; tragedy begins in order and ends in chaos 100 Cantos (canto = a “chapter” of epic) introduction = 1st Canto next 33 = Inferno = hell (what we will read) next 33 = Purgatorio = purgatory next 33 = Paradiso = heaven

Strophic Form Terza rima: each set of three lines forms a unit; look at rhyming word at end of line Rhyme pattern= aba bcb cdc… xyx y Let’s look at the first verses: a rhyme, b rhyme, c rhyme, d rhyme etc. Extremely difficult formal style - Dante carries it throughout the 100 cantos of the Commedia. Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura ché la diritta via era smarrita Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte che nel pensier rinova la paura! Tant'è amara che poco è più morte; ma per trattar del ben ch'i' vi trovai, dirò de l'altre cose ch'i' v'ho scorte.

Numerology Numbers are significant, especially the number “three” 3 beasts, 3 realms of hell, trinity, 3 women of heaven, etc.

The Holy Trinity (Inferno III, 5-6) Primal Love Highest Wisdom Divine Authority

Dante’s Trinity of Women: Blessed Virgin Mary Beatrice Santa Lucia

Divine Comedy For Dante: midlife crisis, he has lost his way Has to find his way back to the path that “does not stray,” so he passes through all parts of human experience Travel – it’s the journey! 3 realms – hell, purgatory, paradise

Contrapasso counter-penalty = principle of punishment commensurate with the sins committed by the respective individual on earth. Bertrand de Born in Canto XXVIII, Sowers of Scandal and Schism, lines 139-142 Betrand's headless trunk moves around "carrying its severed head by the hairs as if it were a lantern" (Inferno XXVIII 119-122).

Canto 1 = introduction Lost in woods – woods are a psychological space Dante = ca. 35 years old Good Friday, 1300 Is this a midlife crisis?

William Blake: The Three Beasts Dante encounters: Three Beasts Leopard – represents incontinence Lion –violence She-Wolf – fraud Fear- must be mastered -you can’t just stay here! Move on! William Blake: The Three Beasts

Virgil (70 B.C. – 19 B.C.) From Mantua Companion to Dante Sent by Beatrice to help Dante through the places where she cannot go: Hell and Purgatory One of great poets of classical Roman antiquity Author of Aeneid, the work in which Aeneas, founder of Rome, is conducted through the underworld – there are many parallels to this work