Divine Comedy

 

Informal Theme # 5 Blog # 5

          The Divine Comedy is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri and is seen as one of the greatest works of worl literature. The poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of the afterlife is a culmination of the medieval world view as it had developed in the Western Church.It is divided into three parts, the Inferno, Paradiso and Purgatorio. It is said that the last word in every cantica in the word "star".

          Inferno... The poem begins night of good Friday in the year 1300. Dante is 35 years old, it is the half of the biblical life expectancy 70. Allegorically, Inferno represents Christian soul seeing sin for what it really is. The three beast ( lion, leopard and she-wolf)  also represents three types of sins. These sins are the self-indulgent, the violent, and the malicious. These three types of sin also provide the three main divisions of Dante's Hell: Upper Hell (the first 5 Circles) for the self-indulgent sins; Circles 6 and 7 for the violent sins; and Circles 8 and 9 for the malicious sins.

          Purgatorio... Having survived the depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom, to the Mountain of Purgatory on the far side of the world. The Mountain is on an island, the only land in the Southern Hemisphere. The mountain has 7 terraces which represents the 7 roots of sinfulness popularly known as the 7 deadly sins.Allegorically, the Purgatorio represents the Christian life. Christian souls arrive escorted by an angel, singing in exitu Israel de Aegypto. In his Letter to Cangrande, Dante explains that this reference to Israel leaving Egypt refers both to the redemption of Christ and to "the conversion of the soul from the sorrow and misery of sin to the state of grace." So it was known that Dante and Virgil arrived hear on easter sunday.


          Paradiso... After ascension, Beatrice guides Dante through the 9 spheres of heaven. These are concentric and spherical. While the structures of the Inferno and Purgatorio were based on different classifications of sin, the structure of the Paradiso is based on the four cardinal virtues and the three theological virtues.  The Paradiso is consequently more theological in nature than the Inferno and the Purgatorio. However, Dante admits the vision of heaven he receives is the one that his human eyes permit him to see, and the vision of heaven found in the Cantos is Dante's own personal one.