TTC Video – Dante’s Divine Comedy

This introduction to one the greatest works of literature is shared by two gifted teachers. The poem is one of the most satisfying and profound of all poetry. Divine Comedy (or Commedia) of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) is a book for life.

In a brilliantly constructed narrative of his imaginary guided pilgrimage through the three realms of the Christian afterlife—hell, purgatory, and heaven—Dante accomplished a literary task of astonishing complexity.

• He created a memorable gallery of characters.
• He explored poetically a variety of universal and specific concerns, as well as timely and timeless issues.
• He harnessed the combined riches from the biblical and classical traditions to form a synthesis which forever placed Western writers at his mercy as they tried their best to build on his foundation.

James Joyce may have been speaking on behalf of those writers when he exclaimed. “Dante is my spiritual food!”

Geographer of Cosmos and Student of the Soul

The complete achievement of CommediaHowever, it goes beyond what is merely possible “literary.”

Dante is both a geographer of the cosmos, and a student about the soul. His range includes not only the heights and depths of hell, but also the recesses within the human heart.

Dante, the pilgrim, makes his way. Dante the poet plays and asks us to think about fundamental questions.

• What is the quality and quantity of our moral actions
• What is the secret to spiritual transformation?
• What is the nature and purpose of good and bad, virtue and vice and sin and sanctity.
• Why is the world so full if strife?
• How do we go on when we lose things we love, as Dante—through exile—lost his native Florence?
• What is the role of reading and writing in our lives?

In the seven centuries that have followed, Commedia These questions were written and have not lost their force.

Dante addresses them with a challenging and original form of verse in Italian called terza rima. His intricate arrangement of materials makes it the Commedia One of the most virtuoso works of literature in the world.

Pilgrim as Pilgrim, Poet As Pilgrim

The poem is set at Eastertide in 1300. It begins with Dante feeling trapped in a rut in the middle his life. “dark wood” Error.

He becomes lost and fails, and is saved by the Roman poet Virgil. Only then can he find his way back with an extraordinary voyage.

He must go through the nine rings and seven levels of hell to reach the earthly paradise. Then, he must ascend through the nine spheres and heavens to the empyrean realm, where God lives in glory.

Dante switches guides along the way. Virgil becomes Beatrice, a young woman Dante loves and who is his guide through all the spheres.

Beatrice then gives way to Bernard Clairvaux, who is a Christian mystic. Dante’s Guide to the Final cantos—the poem’s major divisions—of the Paradiso.

Dante frames many his concerns in terms contemporary issues and personalities. Because so much of Dante’s poem is composed of direct encounters with afterlife residents, the lectures provide essential background and analysis.

“We, Like All of You, Are Pilgrims Here”

Dante built the Commedia In three parts, each part conveys an element of his message.

• In the InfernoThe poet describes the pilgrim’s encounters, with an eye toward deepening understanding about the nature of evil as well as moral choice. Dante is shown meeting sinners from all the sin categories he describes. The vision ends with Satan frozen at hell’s bottom.
• In PurgatorioThe poet portrays the purpose and nature moral conversion. Repentant sinners work hard to prepare themselves for God in heaven. He also strengthens their wills against the seven deadly evils. As souls work toward complete redemption, community and its great sustainers, ritual and art, are prominent themes.
• In ParadisoDante had memorable encounters in the Circle of the Sun with Christian thinkers and his heroic ancestor in the Circle of Mars.

Dante’s final cantos stretches beyond the boundaries of time and space, and demonstrates the power of language.

He finally receives an ineffable, mystical vision of God. This moment completes the circle of the journey that began in 2006. “the Love that moves the stars,” Virgil, through prayer, was first sent to help a lost pilgrim on the journey of life.

Your guides on Dante’s Journey

The Medieval Academy of America’s inaugural award was presented to Professors William R. Cook (left) and Ronald B. Herzman (right).-Ever CARA Award for Excellence in Teaching Medieval Studies.

These lectures clearly reflect the skills that were awarded that award and provide a rich context to help you appreciate them. Dante’s writing.

This is what you’ll learn

• This background information is invaluable Dante’s Life and Times
• Why Dante wrote The Commedia
• How to approach English editions.

You will be guided by Professors Herzman and Cook along the path portrayed in the CommediaLearn how each poem links to the previous. Dante will be on your doorstep. “raising the stakes” Each of the questions that he starts the poem is asked at an ever deeper level of development as he continues his journey.

When you are done with these lectures, you’ll understand why Dante’s Pilgrimage is an enriching experience that anyone can enjoy if they choose to go with him.

And you’ll understand why Commedia This is not a mystery to be solved, or a book to put down. It is a mystery with beauty and power that you can enjoy for the rest of your lives. Average 30 minutes each