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Inferno
( After Dante Alighieri )
Contents:
Notions;
Dantes Biography:
1.Life
2.Works
Divina Comedia or Divina Comedy;
The 1st book: Inferno:
Questions
Biography
1.Summary
2.Structure
3.Symbols
Notions
Lust=often confused with love, it is purely physical attraction and has no lasting effect ;
profligates- who destroyed their lives by destroying the means by which life is sustained;
Gluttony derived from theLatingluttire-means to gulp down or swallow, means overindulgenceandover-consumptionoffood,drink, or wealth items to the point
ofextravaganceor waste.
Whenheresyis used today with reference to Christianity, it denotes the formal denial or
doubt of a core doctrine of the Christian faithas defined by one or more of the
Christian churches.
Dante Alighieri
Dante was born inFlorence, Italy. The
exact date of his birth is unknown,
although it is generally believed to be
on 14th may ,1265.
The poet's mother -Bella, died when
Dante was not yet ten years old, and
Alighiero ( his father) soon married
again, to Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi.
But by this time Dante had fallen in
love with another girlBeatrice Portinari,whom he first met
when he was only nine.
The exact date of his marriage is not
known: the only certain information is
that, before his exile in 1301, he had
three children (Pietro, Jacopo and
Dantes works:
De vulgari eloquentia
Vernacular"),
on vernacular literature, partly inspired by theRazos de
trobarof Raimon Vidal de Bezaudun;
"Lasciate ogne
1st
circle
Limbo Unbaptizedand
thevirtuous
pagans, who,
although not
sinful, did not
accept Christ
( that all
virtuous nonChristians).
2nd
circle
Lust
are those
overcome bylust
(those who
letting their
appetites sway
their reason).
Limbo includes
green fields and
a castle with
seven gates to
represent the
seven virtues.
The castle is
the dwelling
place of the
wisest men of
antiquity,
includingVirgil
himself.
Poets Homer,Horace,Ovid,
andLucan; theAmazon
queenPenthesilea;
the mathematicianEuclid;
the scientist Pedanius
Dioscorides;
the statesmanCicero;
the first doctorHippocrates;
the
philosophersSocrates,Plato,
Aristotle, andAverroes;
the historical figuresLucretia,
Lucius Junius Brutus, andJulius
Caesarin his role asRoman
general ;
Mythological charactersHector,
Electra,Camilla, Latinus,
andOrpheus; Saladin.
Semiramis,Dido,Cleopatra,Hel
en of
Troy,Achilles,Paris,Tristan, and
many others who were
overcome by sexual love during
their life. Dante is told
byFrancesca da Riminihow she
and her husband's brotherPaolo
Malatestacommitted adultery,
5th
circle
of the
Hell
Anger
6th
circle
Heresy
7th
circl
e
Violen
ce
Those whose
attitude
toward
material
goods
deviated
from the
appropriate
mean.
Souls in Hell
are
eternally
fixed in the
state they
have
chosen.
but allegorically, it
reflects Dante's
beginning
awareness of his
own sin.
8th
circl
e
Fraud
Conscious fraud or
treachery
1st=Panderersandseducers
whipped by demons;
2nd =Flatterers are steeped in
humanexcrement;
3rd=Those who committed simony
are placed head-first in holes in the
rock with flames burning on the
soles of their feet;
4th=Sorcerers,astrologers ,
andfalse prophets here have their
heads twisted around backward on
their bodies;
5th=Corrupt politicians are
immersed in a lake of boilingpitch;
6th=thehypocrites listlessly
walking along wearing heavy,
gilded lead cloaks;
7th=the thieves are pursued and
bitten bysnakesandlizards;
8th=people who used their position
to advise others to engage in
fraud;
9th=a large sword-wielding demon
hacks at the Sowers of Discord,
dividing parts of their bodies as in
There
are 10
Bolgias
9th circle of
the Hell
Treacher
y
Round 1= The
brothers
Alessandro and
Napoleone degli
Alberti,
Mordred,
Foccaccia,
Sassol
Mascheroni
,Camiscione dei
Pazzi and Bocca
degli Abati.
Round 2=
ArchbishopRug
gieri degli
In the very centre
Ubaldini,
of Hell,
Aeneid.
condemned for
Round3= Fra
committing the
ultimate sin
(personal
treachery against
God), isLucifer.
Lucifer is
described as a
giant, terrifying
beast with three
Alberigo who
had armed
soldiers kill his
brother at a
banquet
Questions
What are other Dante Alighieris woks and whom are they dedicated?
What was the initial title of the Dantes work?
Why is Divina Comedia important for Italian culture?
From what parts is Divina Comedia composed?
Who are Dantes guides ?
How the story begins?
Bibliography:
Wallace Fowlie,A Reading of Dante's Inferno, University Of Chicago Press, 1981, pp.
5152.
Wallace Fowlie,A Reading of Dante's Inferno, University Of Chicago Press, 1981, p. 178.
Wallace Fowlie,A Reading of Dante's Inferno, University Of Chicago Press, 1981, p. 224.