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Divine Comedy
Danteshown holding a copy of theDivine Comedy,next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city ofFlorence,with the spheres of Heaven above, inDomenico di Michelino's 1465 fresco
AuthorDante Alighieri
LanguageItalian
Genrenarrative poem
Publication date
c.1321
Publication placeItaly
TextDivine ComedyatWikisource

TheDivine Comedy(Italian:Divina Commedia[diˈviːnakomˈmɛːdja]) is an Italiannarrative poembyDante Alighieri,begunc.1308 and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work inItalian literature[1]and one of the greatest works ofWestern literature.[2]The poem's imaginative vision of theafterlifeis representative of themedieval worldviewas it existed in theWestern Churchby the 14th century. It helped establish theTuscan language,in which it is written, as the standardizedItalian language.[3]It is divided into three parts:Inferno,Purgatorio,andParadiso.

The poem discusses "the state of the soul after death and presents an image of divine justice meted out as due punishment or reward",[4]and describes Dante's travels throughHell,Purgatory,andHeaven.[5]Allegorically,the poem represents the soul's journey towardsGod,[6]beginning with the recognition and rejection of sin (Inferno), followed by the penitent Christian life (Purgatorio), which is then followed by the soul's ascent to God (Paradiso). Dante draws on medieval Catholic theology and philosophy, especiallyThomistic philosophyderived from theSumma TheologicaofThomas Aquinas.[7]Consequently, theDivine Comedyhas been called "theSummain verse ".[8]

In the poem, the pilgrim Dante is accompanied by three guides:[9][4]Virgil,who representshuman reason,and who guides him for all ofInfernoand most ofPurgatorio;[10]Beatrice,who representsdivine revelation[10]in addition to theology, grace, and faith;[11]and guides him from the end ofPurgatorioonwards; andSaint Bernard of Clairvaux,who representscontemplative mysticismanddevotion to Mary the Mother,guiding him in the final cantos ofParadiso.[12]

The work was originally simply titledComedìa(pronounced[komeˈdiːa],Tuscanfor "Comedy" ) – so also in the first printed edition, published in 1472 – later adjusted to the modern ItalianCommedia.The adjectiveDivinawas added byGiovanni Boccaccio,[13]owing to its subject matter and lofty style,[14]and the first edition to name the poemDivina Comediain the title was that of the VenetianhumanistLodovico Dolce,[15]published in 1555 byGabriele Giolito de' Ferrari.

Erich Auerbachsaid Dante was the first writer to depict human beings as the products of a specific time, place and circumstance, as opposed to mythic archetypes or a collection of vices and virtues, concluding that this, along with the fully imagined world of theDivine Comedy,suggests that theDivine Comedyinaugurated realism and self-portraiture in modern fiction.[16]

Structure and story[edit]

Dante gazes at Mount Purgatory in an allegorical portrait byAgnolo Bronzino,paintedc. 1530

TheDivine Comedyis composed of 14,233 lines that are divided into threecantiche(singularcantica) –Inferno(Hell),Purgatorio(Purgatory), andParadiso(Paradise) – each consisting of 33cantos(Italian pluralcanti). An initial canto, serving as an introduction to the poem and generally considered to be part of the firstcantica,brings the total number of cantos to 100. It is generally accepted, however, that the first two cantos serve as a unitary prologue to the entire epic, and that the opening two cantos of eachcanticaserve as prologues to each of the threecantiche.[17][18][19]

The number three is prominent in the work, represented in part by the number ofcanticheand their lengths. Additionally, the verse scheme used,terza rima,ishendecasyllabic(lines of eleven syllables), with the lines composingtercetsaccording to therhyme schemeABA BCB CDC DED...[20]The total number of syllables in each tercet is thus 33, the same as the number of cantos in eachcantica.

Written in the first person, the poem tells of Dante's journey through the three realms of the dead, lasting fromthe night beforeGood Fridayto the Wednesday afterEasterin the spring of 1300. The Roman poetVirgilguides him through Hell and Purgatory;Beatrice,Dante's ideal woman, guides him through Heaven. Beatrice was a Florentine woman he had met in childhood and admired from afar in the mode of the then-fashionablecourtly lovetradition, which is highlighted in Dante's earlier workLa Vita Nuova.[21]

Dante's guides in the poem
Virgil
Virgil
Beatrice
Saint Bernard

The structure of the three realms follows a commonnumerical patternof 9 plus 1, for a total of 10: 9 circles of the Inferno, followed by Lucifer contained at its bottom; 9 rings of Mount Purgatory, followed by theGarden of Edencrowning its summit; and the 9 celestial bodies of Paradiso, followed by theEmpyreancontaining the very essence of God. Within each group of 9, 7 elements correspond to a specific moral scheme, subdivided into three subcategories, while 2 others of greater particularity are added to total nine. For example, theseven deadly sinsof the Catholic Church that are cleansed in Purgatory are joined by special realms for the late repentant and theexcommunicatedby the church. The core seven sins within Purgatory correspond to a moral scheme of love perverted, subdivided into three groups corresponding to excessive love (Lust,Gluttony,Greed), deficient love (Sloth), and malicious love (Wrath,Envy,Pride).[22]

In central Italy's political struggle betweenGuelphs and Ghibellines,Dante was part of the Guelphs, who in general favored thePapacyover theHoly Roman Emperor.Florence's Guelphs split into factions around 1300 – the White Guelphs and the Black Guelphs. Dante was among the White Guelphs who were exiled in 1302 by the Lord-MayorCante de' Gabrielli di Gubbio,after troops underCharles of Valoisentered the city, at the request ofPope Boniface VIII,who supported the Black Guelphs. This exile, which lasted the rest of Dante's life, shows its influence in many parts of theComedy,from prophecies of Dante's exile to Dante's views of politics, to the eternal damnation of some of his opponents.[23]

The last word in each of the threecanticheisstelle( "stars" ).

Inferno[edit]

Gustave Doré's engravings illustrated theDivine Comedy(1861–1868); hereCharoncomes to ferry souls across the riverAcheronto Hell.
Main article:Inferno (Dante)

The poem begins on thenight before Good Fridayin the year 1300, "halfway along our life's path" (Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita). Dante is thirty-five years old, half of the biblical lifespan of 70 (Psalms89:10, Vulgate), lost in a darkwood(understood as sin),[24][25][26]assailed by beasts (alion,aleopard,and ashe-wolf) he cannot evade and unable to find the "straight way" (diritta via) – also translatable as "right way" – to salvation (symbolized by the sun behind the mountain). Conscious that he is ruining himself and that he is falling into a "low place" (basso loco) where the sun is silent ('l sol tace), Dante is at last rescued by Virgil, and the two of them begin their journey to the underworld. Each sin's punishment inInfernois acontrapasso,a symbolic instance ofpoetic justice;for example, in Canto XX,fortune-tellersandsoothsayersmust walk with their heads on backwards, unable to see what is ahead, because that was what they had tried to do in life:

they had their faces twisted toward their haunches
and found it necessary to walk backward,
because they could not see ahead of them.
... and since he wanted so to see ahead,
he looks behind and walks a backward path.[27]

Allegorically, theInfernorepresents the Christian soul seeing sin for what it really is, and the three beasts represent three types of sin: the self-indulgent, the violent, and the malicious.[28]These three types of sin also provide the three main divisions of Dante's Hell: Upper Hell, outside the city of Dis, for the four sins of indulgence (lust,gluttony,avarice,anger); Circle 7 for the sins of violence against one's neighbor, against oneself, and against God, art, and nature; and Circles 8 and 9 for the sins of fraud and treachery. Added to these are two dissimilar, spiritual categories: Limbo, in Circle 1, contains the virtuous pagans who were not sinful but were ignorant of Christ, and Circle 6 contains the heretics who contradicted the doctrine and confused the spirit of Christ.[29]

Purgatorio[edit]

Main article:Purgatorio
Dante, accompanied by Virgil, consoles the souls of the envious, from the Canto III ofPurgatorio

Having survived the depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom to the Mountain ofPurgatoryon the far side of the world. The Mountain is on an island, the only land in theSouthern Hemisphere,created by the displacement of rock which resulted whenSatan's fall created Hell[30](which Dante portrays as existing underneathJerusalem[31]). The mountain has seven terraces, corresponding to theseven deadly sinsor "seven roots of sinfulness".[32]The classification of sin here is more psychological than that of theInferno,being based on motives, rather than actions. It is also drawn primarily from Christian theology, rather than from classical sources.[33]However, Dante's illustrative examples of sin and virtue draw on classical sources as well as on the Bible and on contemporary events.

Love, a theme throughout theDivine Comedy,is particularly important for the framing of sin on the Mountain of Purgatory. While the love that flows from God is pure, it can become sinful as it flows through humanity. Humans can sin by using love towards improper or malicious ends (Wrath,Envy,Pride), or using it to proper ends but with love that is either not strong enough (Sloth) or love that is too strong (Lust,Gluttony,Greed). Below the seven purges of the soul is the Ante-Purgatory, containing the Excommunicated from the church and the Late repentant who died, often violently, before receiving rites. Thus the total comes to nine, with the addition of the Garden of Eden at the summit, equaling ten.[34]

Allegorically, thePurgatoriorepresents the Christian life. Christian souls arrive escorted by an angel, singingIn exitu Israel de Aegypto.In hisLetter toCangrande,Dante explains that this reference to Israel leaving Egypt refers both to theredemptionofChristand to "the conversion of the soul from the sorrow and misery of sin to the state of grace."[35]Appropriately, therefore, it isEaster Sundaywhen Dante and Virgil arrive.

ThePurgatoriodemonstrates the medieval knowledge of aspherical Earth.During the poem, Dante discusses the different stars visible in thesouthern hemisphere,the altered position of the sun, and the varioustime zonesof the Earth. At this stage it is, Dante says, sunset at Jerusalem, midnight on the RiverGanges,and sunrise in Purgatory.

Paradiso[edit]

Main article:Paradiso (Dante)
Paradiso,Canto III: Dante and Beatrice speak toPiccardaandConstance of Sicily,in a fresco byPhilipp Veit.

After an initial ascension, Beatrice guides Dante through the ninecelestial spheresofHeaven.These are concentric and spherical, as inAristotelianandPtolemaiccosmology. While the structures of theInfernoandPurgatoriowere based on different classifications of sin, the structure of theParadisois based on thefour cardinal virtuesand thethree theological virtues.

The seven lowest spheres of Heaven deal solely with the cardinal virtues ofPrudence,Fortitude,JusticeandTemperance.The first three spheres involve a deficiency of one of the cardinal virtues – theMoon,containing the inconstant, whose vows to God waned as the moon and thus lack fortitude;Mercury,containing the ambitious, who were virtuous for glory and thus lacked justice; andVenus,containing the lovers, whose love was directed towards another than God and thus lacked Temperance. The final four incidentally are positive examples of the cardinal virtues, all led on by theSun,containing the prudent, whose wisdom lighted the way for the other virtues, to which the others are bound (constituting a category on its own).Marscontains the men of fortitude who died in the cause of Christianity;Jupitercontains the kings of Justice; andSaturncontains the temperate, the monks who abided by the contemplative lifestyle. The seven subdivided into three are raised further by two more categories: the eighth sphere of the fixed stars that contain those who achieved the theological virtues offaith,hopeandlove,and represent theChurch Triumphant– the total perfection of humanity, cleansed of all the sins and carrying all the virtues of heaven; and the ninth circle, orPrimum Mobile(corresponding to the Geocentricism of Medieval astronomy), which contains the angels, creatures never poisoned by original sin. Topping them all is theEmpyrean,which contains the essence of God, completing the 9-fold division to 10.

Dante meets and converses with several great saints of the Church, includingThomas Aquinas,Bonaventure,Saint Peter,andSt. John.TheParadisois consequently more theological in nature than theInfernoand thePurgatorio.However, Dante admits that the vision of heaven he receives is merely the one his human eyes permit him to see, and thus the vision of heaven found in the Cantos is Dante's personal vision.

TheDivine Comedyfinishes with Dante seeing theTriune God.In a flash of understanding that he cannot express, Dante finally understands the mystery ofChrist's divinity and humanity, and his soul becomes aligned with God's love:[36]

But already my desire and my will
were being turned like a wheel, all at one speed,
by the Love which moves the sun and the other stars.[37]

History[edit]

Manuscripts[edit]

According to the Italian Dante Society, nooriginal manuscriptwritten by Dante has survived, although there are many manuscript copies from the 14th and 15th centuries – some 800 are listed on their site.[38]

Early translations[edit]

Coluccio Salutatitranslated some quotations from theComedyintoLatinfor hisDe fato et fortunain 1396–1397. The first complete translation of theComedywas made into Latin prose byGiovanni da Serravallein 1416 for two English bishops,Robert HallamandNicholas Bubwith,and an Italian cardinal,Amedeo di Saluzzo.It was made during theCouncil of Constance.The first verse translation, into Latinhexameters,was made in 1427–1431 byMatteo Ronto[fr].[39]

The first translation of theComedyinto another vernacular was the prose translation intoCastiliancompleted byEnrique de Villenain 1428. The first vernacular verse translation was that ofAndreu FebrerintoCatalanin 1429.[4]

Early printed editions[edit]

Title pageof the first printed edition (Foligno,11 April 1472)
First edition to name the poemDivina Comedia,1555
Illustration ofLuciferin the first fully illustrated print edition. Woodcut forInferno,canto 34. Pietro di Piasi, Venice, 1491.

The first printed edition was published inFoligno,Italy, by Johann Numeister and Evangelista Angelini daTrevion11 April1472.[40]Of the 300 copies printed, fourteen still survive. The original printing press is on display in theOratorio della Nunziatellain Foligno.

Early printed editions
Date Title Place Publisher Notes
1472 La Comedia di Dante Alleghieri Foligno Johann Numeister and Evangelista Angelini da Trevi First printed edition (oreditio princeps)
1477 La Commedia Venice Wendelin of Speyer
1481 Comento di Christophoro Landino fiorentino sopra la Comedia di Dante Alighieri Florence Nicolaus Laurentii WithCristoforo Landino's commentary in Italian, and some engraved illustrations byBaccio Baldiniafter designs bySandro Botticelli
1491 Comento di Christophoro Landino fiorentino sopra la Comedia di Dante Alighieri Venice Pietro di Piasi First fully illustrated edition
1502 Le terze rime di Dante Venice Aldus Manutius
1506 Commedia di Dante insieme con uno diagolo circa el sito forma et misure dello inferno Florence Philippo di Giunta
1555 La Divina Comedia di Dante Venice Gabriel Giolito First use of "Divine" in title

Thematic concerns[edit]

TheDivine Comedycan be described simply as anallegory:each canto, and the episodes therein, can contain many alternative meanings. Dante's allegory, however, is more complex, and, in explaining how to read the poem (see theLetter toCangrande)[41]he outlines other levels of meaning besides the allegory: the historical, the moral, the literal, and theanagogical.

The structure of the poem is also quite complex, with mathematical and numerological patterns distributed throughout the work, particularly threes and nines. The poem is often lauded for its particularly human qualities: Dante's skillful delineation of the characters he encounters in Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise; his bitter denunciations ofFlorentineand Italian politics; and his powerful poetic imagination. Dante's use of real characters, according toDorothy Sayersin her introduction to her translation of theInferno,allows Dante the freedom of not having to involve the reader in description, and allows him to "[make] room in his poem for the discussion of a great many subjects of the utmost importance, thus widening its range and increasing its variety."[42]

Dante called the poem "Comedy" (the adjective "Divine" was added later, in the 16th century) because poems in the ancient world were classified as High ( "Tragedy" ) or Low ( "Comedy" ).[43]Low poems had happy endings and were written in everyday language, whereas High poems treated more serious matters and were written in an elevated style. Dante was one of the first in the Middle Ages to write of a serious subject, the Redemption of humanity, in the low and "vulgar" Italian language and not the Latin one might expect for such a serious topic.Boccaccio's account that an early version of the poem was begun by Dante inLatinis still controversial.[44][45]

Scientific themes[edit]

Although theDivine Comedyis primarily a religious poem, discussing sin, virtue, and theology, Dante also discusses several elements of thescience of his day(this mixture of science with poetry has received both praise and criticism over the centuries).[46]ThePurgatoriorepeatedly refers to the implications of aspherical Earth,such as the different stars visible in thesouthern hemisphere,the altered position of thesun,and the varioustime zonesof the Earth. For example, at sunset in Purgatory it is midnight at theEbro,dawn in Jerusalem, and noon on theRiver Ganges:[47]

Just as, there where its Maker shed His blood,
the sun shed its first rays, and Ebro lay
beneath high Libra, and the ninth hour's rays

were scorching Ganges' waves; so here, the sun
stood at the point of day's departure when
God's angel – happy – showed himself to us.[48]

Dante travels through the centre of the Earth in theInferno,and comments on the resulting change in the direction ofgravityin Canto XXXIV (lines 76–120). A little earlier (XXXIII, 102–105), he queries the existence of wind in the frozen inner circle of hell, since it has no temperature differentials.[49]

Galileo Galilei's copy of the firstGiolitoedition of the poem (1555)

Inevitably, given its setting, theParadisodiscussesastronomyextensively, but in thePtolemaicsense. TheParadisoalso discusses the importance of theexperimentalmethod in science, with a detailed example in lines 94–105 of Canto II:

Yet an experiment, were you to try it,
could free you from your cavil and the source
of your arts' course springs from experiment.

Taking three mirrors, place a pair of them
at equal distance from you; set the third
midway between those two, but farther back.

Then, turning toward them, at your back have placed
a light that kindles those three mirrors and
returns to you, reflected by them all.

Although the image in the farthest glass
will be of lesser size, there you will see
that it must match the brightness of the rest.
Paradiso,Canto II[50]

A briefer example occurs in Canto XV of thePurgatorio(lines 16–21), where Dante points out that both theory and experiment confirm that theangle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.Other references to science in theParadisoinclude descriptions ofclockworkin Canto XXIV (lines 13–18), andThales' theoremabout triangles in Canto XIII (lines 101–102).

Galileo Galileiis known to have lectured on theInferno,and it has been suggested that the poem may have influenced some of Galileo's own ideas regarding mechanics.[51]

Influences[edit]

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Dante reading the Divine Comedy at the court ofGuido Novello,painting by Andrea Pierini, 1850.Palazzo Pitti,Florence

Classical[edit]

Without access to the works ofHomer,Dante used Virgil,Lucan,Ovid,andStatiusas the models for the style, history, and mythology of theComedy.[52]This is most obvious in the case of Virgil, who appears as a mentor character throughout the first two canticles and who has his epicThe Aeneidpraised with language Dante reserves elsewhere for Scripture.[53]Ovid is given less explicit praise in the poem, but besides Virgil, Dante uses Ovid as a source more than any other poet, mostly through metaphors and fantastical episodes based on those inThe Metamorphoses.[54]Less influential than either of the two are Statius and Lucan, the latter of whom has only been given proper recognition as a source in theDivine Comedyin the twentieth century.[55]

Besides Dante's fellow poets, the classical figure that most influenced theComedyisAristotle.Dante built up the philosophy of theComedywith the works of Aristotle as a foundation, just as the scholastics used Aristotle as the basis for their thinking. Dante knew Aristotle directly from Latin translations of his works and indirectly quotations in the works ofAlbertus Magnus.[56]Dante even acknowledges Aristotle's influence explicitly in the poem, specifically when Virgil justifies the Inferno's structure by citing theNicomachean Ethics.[57]In the same canto, Virgil draws onCicero'sDe Officiisto explain why sins of the intellect are worse than sins of violence, a key point that would be explored from canto XVIII to the end of theInferno.[58]

Christian[edit]

TheDivine Comedy's language is often derived from the phraseology of theVulgate.This was the only translation of the Bible Dante had access to, as it was one the vast majority ofscribeswere willing to copy during the Middle Ages. This includes five hundred or so direct quotes and references Dante derives from the Bible (or his memory of it). Dante also treats the Bible as a final authority on any matter, including on subjects scripture only approaches allegorically.[59]

TheDivine Comedyis also a product ofScholasticism,especially as expressed by St. Thomas Aquinas.[60][61]This influence is most pronounced in theParadiso,where the text's portrayals of God, the beatific vision, andsubstantial formsall align with scholastic doctrine.[62]It is also in theParadisothat Aquinas and fellow scholastic St. Bonaventure appear as characters, introducing Dante to all of Heaven's wisest souls. Despite all this, there are issues on which Dante diverges from the scholastic doctrine, such as in his unbridled praise for poetry.[63]

TheApocalypse of Peteris one of the earliest examples of a Christian-Jewishkatabasis,a genre of explicit depictions of heaven and hell. Later works inspired by it include theApocalypse of Thomasin the 2nd–4th century, and more importantly, theApocalypse of Paulin the 4th century. Despite a lack of "official" approval, the Apocalypse of Paul would go on to be popular for centuries, possibly due to its popularity among the medieval monks that copied and preserved manuscripts in the turbulent centuries following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. TheDivine Comedybelongs to the same genre[64]and was influenced by the Apocalypse of Paul.[65][66]

Islamic[edit]

Dante lived in a Europe of substantial literary and philosophical contact with the Muslim world, encouraged by such factors asAverroism( "Averrois, che'l gran comento feo" Commedia, Inferno, IV, 144, meaning "Averrois, who wrote the great comment" ) and the patronage ofAlfonso X of Castile.Of the twelve wise men Dante meets in Canto X of theParadiso,Thomas Aquinasand, even more so,Siger of Brabantwere strongly influenced by Arabic commentators onAristotle.[67]MedievalChristian mysticismalso shared theNeoplatonicinfluence ofSufissuch asIbn Arabi.PhilosopherFrederick Coplestonargued in 1950 that Dante's respectful treatment ofAverroes,Avicenna,and Siger of Brabant indicates his acknowledgement of a "considerable debt" to Islamic philosophy.[67]

In 1919,Miguel Asín Palacios,a Spanish scholar and a Catholic priest, publishedLa Escatología musulmana en la Divina Comedia(IslamicEschatologyin the Divine Comedy), an account of parallels betweenearly Islamic philosophyand theDivine Comedy.Palacios argued that Dante derived many features of and episodes about the hereafter from the spiritual writings ofIbn Arabiand from theIsra and Mi'rajor night journey ofMuhammadto heaven. The latter is described in theahadithand theKitab al Miraj(translated into Latin in 1264 or shortly before[68]asLiber scalae Machometi,"The Book of Muhammad's Ladder" ), and has significant similarities to theParadiso,such as asevenfold division of Paradise,although this is not unique to theKitab al Mirajor Islamic cosmology.[69]

Many scholars have not been satisfied that Dante was influenced by theKitab al Miraj.The 20th century OrientalistFrancesco Gabrieliexpressed skepticism regarding the claimed similarities, and the lack of evidence of a vehicle through which it could have been transmitted to Dante.[70]The Italian philologistMaria Cortipointed out that, during his stay at the court of Alfonso X, Dante's mentorBrunetto Latinimet Bonaventura de Siena, a Tuscan who had translated theKitab al Mirajfrom Arabic into Latin. Corti speculates that Brunetto may have provided a copy of that work to Dante.[71]René Guénon,a Sufi convert and scholar of Ibn Arabi, confirms inThe Esoterism of Dantethe theory of the Islamic influence (direct or indirect) on Dante.[72]Palacios' theory that Dante was influenced by Ibn Arabi was satirized by the Turkish academicOrhan Pamukin his novelThe Black Book.[73]

In addition to that, it has been claimed thatRisālat al-Ghufrān( "The Epistle of Forgiveness" ), asatiricalwork mixingArabic poetryandprosewritten byAbu al-ʿAlaʾ al-Maʿarriaround 1033 CE, had an influence on, or even inspired, Dante'sDivine Comedy.[74][75]

Literary influence in the English-speaking world and beyond[edit]

A detail from one ofSandro Botticelli's illustrations forInferno,Canto XVIII, 1480s. Silverpoint on parchment, completed in pen and ink.

TheDivine Comedywas not always as well-regarded as it is today. Although recognized as amasterpiecein the centuries immediately following its publication,[76]the work was largely ignored during theEnlightenment,with some notable exceptions such asVittorio Alfieri;Antoine de Rivarol,who translated theInfernointo French; andGiambattista Vico,who in theScienza nuovaand in theGiudizio su Danteinaugurated what would later become the romantic reappraisal of Dante, juxtaposing him to Homer.[77]TheComedywas "rediscovered" in the English-speaking world byWilliam Blake– who illustrated several passages of the epic – and theRomanticwriters of the 19th century. Later authors such asT. S. Eliot,Ezra Pound,Samuel Beckett,C. S. LewisandJames Joycehave drawn on it for inspiration. The poetHenry Wadsworth Longfellowwas its first American translator,[78]and modern poets, includingSeamus Heaney,[79]Robert Pinsky,John Ciardi,W. S. Merwin,andStanley Lombardo,have also produced translations of all or parts of the book. In Russia, beyondAlexander Pushkin's translation of a few tercets,[80]Osip Mandelstam's late poetry has been said to bear the mark of a "tormented meditation" on theComedy.[81]In 1934, Mandelstam gave a modern reading of the poem in his labyrinthine "Conversation on Dante".[82]In T. S. Eliot's estimation, "Dante andShakespearedivide the world between them. There is no third. "[83]ForJorge Luis BorgestheDivine Comedywas "the best book literature has achieved".[84]

English translations[edit]

Main article:List of English translations of the Divine Comedy

TheDivine Comedyhas been translated into English more times than any other language, and new English translations of theDivine Comedycontinue to be published regularly. Notable English translations of the complete poem include the following.[85]

Year Translator Notes
1805–1814 Henry Francis Cary An older translation, widely availableonline.
1867 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Unrhymed terzines. The first U.S. translation, raising American interest in the poem. It is still widely available, includingonline.
1891–1892 Charles Eliot Norton Prose translation used byGreat Books of the Western World.Available online in three parts (Hell,Purgatory,Paradise) atProject Gutenberg.
1933–1943 Laurence Binyon Terza rima.Translated with assistance fromEzra Pound.Used inThe Portable Dante(Viking, 1947).
1949–1962 Dorothy L. Sayers Translated forPenguin Classics,intended for a wider audience, and completed byBarbara Reynoldsafter Sayers's death.
1969 Thomas G. Bergin Cast inblank versewith illustrations byLeonard Baskin.[86]
1954–1970 John Ciardi HisInfernowas recorded and released byFolkways Recordsin 1954.
1970–1991 Charles S. Singleton Literal prose version with extensive commentary; 6 vols.
1981 C. H. Sisson Available inOxford World's Classics.
1980–1984 Allen Mandelbaum Available online atWorld of Danteand alongsideTeodolinda Barolini's commentary atDigital Dante.
1967–2002 Mark Musa An alternativePenguin Classicsversion.
2000–2007 Robertand Jean Hollander Onlineas part of the Princeton Dante Project. Contains extensive scholarly footnotes.
2002–2004 Anthony M. Esolen Modern LibraryClassics edition.
2006–2007 Robin Kirkpatrick A thirdPenguin Classicsversion, replacing Musa's.
2010 Burton Raffel A Northwestern World Classics version.
2013 Clive James A poetic version inquatrains.

A number of other translators, such asRobert Pinsky,have translated theInfernoonly.

In popular culture[edit]

Main article:The Divine Comedy in popular culture
Dante and Virgil,a painting byWilliam-Adolphe Bouguereau(1850), which depicts Dante and Virgil in the eighth circle of Hell, observing two damned souls in eternal combat in Hell.[87]

TheDivine Comedyhas been a source of inspiration for countless artists for almost seven centuries. There are many references to Dante's work inliterature.Inmusic,Franz Lisztwas one of many composers to writeworksbased on theDivine Comedy.Insculpture,the work ofAuguste Rodinincludes themes from Dante. SculptorTimothy Schmalzcreated a series of 100 sculptures, one for each canto, on the 700th anniversary of the date of Dante's death,[88]and manyvisual artistshave illustrated Dante's work, as shown by the examples above. There have also been many references to theDivine Comedyincinema,television,comics and video games.

See also[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^For example,Encyclopedia Americana,2006, Vol. 30. p. 605: "the greatest single work of Italian literature;" John Julius Norwich,The Italians: History, Art, and the Genius of a People,Abrams, 1983, p. 27: "his tremendous poem, still after six and a half centuries the supreme work of Italian literature, remains – after the legacy of ancient Rome – the grandest single element in the Italian heritage;" and Robert Reinhold Ergang,The Renaissance,Van Nostrand, 1967, p. 103: "Many literary historians regard the Divine Comedy as the greatest work of Italian literature. In world literature it is ranked as an epic poem of the highest order."
  2. ^Bloom, Harold(1994).The Western Canon.Harcourt Brace.ISBN978-0-15-195747-7.See alsoWestern canonfor other "canons" that include theDivine Comedy.
  3. ^SeeLepschy, Laura; Lepschy, Giulio (1977).The Italian Language Today.Or any other history ofItalian language.
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Bibliography[edit]

  • Eiss, Harry (2017).Seeking God in the Works of T. S. Eliot and Michelangelo.New Castle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.ISBN978-1-4438-4390-4.
  • Shaw, Prue (2014).Reading Dante: From Here to Eternity.New York: Liveright Publishing.ISBN978-1-63149-006-4.
  • Trone, George Andrew (2000). "Exile". In Lansing, Richard (ed.).The Dante Encyclopedia.London and New York: Routledge.ISBN978-0-415-87611-7.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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