History tells us little about poets and authors such as Homer and Shakespeare, two writers who may rival Dante's influence. There are questions about the authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey and even questions linger about the prose and poetry of Shakespeare, but Dante is without a doubt the author of the epic poem The Divine Comedy to which The Inferno is one of three pieces. Dante remains tied to the context and content of The Divine Comedy both as the narrator and author.
Dante Alighieri was born in the year 1265 in Florence, Italy. He was the son of a nobleman and received an education in Florence. In Dante's own biography, he met a girl, Beatrice Portinari, who turned into a woman whom be loved from afar. She became his poetic muse after her death in 1290. Dante eventually married a woman named Gemma Donati and he had four children.
From what we can tell, Dante received a good education. He was trained in Latin grammar and rhetoric. He was influenced by Brunetto Latini, his mentor, where he probably encountered works by Aristotle and Cicero but also works written in Old French. Dante wrote many works of lyrical poetry which contain sonnets, odelike songs, and sestinas. Dante puts many of his literary mentors in The Divine Comedy. He also wrote Latin treatises on political theory and philosophy.
In the years between the death of Beatrice and his exile, Dante spent time writing and partaking in communal government. In 1295, Dante became part of the Arte dei Medici e Speziali, which consisted of many artists of the Renaissance. While serving as one of the three Florentine ambassadors to Pope Boniface VIII in Rome in 1302, Dante was sentenced first to exile and then to death of he should ever again set foot in his beloved city of Florence. Dante's exile lasted until his death in 1321 of malaria. During these years of exile he wrote The Divine Comedy.
The Divine Comedy is an epic that Dante referred to simply as The Comedy. The adjective was added to the title during the Renaissance. The poem is an epic and owes its structure to that of earlier epics, such as Virgil's Aeneid, which became the single most important work in influencing the foundation of Dante's text. In his story, Dante the Pilgrim must take an epic journey that Dante the Poet believed every human should take. The underpinning of the entire poem is deeply religious, with The Inferno being one of the first pieces of literature to graphically portray Hell. The theme of Dante's work is the state of souls after death. The entire text is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise.
The Inferno is, most importantly, a poem. It is an adventure story focusing upon a man named Dante. Thanks to his connections in Heaven with his former love, Beatrice who is dead and living in Paradise, Dante receives assistance from above to visit the afterlife in order to escape the dangers in his soul. Dante requires a guide. Beatrice sends him down the classical poet Virgil, who lives in the Limbo of the virtuous pagans. These are privileged people who never received Christian baptism. Normally, these individuals wouldn't be saved, but since so many are great poets Dante (the poet) admired, he arranged things in Hell in such a way that they are saved in spite of the doctrines of the Catholic Church. They have been saved because of the human significance and ideals expressed in their literary works. Throughout the text, Dante and Virgil travel through Hell and entire an entire world.
It is important to remember that Dante the Pilgrim (the protagonist) must not be confused with Dante the Poet (the author). The Poet describes this epic journey through the vantage point of already being in Paradise while Dante the Pilgrim is encountering Hell for the first time. Needless to say, I love Dante and his entire work, so be excited for this week because this is one of my favorite texts.
Summaries await!
Cassy
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