Durante Dante AlighieriMedieval Italian Poet Dante s Life Born 1265 in Florence Italy Died 1321 in Ravenna Italy . Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet prose writer literary theorist moral philosopher and politicalthinker He is best known for the monumental epic poem La Commedia later named La DivinaCommedia The Divine Comedy by Giovanni Boccaccio Dante describes how he fought as a cavalryman against the Ghibellines a banished Florentineparty supporting the imperial cause He also speaks of his great teacher Brunetto Latini and his.gifted friend Guido Cavalcanti Dante s life was shaped by the long history of conflict between the imperial and papal partisanscalled respectively Ghibellines and Guelfs Following the middle of the 13th century theantagonisms were brutal and deadly with each side alternately gaining the upper hand andinflicting gruesome penalties and exile upon the other . In 1266 a force of Guelfs supported by papal and French armies was able to defeat the Ghibellinesat Benevento expelling them forever from Florence This meant that Dante grew up in a city brimming with postwar pride and expansionism eager toextend its political control throughout Tuscany Florentines compared themselves with Rome andthe civilization of the ancient city states . He was exiled from Florence and lived in neighboring city the rest of his life He was part of the linguistic unification with L accademia della Crusca The Tuscan dialect wasused as the foundation for modern Italian The Academy s purpose was to detach the flour thegood language from the bran the bad language The Divine Comedy.Main Points An allegorical poem which ended with un lieto fine making it a comedy rather than a tragedy Written in Italian Florentine vernacular volgare dialect rather than Latin the Academiclanguage that nobility scholars and the church used The common people lower social classes did not understand or read Latin . By writing in Italian he made the book available to more people Oral tradition carried theverses to a larger audience By choosing to write his poem in Italian rather than in Latin Dante decisively influenced thecourse of literary development Not only did he lend a voice to the emerging lay culture of hisown country but Italian became the literary language in western Europe for several centuries . Dante s Divine Comedy a great work of medieval literature is a profound Christian vision ofman s temporal and eternal destiny On its most personal level it draws on the poet s ownexperience of exile from his native city of Florence on its most comprehensive level it may beread as an allegory taking the form of a journey through hell purgatory and paradise The poem amazes by its array of learning its penetrating and comprehensive analysis of.contemporary problems and its inventiveness of language and imagery Dante uses on real characters from his own times and also from ancient Roman and Greekmyths For example he use of Virgil is one of the richest cultural appropriations in literature The Plot The plot of The Divine Comedy is simple a man generally assumed.to be Dante himself is miraculously enabled to undertake a longjourney which leads him to visit the souls in Hell Purgatory and He has two guides Virgil who leads him through the Inferno andPurgatorio and Beatrice who introduces him to Paradiso Starts from Good Friday evening in 1300 through Easter Sunday .Dante learns of the exile that is awaiting him which had of course already occurred at the time of the writing Thus the exile of an individual becomes a microcosm of theproblems of a country and it also becomes representative of thefall of man Dante s story is thus historically specific and serves as a.model or a microcosm of medieval Florence Though an exponent of reason Virgil has become an emissary ofdivine grace and his return is part of the revival of those simplerfaiths associated with Dante s earlier trust in Beatrice And yet ofcourse Virgil by himself is insufficient because he is not baptized.and is a man The Plot continued Virgil had provided Dante with moral instruction in survival as an exile which is the theme of his own poem as well as Dante s Virgil is a poet whom Dante had studied carefully and from whom he had.acquired his poetic style the beauty of which has brought him much The Inferno represents the Christian soul seeing sin for what it really is and the three beasts represent three types of sin the self indulgent leopard the violent lion and the malicious she wolf In Hell it is a painful but necessary act before real recovery can begin The.journey through the Inferno primarily signifies a process of separation andthus is only the initial step in a fuller development In the Purgatorio the protagonist s painful process of spiritualrehabilitation commences in fact this part of the journey may beconsidered the poem s true moral starting point . In the Paradiso true heroic fulfillment is achieved with the aid of Beatricea woman who acts as a vehicle to God The Organization The basic structural component of The Divine Comedy is the canto The poemconsists of 100 cantos which are grouped together into three sections or.canticles Inferno Purgatorio and Paradiso There are 33 cantos in each canticle and one additional canto contained in theInferno which serves as an introduction to the entire poem For the most part thecantos range from about 136 to about 151 lines The poem s rhyme scheme is on the third sentence meaning terzarima aba .bcb cdc etc Thus the divine number of three is present in every part of the Uses Hendecasyllable verse which uses 11 syllables per line Numerological patterns arching throughout the work particularly threes andnines which are related to the trinity the God the sun and the holy spirit Alsothe number 10 is important because they come from the bible s 10.commandments Hell has 9 circles There are three main divisions of Dante s Hell Upper Hell thefirst 5 Circles for the self indulgent sins Circles 6 and 7 for the violent sins andCircles 8 and 9 for the malicious sins map at end Purgatory has 9 circles Heaven has 9 circles . The Divine Comedy s Circles Inferno Canto I Midway on our life s journey I found myselfin the dark woods the right road lost The use of words journey and the right road suggest to the reader the.religious aspect of Dante s adventure that strays away from the literal The image of being lost in the dark woods sets the reader up with a distinctdichotomy between the unenlightened ignorance involved in a lack offaith in God and and the clear radiance provided by His love The contrast between the dark woods which embody Dante s fear and the. right road which embodies Dante s confidence in God makes hischallenge clear The protagonist is looking for God in a sinful place Hell Dante s reference to our life makes this the journey of every man and notjust the protagonist This adventure is one that every person should take .so as to understand their sins and find peace with God The Divine Comedy’s Circles Inferno Canto I Quote “Midway on our life’s journey, I found myself in the dark woods, the right road lost†The use of words “journey†and “the right road†suggest to the reader, the religious aspect of Dante’s adventure that strays away from the literal.