1 / 20

Dante and the Road to Salvation

Dante and the Road to Salvation. Glenn Steinberg Church of Saint Ann December 9, 2010. Dante’s Literary Context. The state of vernacular writing in Dante’s day Unambitious in form and content Wide audience Latin literature in Dante’s day Old and venerated Elitist and political.

sylvie
Download Presentation

Dante and the Road to Salvation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Dante and the Road to Salvation Glenn SteinbergChurch of Saint AnnDecember 9, 2010

  2. Dante’s Literary Context • The state of vernacular writing in Dante’s day • Unambitious in form and content • Wide audience • Latin literature in Dante’s day • Old and venerated • Elitist and political

  3. Dante’s Literary Achievement • Epic ambition • Broad audience • Encyclopedic content (including personal and spiritual content) • Entertainment value

  4. Gruesome

  5. Spooky

  6. Majestic

  7. Dante’s Inferno:The Video Game Inspired by the real Dante Alighieri, but adapted for a new generation and a new medium, the hero of the game is a soldier who defies death and fights for love against impossible odds. The Italian mercenary Dante returns home from the wars to find that his beloved Beatrice has been murdered, and her soul pulled down into Hell by a dark force. He gives chase, and vows to get her back. For weapons, he wields Death's soul-reaping scythe, and commands holy powers of the cross, given to him by Beatrice.

  8. Sin and Forgiveness Today • Mixed messages • Public scandals • Sex and violence in the media • Culture of negativity and criticism (vs. cultures of gratitude and praise) • Personal perfectionism

  9. Medieval Wisdom “Even the just man sins seven times a day” (cf. Proverbs 24:16).

  10. Dante’s Situation in Canto 1 Nel mezzo del cammindi nostra vita mi ritrovai per unaselvaoscura, ché la diritta via era smarrita.

  11. What to do in the face of sin? • Try to get back on the right path? • Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. • Give up?

  12. Where to begin? • Three heavenly ladies of Canto 2 • The BVM • Santa Lucia • Beatrice

  13. Why go to hell?

  14. The Lesson of Francesca Canto 5

  15. The Lesson of Francesca • Sin is a refusal • to admit guilt, • to recognize inherent sinfulness, • to take responsibility for actions, • to let go of unhappiness and unhealthiness.

  16. The Temptation of Francesca • Cranes and starlings • Doves • Dante’s reaction • Francesca’s admirers • Dante’s deviousness?

  17. The Lesson of Ugolino Canto 33

  18. The Lesson ofUgolino • Sin is about • hate overcoming love, • stone overcoming flesh, • vengeful self-absorption overcoming humanity, • silence and self-reliance overcoming community.

  19. Lessons learned? Dante’s Inferno:The Video Game Inspired by the real Dante Alighieri, but adapted for a new generation and a new medium, the hero of the game is a soldier who defies death and fights for love against impossible odds. The Italian mercenary Dante returns home from the wars to find that his beloved Beatrice has been murdered, and her soul pulled down into Hell by a dark force. He gives chase, and vows to get her back. For weapons, he wields Death's soul-reaping scythe, and commands holy powers of the cross, given to him by Beatrice.

  20. Where next? • Purgatorio • Conversion • Recognition of the need for others • Paradiso • Focus on God • Child-like simplicity

More Related