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1. Dante’s Inferno: Also known as the Divine Comedy dfdf

2. Unit Essential Questions How does Dante use his life and his times in the Inferno? What do you already know about The Inferno?

3. Dante’s Inferno Video Game Game trailer The woman in the game is not Dante’s wife. She is Beatrice, the love of his life. Virgil guides Dante during the game Video game preview clip http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=SuZUprDiGEc&ob=av5n&feature=mv_sr

4. Dante Alighieri Born in 1265 in Florence, Italy Died in 1321 in exile from Florence Beatrice Portinari was the love of his life, but he married and had children with a different woman Wrote many poems about love, religion, and philosophy

5. Dante’s Politics Dante was part of political group that wanted more freedom from Rome and the Pope Felt that the Pope was corrupt – accepting money for forgiveness from sins and for important positions (Simony) Dante’s group started out in power, but Pope Boniface VIII sent his army to take over Florence Dante later writes about Boniface in Inferno – he portrays him as burning in one of the bottom layers of Hell

6. What is Simony? Paying clergy for forgiveness, a pardon or for a church office. Also means paying for a church relic/artifact

7. Exile What does exile mean? After Dante’s party lost power, he was sentenced to two years of exile and had to pay a fine Dante refused to pay the fine, so he was sentenced to burn at the stake if he returned to Florence Exiled in 1302 and never returned

8. Divine Comedy • The Divine Comedy is Dante’s most famous work • A Comedy, in the literary sense, does not have to be funny and can be serious. • A Comedy is a literary work with a happy ending • Vs. a Tragedy, which does not have a happy ending • Composed of three separate books: • The Inferno (we read from this part) • The Purgatorio • The Paradiso • Each book consists of several Cantos, or sections

9. The Inferno Inferno means Hell The first book of the Divine Comedy We will read parts of this book Cantos 1, 3, 5, 33, 34 Dante travels through Hell and sees Sin for what it is The most famous and widely-read of the three books because of the interesting Sin and Damnation

10. What is a Canto? Sections, like chapters in a book

11. The Purgatorio Purgatorio or Purgatory What does purgatory mean? The second book of the Divine Comedy We don’t read this Dante travels through Purgatory and learns what he must do to live a life free of sin Describes the Earth as being round

12. The Paradiso Paradise or Heaven The final book of the Divine Comedy We don’t read this Dante travels through Heaven, repents his past sins, and believes that he will now live a life free of sin Speaks with several saints and sees God

13. Epic Poem A long poem about a significant event, battle, or journey Examples: The Iliad and Beowulf Contains an Epic Hero – a person on whom the fate of a culture hangs in the balance

14. Dante as an Epic Hero Dante was the first author to cast himself as the Epic Hero Most Epic Heroes fight in famous, dramatic battles Dante’s character determines his own fate instead of a culture’s fate Scholars call the Divine Comedy Dante’s “Midlife Crisis” because he was writing about his own journey to find meaning in his life This is called an Allegory – a story that symbolizes something else (Animal Farm, Avatar)

15. Plot • Two levels • On the surface, this is a poem about a man’s journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven (what do we call someone traveling for religious reasons?) • On a deeper level, this is an allegory about society’s/Dante’s journey to God

16. Main Characters Dante himself is the main character in the Divine Comedy. He must travel through Hell, Heaven, and Purgatory. The poet Virgil guides Dante through Hell and Purgatory, but cannot enter heaven because he lived before Jesus died, enabling humans to enter Heaven. Dante’s love, Beatrice, guides him through Heaven.

17. Virgil Virgil is the Roman poet who wrote the Epic The Aeneid about the founding of Rome Dante believed Virgil to be the greatest poet who ever lived He admired and respected Virgil above all people, and chose him to guide Dante’s character through Hell (Inferno) and Purgatory.

18. Beatrice They were in the “friend zone” Friends clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pnMWvbFpS8 Dante met Beatrice when he was nine-years-old, and fell in love at first sight Dante had a very significant crush on Beatrice for the rest of his life, but never had a relationship with her He believed that she was his Muse, and frequently wrote about her in his poetry

19. Beatrice • When Dante was 25, Beatrice died • Dante believed that Beatrice was his reason for writing poetry and living, so he took her death badly • Beatrice is Dante’s idea of idealized love…but he never really knew her • In his later poems, Beatrice became a figure who guided and watched over Dante • In the Divine Comedy, Beatrice guides Dante through Heaven (Paradiso)

20. Religion (but you can’t talk about that in school!) Dante was a Roman Catholic, living in Italy, in the Middle Ages Dante is the author AND protagonist of the Divine Comedy, so the entire story is told through the lens of his beliefs What is a protagonist? We can identify the lens, and look through the lens, but Dante’s beliefs are not necessarily yours or mine – This a work of fiction, and not a religious text

21. Dante’s Hell • Dante’s ideas about Hell (and Heaven) were shaped by the Catholic Church as well as the philosophers of his time • Dante’s Hell (Inferno) has many layers, each for a different type of Sin • The further you descend, the worse the sins (and the punishments) get • The deeper you go into Hell, the deeper you go into the center of the Earth. • Satan lives at the bottom of Hell – but he is being punished too.

22. Gates Heaven http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-9141453-pearly-gates.php