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How does Dante use his life and his times in the Inferno?

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 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

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How does Dante use his life and his times in the Inferno? 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 Dante was part of political faction 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 Dantes 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! After Dantes party lost power, he was sentence to two years of exile and and a fine Dante refuses to pay the fine on principle, so he was sentenced to burn at the stake if he returned to Florence Exiled in 1302 and never returned The Divine Comedy is Dantes 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 The Purgatorio The Paradiso Each book consists of 33 Cantos, or sections The first book of the Divine Comedy 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 The second book of the Divine Comedy Dante travels through Purgatory and learns what he must do to live a life free of sin Describes the Earth as being round The final book of the Divine Comedy 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 A long poem about a significant event, battle, or journey Examples: The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid Contains an Epic Hero a person on whom the fate of a culture hangs in the balance Dante was the first author to cast himself as the Epic Hero Most Epic Heroes fight in famous, dramatic battles Dantes character determines his own fate instead of a cultures fate Scholars call the Divine Comedy Dantes 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 Two levels On the surface, this is a poem about a mans journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven (what do we call someone traveling for religious reasons?) On a deeper level, this is an allegory about humanitys/Dantes journey to God 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. Dantes love Beatrice guides him through Heaven. 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 Dantes character through Hell and Purgatory. 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 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 Dantes idea of idealized lovebut 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 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 We can identify the lens, and look through the lens, but Dantes beliefs are not necessarily yours or mine This a work of fiction, and not a religious text Dantes ideas about Hell (and Heaven) were shaped by the Catholic Church as well as the philosophers of his time Dantes Hell 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. Self-Indulgence Lustful Gluttonous Greedy Bad-tempered Heresy Violence Maliciousness Fraud Treachery