Divine_Comedy

What is the relationship between classical and Christian culture in the Divine Comedy, especially the "Inferno'" Be sure to account for Virgil, the ancient Roman poet, who accompanies Dante on his journey. While the classical culture does not use fear as a way to illustrate eternal pain and suffrage after death Dante who wrote the Devine Comedy has been said that he wrote the book for the church in the Christian culture to make those who were not walking with God fearful, but gave them hope that there would be paradise after death for those who followed the laws of the Christian faith. Some say that it was just propaganda for the church. Dante who lived during the years of 1265-1321 was born in Florence Italy to a wealthy family. During the time of his youth there were two political groups that divided Florence. One group followed the guild lines of the Pope and the other group followed the Emperor. In 1302 Dante was exiled from Florence and during this time he would travel from place to place involving himself in politics. It was during this time that he wrote The Devine Comedy. In The Devine Comedy the one Dante chose to guide him through hell and purgatory was Virgil and his guide through paradise was Beatrice who was Dante’s muse. The book is broken into three sections: 1. Inferno 2. Purgatory 3. Paradise Dante explains what one must do to achieve eternal life and that it is based on their chosen life in other words how one lives their life while here on earth. What sins they have commented, what they have done to repent these sins, and will they have salvation. The book tells us a lot about what Dante believed in a ideal society when it came to the Pope and the Emperor. The main characters of the book are Dante himself who is lost in the sins of the world and he can’t seem to find any way to get himself out of this world. Then he encounters Virgil, who was sent by Beatrice to escort him out of this realm however, in order to get out he must travel through Hell to be able to get to the top of the mountain which is on the other side of the world. Next we have Virgil who guide Dante through Hell but can only take him as far as the top of Mount Purgatory. Once they reach the top they are met by Beatrice who will guide him through the rest of his journey. Beatrice who was Dante’s Muse was the one who was sent from the heavens to rescue him from his sins. “Midway this way of life we’re bound upon, I woke to find myself in a dark wood, Where the right road was wholly lost and gone.” (Canto I, 1-3) This is the part where Dante was lost in his sin and could not find a way out. He has lost all hope for salvation. So at this point he finds himself lost in the sins of the world, he tries desperately to climb the mountain which is Mount Purgatory the symbol of repentance. Dante was denied entrance to the mountain by three beasts the dancing leopard, snarling lion, and a hungry wolf. These three beasts represented the three divisions of Hell. This is why he could not find his way out of his sins. This is the part where he finds Virgil and Virgil tells him that he can get Dante to the top of the mountain but would have to cross the depths of hell first and that he would only be able to get him to Purgatory and that Beatrice would then lead him to the gates of heaven. Dante was extremely scared what had to be done and Virgil accused him of being a coward but encourages him to continue his journey and told him that the Virgin Mary herself was sending Beatrice to save him from his sins and to guide him the rest of the way to paradise. Dante agreed and told Virgil that he was ready to continue. Dante and Virgil arrived at the gate of Hell and after they enter Dante see many who were there that never made a choice in whether they believed in God or didn’t believe they were in limbo for eternity. They then make it to the river edge where they load into a ferry but the ferryman at first was not going to let him enter until Virgil told the ferryman that it would be ok because God had sent for him. Once on the other side which was the circle of Hell they met up with many who had not been able to choose in what direction they wanted to go. The fields were green and were a place that seemed very peaceful. This was only the beginning of their journey that would cross many circles of Hell and would encounter many different daemons that would try to stop their passage to Paradise. However, in the end they meet up with Beatrice who would then take him the rest of the way to the gates of heaven. Reference: Douglas, Kenneth, et al. The Norton Anthology Western Literature, W.W. Norton & Company, NY: New York, 2006. Print.