The Divine Comedy by Dante is perhaps the most influential
piece of Italian literature, from theological and political perspectives as
well as cultural and linguistic. It was one of the first major works in the Dolce Stil Novo, the “sweet new style”
or the “vulgar” dialect actually spoken by Italians rather than the Latin or
Greek used in all religious, academic, and serious literary writing. It
solidified the Italian language and was literature for the common people. At the time, "illiterate" meant that one could not read or write Latin or Greek, and literature exhibited the division between upper and lower class.
the entire Divina Commedia in Dante's house, Florence
The work itself was largely influenced by Dante's education as well as the politics and events of Florence during his life. Florence in the 13th century was both intellectually active and politically
turbulent. The growing tension between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor
created political and theological divisions. As a result, much of Italy was
divided between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, the people of each city-state choosing the side that benefited them in context of their city. In Florence,
the Guelphs supported the Papacy while the Ghibellines fought for the power of
the Empire. The Florentine Guelphs defeated the Ghibellines in 1266, but soon
the Guelphs divided into the Black and White Guelphs and fought more fiercely
than ever. The Black Guelphs typically represented the old nobility and wanted the
Pope to have a more active role in Florentine politics. The White Guelphs, of
which Dante was a member, represented the new power of industry and money and
wanted more freedom from Rome. Initially the Whites kicked the Blacks out of
the city, but when the Blacks reclaimed power with the support of Pope Boniface VIII in 1302, they exiled many
Whites, including Dante. By that point, Dante cared only about peace, returning to Florence, and
unification of Italy. The only possible vehicle he saw for this was the Holy
Roman Emperor Henry VII, so he tried to return to Florence multiple times by
fighting alongside the Ghibellines, though he was never successful and the Holy Roman Emperor died before being able to unite the city-states. His
feelings of betrayal influenced his placement of treachery as the deepest
circle of the Inferno, as well as various rivals and members of the Black
Guelphs in various circles. The 6th canto in each of the 3 canticas (Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso) is political. However, Dante was primarily an idealist thinking of universal peace and he condemned Italian politics in his poem for corrupting and dividing his beloved homeland.
Dante's death mask
Dante's education and the ideas of the time played a large role in shaping his epic poem. At the University of Bologna, his contemporaries also wanted to make the spoken dialect the written language of literature. He built his foundation in the classics, their influence prominent in his depiction of the Inferno as a combination of the ancient Roman underworld and the Christian Hell, as well as his incorporation of several classical authors and Roman mythological creatures. There were many influential theologians and philosophers, such as Thomas Aquinas, whose ideas contributed to Dante's structuring of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. The scientific understanding of the earth and astronomy added to the physical description of the Universe, with an abyss descending to Lucifer at the very center of the earth furthest from God, Paradise extending in rings out from the Earth, and Purgatory a mountain on the opposite face of the Earth, made of the displaced rock of the Abyss formed when God threw Lucifer from Paradise.
Another important thing to note is the dualist mindset of the time. People were either good or evil and there was not much of a sense of in between. Certain actions made you unequivocally good while others damned you. In addition, this was a time of crusades and accusations of heresy. The Papacy felt threatened by other religions and condemned alternate interpretations of the Bible and Christianity. The medieval ideology is visible in the Inferno's unambiguous designation of humans to the punishments equal to their sin. Dante also warns against pitying the damned because their actions have merited their fates and God's judgment is perfect. Despite this, he follows the new theological ideas of his time by separating the sins of the Inferno from those of Purgatory. He recognizes that some sins warrant eternal punishment while others should be absolvable through penitence. The physical journey in the Divine Comedy from the Inferno, up Purgatorio, and ultimately into Paradiso allegorically represents the journey of the soul into Heaven. In the poem, Dante travels through a long, narrow tunnel that takes him from the bottom of the Inferno to the base of Purgatory, which is surrounded by water. This passage symbolizes the soul's rebirth, while the climbing of the mountain is the penitence and moral growth of the Christian life before man can reach Paradise. The Inferno is very physical, detailing the corporeal pain of sinners. Purgatorio is both physical and mental, with the "seven deadly sins" based on motives rather than actions, but still purged through physical toil. Paradiso is purely theological, with the spheres of heaven representing the Cardinal virtues (Fortitude, Justice, Temperance, and Prudence) and the Theological virtues (Faith, Hope, and Love), ending with the 9th non-material circle of Empyrean. While Dante's graphic descriptions of the circles of Hell warn against and condemn sin, he carries a message of hope and salvation. Though he does not pity sinners, Dante argues that all sin arises from love, and that through love the soul can find deliverance.
