While Dante is supported, both physically and mentally, by his guide Virgil throughout Canto 17, he demonstrates his increasing independence and understanding via his analysis of the events he faces. Dante is required to call on the spiritual and...

In 1312, Dante Alighieri wrote a treatise called De Monarchia, in which he expressed his belief that society would operate best under a single authority - that is, a secular monarch. Dante, in his characteristic rabble-rousing way, argued that...

Dante Alighieri uses Hell in his epic poem,The Inferno, to show the perfection of every act committed and idea thought by God. Dante’s purpose in writing the first part of his Divine Comedy was to demonstrate that God's action in human history can...

Dante’s Inferno and Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat define their essential beliefs and attitudes regarding sin and the meaning of life. Their contrasting opinions of sin outline the extent to which their values differ and the way they live their lives....

Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy presents a highly detailed first-person account of the afterlife that is rich with imagery. The use of detailed imagery gives the reader a very descriptive and realistic view of the events, creating a strong...

The purpose of this essay is to examine to what extent Dante presents pride as being the basis for all sin in La Commedia, and whether he portrays pride as being a qualifiable or justifiable evil. Pride is defined as feelings of your own worth and...

A number of overlying themes have persisted throughout the three canticles of Dante's Commedia. The politically charged and spiritually passionate Florentine elegantly laced into his masterpiece general topics - affairs of state, religion, and...

Next to Beatrice, Mary is probably the most important female character in Danteâs Comedy. Maryâs symbolism in relation to the souls of purgatory appears relatively simple at first: her examples of virtue both reprove the penitent sinners for their...

T.S. Eliot is considered one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century and his poetry was greatly influenced by Dante Alighieri. Eliot's introduction to Dante was in his college years at Harvard, where he studied philosophy. Eliot read...

"Blessed are those in whom grace shines so copiously that love of food does not arouse excessive appetite, but lets them hunger after righteousness" (2.23.150-154). On the sixth terrace of Purgatory, a tree speaks these words, communicating a...

“Love is the seed in you of every virtue and of all acts deserving punishment.”

——Purg. XVII, 104-5

Dante calls his great work a comedy, not for its humor but because it meets the traditional definition of a comedy: a story with a rising plot from...

Galileo Galilei once stated that “all truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” However, in order to understand and discover such truths, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue. In...

Throughout Dante’s Inferno and Purgatorio, the theme of love is visited often. Between the two works, it becomes clear that Dante’s notion of love is divided into two parts: Natural and Elective Love. Natural Love does not err -- that is to say,...

In no other part of The Divine Comedy does Dante present his vision of the Church Militant, or the body of living believers who must struggle against sin and reach for virtue, than in Purgatorio. Striking parallels exist between the experiences of...

One of the more prominent themes in Dante’s Commedia is his repeated use of animal symbolism to either signify a certain vice or virtue or to draw a comparison between a particular animal and humanity. This symbolism is used especially throughout...

Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy presents a highly detailed first-person account of the afterlife that is rich with imagery. The use of detailed imagery gives the reader a very descriptive and realistic view of the events, creating a strong...

The purpose of this essay is to examine to what extent Dante presents pride as being the basis for all sin in La Commedia, and whether he portrays pride as being a qualifiable or justifiable evil. Pride is defined as feelings of your own worth and...

A number of overlying themes have persisted throughout the three canticles of Dante's Commedia. The politically charged and spiritually passionate Florentine elegantly laced into his masterpiece general topics - affairs of state, religion, and...

Next to Beatrice, Mary is probably the most important female character in Danteâs Comedy. Maryâs symbolism in relation to the souls of purgatory appears relatively simple at first: her examples of virtue both reprove the penitent sinners for their...

T.S. Eliot is considered one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century and his poetry was greatly influenced by Dante Alighieri. Eliot's introduction to Dante was in his college years at Harvard, where he studied philosophy. Eliot read...

"Blessed are those in whom grace shines so copiously that love of food does not arouse excessive appetite, but lets them hunger after righteousness" (2.23.150-154). On the sixth terrace of Purgatory, a tree speaks these words, communicating a...

“Love is the seed in you of every virtue and of all acts deserving punishment.”

——Purg. XVII, 104-5

Dante calls his great work a comedy, not for its humor but because it meets the traditional definition of a comedy: a story with a rising plot from...

Galileo Galilei once stated that “all truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” However, in order to understand and discover such truths, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue. In...

In no other part of The Divine Comedy does Dante present his vision of the Church Militant, or the body of living believers who must struggle against sin and reach for virtue, than in Purgatorio. Striking parallels exist between the experiences of...