the Divine comedy ( Divina Commedia ) is the most famous work of Dante Alighieri. She is also regarded as the first large Italian text in , and it is true that the language in which she is written had a considerable influence on the Italian language. This poem describes the descent of Dante to the Enfer S, then the passage by the Purgatoire and finally its accession with the Paradis, to finish by its union with God.
To write its work, Dante was very largely inspired by the bloody conflict, which it has even lived him in Italy, opposing the Guelfes ( Guelfi ) and the Gibelins ( Ghibellini ) (1125-1300).
Nel mezzo LED cammin di will nostra v' ita -
Ahi quanto has to dir qual will era E cosa of ura' , - B
Tant' E will amara, che poco E piú me orte' ; - C
In the Divine comedy, the Earth is fixed in the center of the Universe. Around it the nine skies turn:
The Devil is in the center of the Earth. Its fall dug a conical cavity whose axis passes by Jerusalem; it is the Hell, compartmentalized in nine circles:
A hidden way leads residence of the Devil to an island, diametrically opposed to Jerusalem, where the Purgatory rises; this one includes/understands:
; Anteroom of the Hell ; :
Dante is plunged in uncertainty, it does not know if it must carry on its way with Virgile; the latter reassures it by saying to him that it is Béatrice itself which required of him to come to leave Dante its demise (c.f. Chant I). Dante, galvanized, plunges, with its guide, with the Hells.
; At the beginning of this song it is the door of the hell itself which seems to speak. Virgile must then reassure Dante so that it passes the threshold of the first kingdom.
; High Hell: the incontinent ones
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2nd circle: luxurieux, impudic and died by love. Guard: Minos, which weighs the crimes and directs towards the various circles. Damnés: Sémiramis, Didon, Cléopâtre, Helene, Tristan… Paolo and Francoise de Rimini. Pains: Carried by the gust of wind against the escarpés edges of the abyss.
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3rd circle: greedy . Guard: Cerberus. Damné: Ciacco, a fellow-citizen of Dante, the latter requires of him what it became of Farinat (between-others), Ciacco answers him that it is among " the blackest hearts of the enfer". (As will see we it in song X). Pains: Extended in mud under the rain and hail.
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4th circle: miserly and prodigal. Guard: Pluto, Greek god of the richnesses. Pains: Miserly and prodigal large rocks push while being insulted mutually. Monolog of Virgile in connection with the divinity Fortune.
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5th circle, the tower with the two lamps overhangs the river; with the doors of Known as. Guards: river, the nocher Phlégyas; city, a crowd of demons. Dante meets there Philippe Argenti, damné and enemy personnel of Dante, which appears it, would have souffleté it as a public, he perishes devoured by the hearts in anger and itself. Virgile and Dante are found blocked with the doors of Known as, Virgile tries to find a compromise with the demons but finally those are cloîtrent and refuse to open the door.
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5th circle, ramparts of Known as; inside the city: burning sepulchres. Guardians: Three Furies then Jellyfish. Additive: A divine messenger opens the doors of Known as.
; Low Hell
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6th circle, among the ignited tombs: the heretics. Damnés: the epicureans, Farinata degli Uberti, Cavalcante Cavalcanti, the pope Anastase II. One of damnés informs Dante on its future exile of Florence (January 1302) as well as sad destiny of its party, when it returns in June 1304 and that it will realize that efforts of its party (White: one of the many clans which disputed Florence at the beginning of the 14th century before the arrival of the Médicis, in 1434) were vain.
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7th circle: the violent one and those which made the sin of fraud. Fall from the pope Anastase. One learns in this song the subdivision from this circle in 3 bosoms: Those who were violent one towards their next, towards themselves and finally towards God, blasphemers, as those which were against nature (sodomites).
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1st bosom: Culprits of violences towards their next (Homicide S, brigands…)
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2nd bosom: Culprits of violences towards themselves (Suicide S, those which wasted their fortune…)
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3rd bosom: Violent ones against God 1st part: The blasphemers
Dante there meets Capanée which, proud and arrogant until the end of times, makes fun of its punishment (and also of the gods) and does not lower the head. One learns also the origins from Styx, Achéron and Phlégéton
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3rd bosom: Violent ones against God 2nd part: The intellectuals
Dante while passing beside procession of damnés, meets by chance Brunetto Latini (philosopher and speaker) which was its adviser, who encouraged it in his studies, he was a kind of mentor for Dante. Discussion with Brunetto which describes the hearts to him which are here, various well-read men, François d' Accurse and Priscien, respectively jurisconsult and grammairien.
3rd bosom: Violent ones against God 3rd part: Sodomites, violent ones against nature
Virgile and Dante meets three Thegghiajo Aldobrandi, statesmen there (Guido Guerra and Jacques Rusticucci), which were either soldiers, or valorous knights. Disfigured always as much by the flames, they ask Dante if Value and Courtesy always have place with Florence. Dante answers them that not, the richness and pride corrupted their beautiful city, finally they still require of Dante to speak about them when it returns among the alive ones.
At the end of the song the two assistants launch a cord at the bottom of a basin, where is thrown Phlégéton, which enables them to pass to the following circle, to note that the cord was around Dante since the first song, it undertook to catch the panther with this one. After they launched the cord, one learns the arrival from a horrible monster, Géryon, which symbolizes the fraud.
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3rd bosom: Violent ones against God 4th and last part: The Usurers, violent one against art then descent (and arrival) with the 8ecercle
Arrived of Géryon which will make them pass to the eighth circle on its back, while Virgile makes sure of the good will of Géryon, Dante goes down to the pit, where the usurers are. The latter, are not quoted by name, but while describing their armorial bearings, they carry purses to the colors of their armorial bearings around the neck, and always undergo the punishment of the flames.
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8th circle: The Misleading ones: Malesfosses. The 8th circle is divided into 10 concentric valleys precisely called pits.
1st pit: Seducers: Dante discovers there two files of damnés naked, which advance towards the two assistants, and the others in the opposite direction but more quickly, crowd is perpetually whipped by the demons. Dante by looking at them, notices Caccianemico, Bolonais which would have been made pay by a marquis to give his sister to him, who was already promised with another; thus he is condemned to the eternal sufferings. As well as Jason which, after having already given up Médée, gives up Hypsiphyle which was only and pregnant, gave up it with its sad fate.
2nd pit: Flattering and flattering ones: The latter are plunged in a pit of disgusting and pestilential dregs, Dante recognizes there Alessio Intermini de Lucques, flattering with possible, and its lies of which it forever known lassitude pushed it in this pit.
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8th circle: The Misleading ones:
3rd pit: The Simoniaque S (those which sold or bought benefit, favors): Dante and Virgile meet there Simon the Magus, who in spite of (as his name indicates it) his many knowledge in the magic, tried to buy the gift of the miracles to the apostles. Damnés are hung on a kind of table or plane surface perforated in the shape of circle, " a livid bored rock of thousand trous" where are hung the simoniaques ones, the upside down (to symbolize their lapse of memory of the sky and God) and having their body with the air only starting from the legs. These last are perpetually " léchées" by burning languages of fire. It there has one which suffers and struggles of them more than the others: It is Nicolas III (damné to have misused the privileges that its papal title granted to him, it did not sell indulgences but it made benefit all its close relations pleasures which the Church gave him), which took Dante for Boniface VIII first of all (Nicolas III knew one does not know how, that Boniface (damné to have succeeded in convincing its predecessor, by average not very catholic forts, Célestin V, to dislocate itself of its papal coat, for this crisis of opportunism, and this treason towards the Church, Boniface VIII will replace Nicolas III in Hell)).
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8th circle: The Misleading ones:
4th pit: Soothsayers and wizard: Dante and Virgile arrive in front of a mass of damnés crying, they are inverted and go to back for eternity. The assistants see Amphiaraüs (one of the kings who besieged Thèbes, being soothsayer, it had predicted themselves that it was going to die, it thus sought to flee of the battle but the ground opened and absorbs it forever) and Tirésias which could change sex into striking of a blow two intertwined snakes, Manto is also present, by seeing it Virgile tells in Dante the origin of its city: Mantoue. They see also various astrologers like Michel Scot or Bonatti.
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8th circle: The Misleading ones:
5th pit: The guilty of misappropriation ones and corrupt officials (those which sold justice or which seriously and voluntarily missed owe them): While arriving at the fifth pit, Dante is astonished to see it plunged in the darkness, it notices, a few moments afterwards, an enormous ebullient pitch pond where are thrown damnés. A black angel arrives with unhappy on its shoulder which hangs by the feet, it is thrown in pitch (it is old of Lucques, place where: " for gold, all is white or noir"), it tries to go back to surface but the demons present push back it still and still in pitch on fire. Then Virgile advises in Dante to be put at the variation while it will discuss with the demons, the latter by seeing it, become very threatening and cheating, Virgile challenges them by saying that one of them must listen what follows and after they will be able to strike it if they want it: A demon named Malequeue advances and asks him what it is, Virgile answers him (as with many recoveries in this book) that it would not venture in darkness if it had not been written in the sky that it must cross the Hell with a still alive heart (Dante thus). With these words the demons are depities and let them leave, in their giving in more one escorts of demons for the way.
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8th circle: The Misleading ones:
5th pit: The guilty of misappropriation ones and corrupt officials (continuation): Dante while advancing with the demons, notices how some damnés arrive at " jouer" of their torment: They try to leave their back to the air so that this part, at least, less pain brings to them, or some others still try to leave their head when it are towards the edge, but all hide in pitch when the chief comes from the demons, but unhappy remained too a long time on the surface. It was certain Janpol de Navarre which having some friendships with king Thibault, géna not to be sold at ransom price dignities and the uses of the kingdom. Janpol is made écrocher sharp by the demons and when he says to the assistants that he will be able to make come from damnés (since Virgile, and Dante during all the book, solicit damnés to tell them their torments and the cause of the latter) from a simple whistle the assistants accept but is wary of an extremely skilful trick of the sectional view; very just, because at the time when Janpol was supposed to make come his/her comrades, it jumps (to save torment of the demons) one of them also jumps but cannot catch up with it, followed by a second demon which irritated by the failure of the first, is put to fight with him in the airs, they finish both in pitch.
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8th circle: The Misleading ones:
6th pit: Hypocrites:
After this pathetic combat of the two demons, Dante worries and doubts the bona fide of the latter: More especially as they lost two their friends ..... Dante informs Virgile of its concern, this last answers him that it is him also anxious and that they soon will leave them, by escaping, at the end of its counterpart, the demons are able to catch them. Virgile takes Dante by the arm and they flee together towards the sixth pit, where the demons, servants of the fifth pit, cannot enter.
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8th circle: The Misleading ones:
7th pit: Robbers: The beginning of the song tells us the difficult passage to the 7th pit and the lassitude of Dante, which starts to tire. Virgile of a speech, galvanizes it and they take again their road towards the pit; who was filled of snakes of all kinds, swarming in the cavity and badgering damnés which, not having any refuge in this sad pit, run terrified and attacked by the reptiles.
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8th circle: The Misleading ones:
7th pit: The robbers (continuation): At the end of its speech Fucci raises the hands to the sky and defies God by blasphémant it, at once is rolled up around its neck a snake, then another which bound the arms to him, thus private of the word and its arms, he flees while running. Shortly after a centaur in anger arrives which required where the blasphemer had passed, the centaur in question is Cacus, which, like tells it to us Virgile, after having forsaken Hercules, made run much blood, it flees in the search of Fucci. Then three spirits appear, suddenly one of them is made encircle by an enormous snake which, similar with ivy studs with him feet with the head, it bites it and transpierces the two cheeks to him, they were so dependant that one could not distinguish one or the other at the time of the pressure, so that finally, the two heads did not form more that one, damné, thus disfigured, left him-also. One of the two other remainders is made attack by a snake of fire to the navel, and he also is found transformed into snake.
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8th circle: The Misleading ones:
8th pit: Bad advisers: In the torment of the fire inflicted for these damnés, Dante and Virgile recognize Ulysses and Diomède, Dante begs Virgile to be able to go to question them, Virgile answers him that yes but it will be itself which will question them, because it fears that the Greeks " méprisent" the language of Dante. The couple passing close to them, Virgile challenges them: Ulysses explains us that although him and his/her companions were old they launched out in a last crusade to the west, and when they transfer a titanic mountain rising towards the sky (Purgatory) Ulysses galvanized his troops for a last voyage, but since no human cannot arrive at the alive Purgatory, the sea broke out and absorbs their boat.
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8th circle: The Misleading ones:
8th pit: The bad advisers (continuation): The assistants after being itself maintained with Ulysses still meet another incandescent character: Guido de Montefeltro, which were a very skilful politician at the time, and when it decided to withdraw and to be made monk, Boniface VII come to him to require a council of him, Guido tried to refuse but the pope promised the keys of the paradise then to him if it gave him council, then it accepted and its council had terrible effects on the many innocent ones, and when Guido died out, Saint-François d' Assise him even comes to seek it, but a black demon claimed it by quoting the badly advised council that it had given to Boniface, it was carried with the Hells.
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8th circle: The Misleading ones:
9th pit: Those which by their opinions and the bad councils divided the men, sowers of disorder: The pit is filled of damnés mutilated, the first which arised to Dante is the Mahomet prophet, it is cut into two with the vertical " throat with the ceinture" , its bowels hang and fall to ground, and when their wounds are healed, in turn damnés are made reopen the body with a sword. One finds there also the Dolcin abbot, who, persecuted by his bishop, decided to flee in the mountains, with five thousand as of his in order to invent his own doctrines, Clément V launched an attack against him and made it burn, but if Dolcin and its assistants had not missed a vivres in the cold and snow, Clément V would have been bredouille, because meanwhile Dolcin well had strengthened and affirmed its territory.
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8th circle: The Misleading ones:
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8th circle: The Misleading ones:
II: Simulators: One meets there Gianni Schicchi, which had been made pass for Bose Donati (death without to have made will), it threaded in his bed of dead in order to giving to Simon (his relative), his rich person heritage. To thank Schicchi, Simon gave him a splendid mare.
III: False coiners: Adam Master, who falsified the guilders for the counts de Romène, and for his own profit, it was discovered and burned.
IV: Liars: If not (Greek spy of the Trojan War, it is him which convainquit Troyens to accept the horse) and Putiphar which tried to allure Joseph, and sent it in prison.
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Of the 8th circle with 9th: Giants around the well: The assistants meet giants, girdled by the well, it arrives to them at the size, the higher half of their body is outside while the other is in the well. They mention Nemrod, first king de Babylone, one learns that it is him which conceived the project of the tower of Babel. They meet also Éphialtès, wire of Poséidon and Iphimédie, then Antée (the single giant not to be itself turned over against the gods) which will help them to reach the ninth circle.
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9th circle: Traitors: The frozen marsh of Cocyte
II: Anténore: Traitors in their city: Buoso de Duera: It was charged by Gibelins with barring the passage of Charles Ier of Anjou but Buoso accepted that the king gives him money so that it can pass without fear; and other notorious traitors, as Tebaldello de Zambrasi which yielded one of the doors of the town of Faënza to Guelfes and especially called Bocca, Florentin of the family of Abatti. In the battle of Montaperti, (where four thousand Guelfes were massacred, Bocca, gained by the money of Gibelins, approached that which carried the standard and sliced the hand to him; Guelfes, not seeing their standard more, are reflected in escape and were massacred.
Dante at the end of the song, thus notices the two damnés of which one is a little higher than the other, two heads of damnés are superimposed, one notices that which with the top is devouring the other.
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9th circle: The traitors (continuation):
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9th circle: The traitors (continuation and end):
Dante and Virgile arise on the beach of an island located on other side of the terrestrial sphere. They see the mount of the Purgatory then, length of which assemble the hearts of dead which repented. The mount is composed of a antépurgatoire and seven bosoms where must await deaths, same time that they put at repentance. Whereas cries and complaints tore the Hell, the Purgatory resounds of melodies. The hearts arrive while singing the psalm " In exitu Israel de Aegypto ". Each sinner occupies a place relative to his sin, which is systematically pointed out to him while one calls upon for him the example of people who were distinguished in contrary quality. As they expient their faults, the penitent ones can climb the mountain, until they arrive at the entry of the Paradise. The prayers of alive can then help them to open the doors of them.
1st circle: the culprits of Péché of Orgueil are curved by a weight on their shoulders
Once again, the rise is punctuated meetings with various known of Dante or more famous characters (Arnaut Daniel, Adrien V, etc). One can note that Dante places his/her friends of the Dolce Stil Novo in the Purgatory. Arrived at the terrestrial Paradise, in top of the mountain, Virgile Dante leaves and turns over in Hell. It is Béatrice who then comes to seek the poet to be used to him as guide, and “to leave towards stars”.
The Divine comedy is held “in the middle of the way of our life”, i.e. in 1300. It was probably written ten years later.
By its with dimensions initiatory, the Divine comedy and its thirty three songs in each of the three parts, could inspire the founders of the Franc-maçonnerie at the 18th century
In episode 2 of Sol Bianca the legacy entitled Reminiscencia refers to the Divine comedy.
William Blake, poet and English engraver of the XVIII, under order carry out approximately 100 tables inspired by the work of Dante. These tables are found set out again in prestigious English museums.
Among the translations in French, one estimates at the 19th century those of:
The Divine comedy was put in worms by:
Be-X-old: Боскаякамэдыя Simple: Divine The Comedy
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