Exam 2 Dante Flashcards
Canto 5: Francesca
- Sin: LUST affair with brother-in-law Paolo…Instigated by Medevil romance (Lancelot)
- Punishment: swept about by storm and forever locked in with Paolo
- Location: Second Circle: The Lustful
- Storm represents lust and desire that consume them
- Dante tricked into compassion by Francesca’s beautiful, manipulative speech; reassessment of courtly love values by Dante the writer)
Canto 10: Farinata and Cavalcante
* Sin: denied the immortality of the soul, sin is intellectual, did not believe in God
* Location: HERETICS, 6th circle of hell
* Punishment: trapped in flaming tombs in the City of Dis
* Significance: proud, stuck on the past; lack of understanding; clairvoyant but unable to see present
* Believed free will of humanity rather than divine predetermination
Canto 13: Pier delle Vigne
- Sin: Suicide
- Punishment: turned into a tree, wants his reputation restored. Slandered by courtiers
- Location: Seventh Circle, violence against self.
- Pier is now separated from his body and transformed into a tree, experiencing suffering when his “body” “tree branch is harmed
Highlights the complexities of love and desire.
Canto 15: Brunetto Latini
- Sin: Sodomite, homosexuality, sins against nature
- Punishment: aimless wandering on burning sands and under rain of fire….infertility, nothing grows there
* Location: 7th circle, violence against God or nature. - Has Dante’s respect and affection.
Canto 19: Pope Nicholas III
- Sin: Simonist, sold church offices or sacred things.
- Location: Malebolge, 8th circle
- Punishment: Upside down in a hole with feet on fire, INVERSION OF BAPTISM
- Corruption of the soul
- Sought earthly powers and riches over spiritual good.
- Pope Boniface VIII is headed there Dante’s invective opens the Canto; importance of the church issue in Dante)
Canto 26: Ulysses
- Sin: fraudulent counselor, TROJAN HORSE, deception and manipulation…Ship wrecked
* Location: Malebolge, 8th Circle - Punishment: trapped in flame with Diomed; reflecting their combined exploits in deceiving the Trojans.
- His last voyage; issue of responsibility for leaving his family behind.
- Pushing beyond the boundaries of what is considered natural
- Christian reassessment of Ulysses; Dante’s own journey and the importance of avoiding hubris)
Canto 27: Guido da Montefeltro
- Sin: fraudulent counselor; untrue to his vows as a friar,
- Location: Maleborge, 8th circle
- Punishment: Hidden within fire, burned in flames… symbolizes the deception of his counsel.
- relapse into sin instigated by Pope Boniface VIII
- invalid absolution: devil and Saint Francis fight over Guido’s soul Devil wins
- He was forgiven by Boniface before he committed his sin….. fraud is the abuse of intelligence to harm others) NO TRUE REPENTENCE
Canto 28: Bertran de Born
- Sin: sower of scandal and schism;
- Location: Malebolge 8th circle
- Punishment: holding his own severed head
- instigated a riff between the English royal family.
- Political decapatation, division he caused
Canto 33: Count Ugolino
- Sin: Traitor to his country
- Location: Cocytus, the pit of Hell;
- Punishment: trapped in ice and eternally gnawing at the skull of Archbishop Ruggieri, the man who imporisoned and starved him and his children.
- becoming the victim of Ugolino’s eternal hunger.
- Both were trying ot take control of Piza
What is Limbo?
Represents those who lived virtuous lives but did not know God….saddness and gloom but NO VIOLENCE…. place for great pagans and unbaptized infants
What does contrapasso mean?
The punishment reflects the sin
A key concept in Dante’s structure of Hell.
What is an allegory?
- A narrative with a deeper meaning
- story with a symbolic meaning beyond the literal one.
- Also called an extended metaphor
Used throughout the Divine Comedy to convey moral and philosophical messages.
What is the City of Dis?
The city in Hell for heretics. Lower levels of hell guaded by fallen angels.
Represents a significant barrier in Dante’s journey.
What is simony?
the sin of attempting to exchange money or favors for power or positions in the Christian church.
A major sin criticized by Dante.
Who is Beatrice?
Dante’s ideal woman and guide
Represents divine love and grace.
Who is Virgil?
- Dante’s guide through Hell and purgatory
- Publius Vergilius Maro
- Greatest ancient Roman Poet.
Represents human reason and wisdom.
What is the structure of the Divine Comedy?
3 books, 100 Cantos total: 34 + 33 + 33
Reflects the journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.
When is the Divine Comedy set?
1300
Marks a significant time in Dante’s life and the political situation in Florence.
How does the Divine Comedy begin?
Dante lost in the woods
Symbolizes confusion and the beginning of his spiritual journey.
Why was Dante exiled?
- Accused of corruption and financial wrongdoing.
- He later opposed the papacy’s growing political influence in Florence.
Who was Dante Alighieri?
poet, and politician in Florence
served in the city’s government.
