Virgil divine comedy. The Divine Comedy

He could not call his work a tragedy only because those, like all genres of “high literature,” were written in Latin. Dante wrote it in his native Italian. “The Divine Comedy” is the fruit of the entire second half of Dante’s life and work. This work most fully reflected the poet’s worldview. Dante appears here as the last great poet of the Middle Ages, a poet who continued the line of development of feudal literature.

Editions

Translations into Russian

• A. S. Norova, “Excerpt from the 3rd song of the poem Hell” (“Son of the Fatherland”, 1823, No. 30);
• F. Fan-Dim, “Hell”, translation from Italian (St. Petersburg, 1842-48; prose);
• D. E. Min “Hell”, translation in the size of the original (Moscow, 1856);
• D. E. Min, “The First Song of Purgatory” (“Russian Vest.”, 1865, 9);
• V. A. Petrova, “The Divine Comedy” (translated with Italian terzas, St. Petersburg, 1871, 3rd edition 1872; translated only “Hell”);
• D. Minaev, “The Divine Comedy” (LPts. and St. Petersburg. 1874, 1875, 1876, 1879, translated not from the original, in terzas);
• P. I. Weinberg, “Hell”, canto 3, “Vestn. Heb.", 1875, No. 5);
• Golovanov N. N., “The Divine Comedy” (1899-1902);
• M. L. Lozinsky, “The Divine Comedy” (, Stalin Prize);
• A. A. Ilyushin (created in the 1980s, first partial publication in 1988, full publication in 1995);
• V. S. Lemport, “The Divine Comedy” (1996-1997);
• V. G. Marantsman, (St. Petersburg, 2006).

Structure

The Divine Comedy is constructed extremely symmetrically. It is divided into three parts: the first part (“Hell”) consists of 34 songs, the second (“Purgatory”) and the third (“Paradise”) - 33 songs each. The first part consists of two introductory songs and 32 describing hell, since there can be no harmony in it. The poem is written in terzas - stanzas consisting of three lines. This tendency to certain numbers explained by the fact that Dante gave them a mystical interpretation - so the number 3 is associated with the Christian idea of ​​the Trinity, the number 33 should remind of the years of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, etc. There are 100 songs in the Divine Comedy (the number 100 is a symbol of perfection).

Plot

Dante's meeting with Virgil and the beginning of their journey through the underworld (medieval miniature)

According to Catholic tradition, the afterlife consists of hell, where eternally condemned sinners go, purgatory- the location of sinners atoning for their sins, and Raya- abode of the blessed.

Dante details this view and describes the device the afterlife, recording with graphic certainty all the details of its architectonics. In the introductory song, Dante tells how, having reached the middle of his life, he once got lost in a dense forest and how the poet Virgil, having delivered him from three wild animals that blocked his path, invited Dante to travel through the afterlife. Having learned that Virgil was sent to Beatrice, Dante’s deceased beloved, he surrenders without trepidation to the poet’s leadership.

Hell

Hell looks like a colossal funnel consisting of concentric circles, the narrow end of which rests on the center of the earth. Having passed the threshold of hell, inhabited by the souls of insignificant, indecisive people, they enter the first circle of hell, the so-called limbo (A., IV, 25-151), where the souls of virtuous pagans reside, who have not known the true God, but have approached this knowledge and beyond then freed from hellish torment. Here Dante sees outstanding representatives ancient culture- Aristotle, Euripides, Homer, etc. The next circle is filled with the souls of people who once indulged in unbridled passion. Among those carried by the wild whirlwind, Dante sees Francesca da Rimini and her lover Paolo, fallen victims forbidden love to each other. As Dante, accompanied by Virgil, descends lower and lower, he witnesses the torment of gluttons forced to suffer from rain and hail, misers and spendthrifts tirelessly rolling huge stones, angry ones getting bogged down in the swamp. They are followed by heretics and heresiarchs engulfed in eternal flames (among them Emperor Frederick II, Pope Anastasius II), tyrants and murderers floating in streams of boiling blood, suicides turned into plants, blasphemers and rapists burned by falling flames, deceivers of all kinds, torment which are very diverse. Finally, Dante enters the final, 9th circle of hell, reserved for the most terrible criminals. Here is the abode of traitors and traitors, the greatest of them - Judas Iscariot, Brutus and Cassius - they are gnawing with his three mouths by Lucifer, the angel who once rebelled against God, the king of evil, doomed to imprisonment in the center of the earth. Description scary looking Lucifer ends the last song the first part of the poem.

Purgatory

Purgatory

Having passed the narrow corridor connecting the center of the earth with the second hemisphere, Dante and Virgil emerge on the surface of the earth. There, in the middle of an island surrounded by the ocean, a mountain rises in the form of a truncated cone - purgatory, like hell, consisting of a series of circles that narrow as they approach the top of the mountain. The angel guarding the entrance to purgatory allows Dante into the first circle of purgatory, having previously drawn seven Ps (Peccatum - sin) on his forehead with a sword, that is, a symbol of the seven deadly sins. As Dante rises higher and higher, passing one circle after another, these letters disappear, so that when Dante, having reached the top of the mountain, enters the “earthly paradise” located at the top of the latter, he is already free from the signs inscribed by the guardian of purgatory. The circles of the latter are inhabited by the souls of sinners atoning for their sins. Here the proud are purified, forced to bend under the burden of weights pressing on their backs, the envious, the angry, the careless, the greedy, etc. Virgil brings Dante to the gates of heaven, where he, as someone who has not known baptism, has no access.

Paradise

In the earthly paradise, Virgil is replaced by Beatrice, seated on a chariot drawn by a vulture (an allegory of the triumphant church); she encourages Dante to repentance, and then takes him, enlightened, to heaven. The final part of the poem is dedicated to Dante's wanderings through the heavenly paradise. The latter consists of seven spheres encircling the earth and corresponding to the seven planets (according to the then widespread Ptolemaic system): the spheres of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, etc., followed by the spheres of the fixed stars and the crystal sphere, - behind the crystal sphere is the Empyrean, - the infinite the region inhabited by the blessed contemplating God is the last sphere that gives life to everything that exists. Flying through the spheres, led by Bernard, Dante sees the Emperor Justinian, introducing him to the history of the Roman Empire, teachers of the faith, martyrs for the faith, whose shining souls form a sparkling cross; ascending higher and higher, Dante sees Christ and the Virgin Mary, angels and, finally, the “heavenly Rose” - the abode of the blessed - is revealed before him. Here Dante partakes of the highest grace, achieving communication with the Creator.

"Comedy" is Dante's last and most mature work.

Analysis of the work

In form, the poem is an afterlife vision, of which there were many in medieval literature. Like the medieval poets, it rests on an allegorical core. So the dense forest, in which the poet got lost halfway through his earthly existence, is a symbol of life’s complications. The three animals that attack him there: a lynx, a lion and a she-wolf are the three most powerful passions: sensuality, lust for power, greed. These allegories are also given a political interpretation: the lynx is Florence, the spots on the skin of which should indicate the enmity of the Guelph and Ghibelline parties. Leo is a symbol of roughness physical strength- France; she-wolf, greedy and lustful - papal curia. These beasts are threatening national unity Italy, which Dante dreamed of, a unity cemented by the dominance of the feudal monarchy (some literary historians give Dante's entire poem a political interpretation). Virgil saves the poet from the beasts - reason sent to the poet Beatrice (theology - faith). Virgil leads Dante through hell to purgatory and on the threshold of heaven gives way to Beatrice. The meaning of this allegory is that reason saves a person from passions, and knowledge of divine science brings eternal bliss.

The Divine Comedy is imbued with the author's political tendencies. Dante never misses an opportunity to reckon with his ideological, even personal enemies; he hates usurers, condemns credit as “usury”, condemns his age as the age of profit and love of money. In his opinion, money is the source of all kinds of evil. He contrasts the dark present with the bright past of bourgeois Florence - feudal Florence, when simplicity of morals, moderation, knightly “courtesy” (“Paradise”, Cacciaguida’s story), and a feudal empire reigned (cf. Dante’s treatise “On the Monarchy”). The terzas of "Purgatory" accompanying the appearance of Sordello (Ahi serva Italia) sound like a real hosanna of Ghibellinism. Dante treats the papacy as a principle with the greatest respect, although he hates its individual representatives, especially those who contributed to the consolidation of the bourgeois system in Italy; Dante meets some popes in hell. His religion is Catholicism, although a personal element is woven into it, alien to the old orthodoxy, although mysticism and the Franciscan pantheistic religion of love, which are accepted with all passion, are also a sharp deviation from classical Catholicism. His philosophy is theology, his science is scholasticism, his poetry is allegory. Ascetic ideals in Dante have not yet died, and he considers free love to be a grave sin (Hell, 2nd circle, the famous episode with Francesca da Rimini and Paolo). But for him, love that attracts to the object of worship with a pure platonic impulse is not a sin (cf. “New Life”, Dante’s love for Beatrice). This is a great world force that “moves the sun and other luminaries.” And humility is no longer an unconditional virtue. “Whoever does not renew his strength in glory with victory will not taste the fruit he obtained in the struggle.” And the spirit of inquisitiveness, the desire to expand the circle of knowledge and acquaintance with the world, combined with “virtue” (virtute e conoscenza), encouraging heroic daring, is proclaimed as an ideal.

Dante built his vision from pieces real life. The design of the afterlife was based on individual corners of Italy, which are placed in it with clear graphic contours. And there are so many living human images scattered throughout the poem, so many typical figures, so many vivid psychological situations that literature even now continues to draw from there. People who suffer in hell, repent in purgatory (and the volume and nature of sin corresponds to the volume and nature of punishment), are in bliss in paradise - all living people. In these hundreds of figures, no two are identical. In this huge gallery of historical figures there is not a single image that has not been cut by the poet’s unmistakable plastic intuition. It was not for nothing that Florence experienced a period of such intense economic and cultural growth. That acute sensation landscape and man, which is shown in the Comedy and which the world learned from Dante, was possible only in the social environment of Florence, which was far ahead of the rest of Europe. Individual episodes of the poem, such as Francesca and Paolo, Farinata in his red-hot grave, Ugolino with the children, Capaneus and Ulysses, in no way similar to ancient images, the Black Cherub with subtle devilish logic, Sordello on his stone, still produce strong impression.

The concept of Hell in The Divine Comedy

Dante and Virgil in Hell

In front of the entrance are pitiful souls who did neither good nor evil during their lives, including “a bad flock of angels” who were neither with the devil nor with God.

• 1st circle (Limbo). Unbaptized Infants and Virtuous Non-Christians.
• 2nd circle. Voluptuaries (fornicators and adulterers).
• 3rd circle. Gluttons, gluttons.
• 4th circle. Misers and spendthrifts (love of excessive spending).
• 5th circle (Stygian swamp). Angry and lazy.
• 6th circle (city of Dit). Heretics and false teachers.
• 7th circle.
  • 1st belt. Violent people against their neighbors and their property (tyrants and robbers).
  • 2nd belt. Violators of themselves (suicides) and of their property (gamblers and spendthrifts, that is, senseless destroyers of their property).
  • 3rd belt. Violators against deity (blasphemers), against nature (sodomites) and art (extortion).
• 8th circle. Those who deceived those who did not trust. It consists of ten ditches (Zlopazukhi, or Evil Crevices), which are separated from each other by ramparts (rifts). Toward the center, the area of ​​the Evil Crevices slopes, so that each subsequent ditch and each subsequent rampart are located slightly lower than the previous ones, and the outer, concave slope of each ditch is higher than the inner, curved slope ( Hell , XXIV, 37-40). The first shaft is adjacent to the circular wall. In the center yawns the depth of a wide and dark well, at the bottom of which lies the last, ninth, circle of Hell. From the foot of the stone heights (v. 16), that is, from the circular wall, stone ridges run in radii, like the spokes of a wheel, to this well, crossing ditches and ramparts, and above the ditches they bend in the form of bridges or vaults. In Evil Crevices, deceivers are punished who deceived people who are not connected with them by special bonds of trust.
  • 1st ditch Pimps and Seducers.
  • 2nd ditch Flatterers.
  • 3rd ditch Holy merchants, high-ranking clergy who traded in church positions.
  • 4th ditch Soothsayers, fortune tellers, astrologers, witches.
  • 5th ditch Bribe takers, bribe takers.
  • 6th ditch Hypocrites.
  • 7th ditch The thieves .
  • 8th ditch Crafty advisors.
  • 9th ditch Instigators of discord (Mohammed, Ali, Dolcino and others).
  • 10th ditch Alchemists, false witnesses, counterfeiters.
• 9th circle. Those who deceived those who trusted. Ice Lake Cocytus.
  • Belt of Cain. Traitors to relatives.
  • Antenor's belt. Traitors to the motherland and like-minded people.
  • Tolomei's Belt. Traitors to friends and table mates.
  • Giudecca Belt. Traitors to benefactors, divine and human majesty.
  • In the middle, in the center of the universe, frozen into an ice floe (Lucifer) torments in his three mouths the traitors to the majesty of the earthly and heavenly (Judas, Brutus and Cassius).

Building a model of Hell ( Hell , XI, 16-66), Dante follows Aristotle, who in his “Ethics” (Book VII, Chapter I) classifies the sins of intemperance (incontinenza) in the 1st category, and the sins of violence (“violent bestiality" or matta bestialitade), to 3 - sins of deception ("malice" or malizia). In Dante, circles 2-5 are for intemperate people, circle 7 is for rapists, circles 8-9 are for deceivers (the 8th is simply for deceivers, the 9th is for traitors). Thus, the more material the sin, the more forgivable it is.

Heretics - apostates from the faith and deniers of God - are specially singled out from the host of sinners filling the upper and lower circles into the sixth circle. In the abyss of lower Hell (A., VIII, 75), with three ledges, like three steps, there are three circles - from the seventh to the ninth. In these circles, anger that uses either force (violence) or deception is punished.

The concept of Purgatory in the Divine Comedy

The three holy virtues - the so-called "theological" ones - are faith, hope and love. The rest are the four “basic” or “natural” (see note Ch., I, 23-27).

Dante depicts it as a huge mountain rising in the southern hemisphere in the middle of the Ocean. It looks like a truncated cone. The coastal strip and the lower part of the mountain form the Pre-Purgatory, and the upper part is surrounded by seven ledges (seven circles of Purgatory itself). On the flat top of the mountain, Dante places the deserted forest of the Earthly Paradise.

Virgil expounds the doctrine of love as the source of all good and evil and explains the gradation of the circles of Purgatory: circles I, II, III - love for “other people's evil,” that is, malice (pride, envy, anger); circle IV - insufficient love for true good (despondency); circles V, VI, VII - excessive love for false benefits (greed, gluttony, voluptuousness). The circles correspond to the biblical mortal sins.

• Prepurgatory
  • The foot of Mount Purgatory. Here the newly arrived souls of the dead await access to Purgatory. Those who died under church excommunication, but repented of their sins before death, wait for a period thirty times longer than the time they spent in “discord with the church.”
  • First ledge. Negligent, who delayed repentance until the hour of death.
  • Second ledge. Negligent people who died a violent death.
• Valley of the Earthly Rulers (not related to Purgatory)
• 1st circle. Proud people.
• 2nd circle. Envious people.
• 3rd circle. Angry.
• 4th circle. Dull.
• 5th circle. Misers and spendthrifts.
• 6th circle. Gluttonies.
• 7th circle. Voluptuous people.
• Earthly paradise.

The concept of Heaven in the Divine Comedy

(in brackets are examples of personalities given by Dante)

• 1 sky(Moon) - the abode of those who observe duty (Jephthah, Agamemnon, Constance of Normandy).
• 2 sky(Mercury) is the abode of reformers (Justinian) and innocent victims (Iphigenia).
• 3 sky(Venus) - the abode of lovers (Charles Martell, Cunizza, Folco of Marseilles, Dido, “Rhodopean woman”, Raava).
• 4 heaven(Sun) is the abode of sages and great scientists. They form two circles (“round dance”).
  • 1st circle: Thomas Aquinas, Albert von Bolstedt, Francesco Gratiano, Peter of Lombardy, Dionysius the Areopagite, Paulus Orosius, Boethius, Isidore of Seville, Bede the Venerable, Rickard, Siger of Brabant.
  • 2nd circle: Bonaventure, Franciscans Augustine and Illuminati, Hugon, Peter the Eater, Peter of Spain, John Chrysostom, Anselm, Aelius Donatus, Rabanus the Maurus, Joachim.
• 5 sky(Mars) is the abode of warriors for the faith (Joshua, Judas Maccabee, Roland, Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert Guiscard).
• 6 sky(Jupiter) is the abode of just rulers (biblical kings David and Hezekiah, Emperor Trajan, King Guglielmo II the Good and the hero of the Aeneid, Ripheus).
• 7 heaven(Saturn) - the abode of theologians and monks (Benedict of Nursia, Peter Damiani).
• 8 sky(sphere of stars).
• 9 sky(Prime Mover, crystal sky). Dante describes the structure of the heavenly inhabitants (see The ranks of angels).
• 10 sky(Empyrean) - Flaming Rose and Radiant River (the core of the rose and the arena of the heavenly amphitheater) - the abode of the Deity. Blessed souls sit on the banks of the river (the steps of the amphitheater, which is divided into 2 more semicircles - the Old Testament and the New Testament). Mary (Mother of God) is at the head, below her are Adam and Peter, Moses, Rachel and Beatrice, Sarah, Rebecca, Judith, Ruth, etc. John is sitting opposite, below him are Lucia, Francis, Benedict, Augustine, etc.

Scientific points, misconceptions and comments

• Hell , XI, 113-114. The constellation Pisces rose above the horizon, and Voz(constellation Ursa Major) inclined to the northwest(Kavr; lat. Caurus- the name of the north-west wind). This means there are two hours left before sunrise.
• Hell , XXIX, 9. That their route is twenty-two miles around.(about the inhabitants of the tenth ditch of the eighth circle) - judging by the medieval approximation of the number Pi, the diameter of the last circle of Hell is 7 miles.
• Hell , XXX, 74. Baptist sealed alloy- Florentine gold coin, florin (fiormo). On the front side was the patron saint of the city, John the Baptist, and on the reverse side was the Florentine coat of arms, the lily (fiore - flower, hence the name of the coin).
• Hell , XXXIV, 139. Each of the three cants of the Divine Comedy ends with the word “luminaries” (stelle - stars).
• Purgatory , I, 19-21. Beacon of love, beautiful planet- that is, Venus, eclipsing with its brightness the constellation Pisces in which it was located.
• Purgatory , I, 22. To the spine- that is, to the celestial pole, in this case the south.
• Purgatory , I, 30. Chariot- Ursa Major hidden behind the horizon.
• Purgatory , II, 1-3. According to Dante, Mount Purgatory and Jerusalem are located at opposite ends of the earth's diameter, so they have a common horizon. In the northern hemisphere, the apex of the celestial meridian (“midday circle”) crossing this horizon is above Jerusalem. At the hour described, the sun, visible in Jerusalem, was setting, soon to appear in the sky of Purgatory.
• Purgatory , II, 4-6. And the night...- According to medieval geography, Jerusalem lies in the very middle of the land, located in the northern hemisphere between the Arctic Circle and the equator and extending from west to east by only longitudes. The remaining three quarters globe covered by the waters of the Ocean. Equally distant from Jerusalem are: in the extreme east - the mouth of the Ganges, in the extreme west - the Pillars of Hercules, Spain and Morocco. When the sun sets in Jerusalem, night approaches from the direction of the Ganges. At the described time of year, that is, at the time of the spring equinox, the night holds scales in its hands, that is, it is in the constellation Libra, opposing the Sun, located in the constellation Aries. In the fall, when she “overcomes” the day and becomes longer than it, she will leave the constellation Libra, that is, she will “drop” them.
• Purgatory , III, 37. Quia- a Latin word meaning “because”, and in the Middle Ages it was also used in the sense of quod (“that”). Scholastic science, following Aristotle, distinguished between two types of knowledge: scire quia- knowledge of existing - and scire propter quid- knowledge of the reasons for existing things. Virgil advises people to be content with the first kind of knowledge, without delving into the reasons for what exists.
• Purgatory , IV, 71-72. The Road Where the Unlucky Phaeton Ruled- zodiac.
• Purgatory , XXIII, 32-33. Who is looking for "omo"...- it was believed that in the features of a human face one could read “Homo Dei” (“Man of God”), with the eyes depicting two “Os”, and the eyebrows and nose representing the letter M.
• Purgatory , XXVIII, 97-108. According to Aristotelian physics, “wet vapors” generate atmospheric precipitation, and “dry vapors” generate wind. Matelda explains that only below the level of the gates of Purgatory are such disturbances generated by steam, which “following the heat,” that is, under the influence of the sun’s heat, rises from the water and from the earth; at the height of the Earthly Paradise, only a uniform wind remains, caused by the rotation of the first firmament.
• Purgatory , XXVIII, 82-83. Twelve venerable elders- twenty-four books of the Old Testament.
• Purgatory , XXXIII, 43. Five hundred fifteen- a mysterious designation for the coming deliverer of the church and restorer of the empire, who will destroy the “thief” (the harlot of Song XXXII, who took someone else’s place) and the “giant” (the French king). The numbers DXV form, when the signs are rearranged, the word DVX (leader), and the oldest commentators interpret it this way.
• Purgatory , XXXIII, 139. The score is due from the beginning- In the construction of the Divine Comedy, Dante observes strict symmetry. Each of its three parts (cantik) contains 33 songs; “Hell” also contains one more song, which serves as an introduction to the entire poem. The volume of each of the hundred songs is approximately the same.
• Paradise , XIII, 51. And there is no other center in the circle- There cannot be two opinions, just as in a circle only one center is possible.
• Paradise , XIV, 102. The sacred sign was composed of two rays, which is hidden within the boundaries of the quadrants- segments of adjacent quadrants (quarters) of a circle form a cross sign.
• Paradise , XVIII, 113. In Lilley M- Gothic M resembles a fleur-de-lis.
• Paradise XXV, 101-102: If Cancer had a similar pearl...- WITH

At the heart of Dante's poem is humanity's recognition of its sins and ascent to spiritual life and to God. According to the poet, in order to find peace of mind, it is necessary to go through all the circles of hell and renounce blessings, and atone for sins with suffering. Each of the three chapters of the poem includes 33 songs. “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise” are the eloquent names of the parts that make up the “Divine Comedy”. Summary makes it possible to comprehend the main idea of ​​the poem.

Dante Alighieri created the poem during the years of exile, shortly before his death. It is recognized in world literature as brilliant creation. The author himself gave it the name “Comedy”. In those days it was customary to call any work that had a happy ending. Boccaccio called it “Divine”, thus giving it the highest rating.

Dante's poem "The Divine Comedy", a summary of which schoolchildren study in the 9th grade, is difficult to comprehend modern teenagers. Detailed analysis Some songs cannot give a complete picture of the work, especially taking into account today's attitude towards religion and human sins. However, acquaintance, albeit only a review, with Dante’s work is necessary to create a complete understanding of world fiction.

"The Divine Comedy". Summary of the chapter "Hell"

The main character of the work is Dante himself, to whom the shadow appears famous poet Virgil’s proposal to travel through Dante is at first doubtful, but agrees after Virgil informs him that Beatrice (the author’s beloved, long dead by that time) asked the poet to become his guide.

Path characters starts from hell. Before entering it there are pitiful souls who during their lifetime did neither good nor evil. Outside the gates flows the Acheron River, through which Charon transports the dead. The heroes are approaching the circles of hell:

Having gone through all the circles of hell, Dante and his companion went up and saw the stars.

"The Divine Comedy". Brief summary of the part "Purgatory"

The main character and his guide end up in purgatory. Here they are met by the guard Cato, who sends them to the sea to wash themselves. The companions go to the water, where Virgil washes the soot of the underworld from Dante’s face. At this time, a boat sails up to the travelers, ruled by an angel. He lands on shore the souls of the dead who did not go to hell. With them, the heroes travel to the mountain of purgatory. On the way, they meet Virgil's fellow countryman, the poet Sordello, who joins them.

Dante falls asleep and in his sleep is transported to the gates of purgatory. Here the angel writes seven letters on the poet’s forehead, indicating the Hero goes through all the circles of purgatory, cleansing himself of sins. After completing each circle, the angel erases the letter of the overcome sin from Dante’s forehead. On the last lap, the poet must pass through the flames of fire. Dante is afraid, but Virgil convinces him. The poet passes the test by fire and goes to heaven, where Beatrice is waiting for him. Virgil falls silent and disappears forever. The beloved washes Dante in the sacred river, and the poet feels strength pouring into his body.

"The Divine Comedy". Brief summary of the part "Paradise"

Beloved ones ascend to heaven. To the surprise of the main character, he was able to take off. Beatrice explained to him that souls not burdened with sins are light. Lovers pass through all the heavenly skies:

• the first sky of the Moon, where the souls of nuns are located;
• the second - Mercury for ambitious righteous people;
• third - Venus, here the souls of the loving rest;
• the fourth - the Sun, intended for sages;
• fifth - Mars, which receives warriors;
• sixth - Jupiter, for just souls;
• the seventh is Saturn, where the souls of contemplators are located;
• the eighth - for the spirits of the great righteous;
• ninth - here are angels and archangels, seraphim and cherubim.

After ascending to the last heaven, the hero sees the Virgin Mary. She is among the shining rays. Dante raises his head up into the bright and blinding light and finds the highest truth. He sees divinity in its trinity.

In two of Dante Alighieri’s greatest works - “New Life” and in “The Divine Comedy” (see its summary) - the same idea is carried out. Both of them are connected by the idea that pure love ennobles human nature, and knowledge of the frailty of sensory bliss brings a person closer to God. But " New life” is just a series of lyrical poems, but the “Divine Comedy” presents a whole poem in three parts, containing up to one hundred songs, each of which contains about one hundred and forty verses.

In his early youth, Dante experienced passionate love for Beatrice, daughter of Fulco Portinari. He saved it until last days life, although he never managed to unite with Beatrice. Dante's love was tragic: Beatrice died at a young age, and after her death the great poet saw in her a transformed angel.

Dante Alighieri. Drawing by Giotto, 14th century

In his mature years, love for Beatrice began to gradually lose its sensual connotation for Dante, moving into a purely spiritual dimension. Healing from sensual passion was spiritual baptism for the poet. The Divine Comedy reflects this mental healing of Dante, his view of the present and the past, of his life and the lives of his friends, of art, science, poetry, Guelphs and Ghibellines, on political parties"black" and "white". In The Divine Comedy, Dante expressed how he looks at all this comparatively and in relation to the eternal moral principle of things. In “Hell” and “Purgatory” (he often calls the second “Mountain of Mercy”) Dante considers all phenomena only from the side of their external manifestation, from the point of view of state wisdom, personified by him in his “guide” - Virgil, i.e. points of view of law, order and law. In "Paradise" all the phenomena of heaven and earth are presented in the spirit of contemplation of the deity or the gradual transformation of the soul, by which the finite spirit merges with the infinite nature of things. Beatrice transformed, symbol divine love, eternal mercy and true knowledge of God, leads him from one sphere to another and leads him to God, where there is no more limited space.

Such poetry might seem like a purely theological treatise if Dante had not peppered his journey through the world of ideas with living images. The meaning of the “Divine Comedy”, where the world and all its phenomena are described and depicted, and the allegory carried out is only slightly indicated, was very often reinterpreted when analyzing the poem. Under clearly allegorical images They understood either the struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, or politics, the vices of the Roman Church, or in general the events of modern history. This best proves how far Dante was from the empty play of fantasy and how careful he was to drown out poetry under allegory. It is desirable that his commentators be as careful as he himself when analyzing the Divine Comedy.

Monument to Dante in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence

Dante's Inferno - analysis

“I think that for your own good you should follow me. I will show the way and lead you through the lands of eternity, where you will hear cries of despair, see mournful shadows that lived on earth before you, calling for the death of the soul after the death of the body. Then you will also see others rejoicing in the midst of the purifying flame, because they hope to gain access to the dwelling of the blessed. If you wish to ascend to this dwelling, then a soul that is more worthy than mine will lead you there. It will remain with you when I leave. By the will of the supreme ruler, I, who never knew his laws, was not allowed to show the way to his city. The whole universe obeys him, even his kingdom is there. There is his chosen city (sua città), there stands his throne above the clouds. Oh, blessed are those who are sought by him!

According to Virgil, Dante will have to experience in “Hell”, not in words, but in deeds, all the misery of a person who has fallen away from God, and see all the futility of earthly greatness and ambition. For this purpose, the poet depicts in the “Divine Comedy” underground kingdom, where he connects everything he knows from mythology, history and his own experience about man’s violation of the moral law. Dante populates this kingdom with people who have never strived to achieve through labor and struggle a pure and spiritual existence, and divides them into circles, showing by their relative distance from each other various degrees sins. These circles of Hell, as he himself says in the eleventh canto, personify Aristotle’s moral teaching (ethics) about man’s deviation from the divine law.

Often, because of love, actions are committed that go beyond understanding. It is customary for poets, having experienced love, to dedicate their writings to the object of feelings. But if this poet is still a person with difficult fate and at the same time not devoid of genius, there is a possibility that he is capable of writing one of greatest works in the world. This was Dante Alighieri. His "Divine Comedy" - a masterpiece of world literature - continues to be interesting to the world 700 years after its creation.

“The Divine Comedy” was created in the second period of the great poet’s life - the period of exile (1302 - 1321). By the time he began work on the Comedy, he was already looking for a haven for soul and body among the cities and states of Italy, and the love of his life, Beatrice, had already fallen asleep for several years (1290), having become a victim of a plague epidemic. Writing was a kind of consolation for Dante in his difficult life. It is unlikely that he then counted on worldwide fame or memory for centuries. But the genius of the author and the value of his poem did not allow him to be forgotten.

Genre and direction

"Comedy" is a special work in the history of world literature. If you look at it in a broad way, it is a poem. In a narrower sense, it is impossible to determine whether it belongs to one of the varieties of this genre. The problem here is that there are no more such works in terms of content. It is impossible to come up with a name that would reflect the meaning of the text. Dante decided to call his work “Comedy” Giovanni Boccaccio, following the logic of Aristotle's doctrine of drama, where comedy was a work that started out bad and ended well. The epithet “divine” was invented in the 16th century.

In direction - this is a classic essay Italian Renaissance. Dante's poem is characterized by special national elegance, rich imagery and accuracy. With all this, the poet also does not neglect the sublimity and freedom of thought. All these features were characteristic of the Renaissance poetry of Italy. They are the ones who create that unique style. Italian poetry XIII - XVII centuries.

Composition

Taken as a whole, the core of the poem is the hero's journey. The work consists of three parts, consisting of one hundred songs. The first part is “Hell”. It contains 34 songs, while "Purgatory" and "Paradise" have 33 songs each. The author's choice is not accidental. “Hell” stood out as a place in which there can be no harmony, well, and there are more inhabitants there.

Description of Hell

"Hell" represents nine circles. Sinners are ranked there according to the severity of their fall. Dante took Aristotle's Ethics as the basis for this system. Thus, from the second to the fifth circles they punish for the results of human intemperance:

• in the second circle - for lust;
• in the third - for gluttony;
• in the fourth - for stinginess with wastefulness;
• in the fifth - for anger;

In the sixth and seventh for the consequences of atrocities:

• in the sixth for false teachings
• in the seventh for violence, murder and suicide

In the eighth and ninth for lying and all its derivatives. A worse fate awaits Dante's traitors. According to the logic of modern, and even then, people, the most serious sin is murder. But Aristotle probably believed that a person cannot always control the desire to kill because of bestial nature, while lying is an exclusively conscious matter. Dante apparently followed the same concept.

In Inferno, everyone is Dante's political and personal enemies. Also there he placed all those who were of a different faith, seemed immoral to the poet and simply did not live like a Christian.

Description of Purgatory

"Purgatory" contains seven circles that correspond to the seven sins. Their Catholic Church later she called it mortal sins (those that can be “attrited”). In Dante they are arranged from the hardest to the most tolerable. He did this because his path should represent the path of ascent to Paradise.

Description of paradise

“Paradise” is performed in nine circles, named after the main planets of the solar system. Here are Christian martyrs, saints and scientists, participants in the crusades, monks, church fathers, and, of course, Beatrice, who is located not just anywhere, but in the Empyrean - the ninth circle, which is represented in the form of a luminous rose, which can be interpreted as a place where God is. Despite all the Christian orthodoxy of the poem, Dante gives the circles of Paradise the names of the planets, which in meaning correspond to the names of the gods of Roman mythology. For example, the third circle (Venus) is the abode of lovers, and the sixth (Mars) is the place for warriors for the faith.

About what?

Giovanni Boccaccio, when writing a sonnet on behalf of Dante, dedicated to the purpose of the poem, said the following: “To entertain posterity and instruct in the faith.” This is true: “The Divine Comedy” can serve as an instruction in faith, because it is based on Christian teaching and clearly shows what and who will face for disobedience. And, as they say, she can entertain. Considering, for example, the fact that “Paradise” is the most unreadable part of the poem, since all the entertainment that a person loves is described in the previous two chapters, well, or the fact that the work is dedicated to Dante’s love. Moreover, the function that, as Boccaccio said, entertains, can even compete in its importance with the function of edification. After all, the poet, of course, was more of a romantic than a satirist. He wrote about himself and for himself: everyone who prevented him from living is in hell, the poem is for his beloved, and Dante’s companion and mentor, Virgil, is the favorite poet of the great Florentine (it is known that he knew his “Aeneid” by heart).

Dante's image

Dante is the main character of the poem. It is noteworthy that in the entire book his name is not indicated anywhere, except perhaps on the cover. The narration comes from his perspective, and all the other characters call him “you.” The narrator and the author have a lot in common. The "Dark Forest" in which the first one finds himself at the very beginning is the exile of the real Dante from Florence, the moment when he was truly in turmoil. And Virgil from the poem is the writings of a Roman poet that actually existed for the exile. Just as his poetry guided Dante through difficulties here, so in the afterlife Virgil is his “teacher and beloved example.” In the character system, the ancient Roman poet also personifies wisdom. The hero shows himself most well in relation to sinners who offended him personally during his lifetime. He even tells some of them in the poem that they deserve it.

Themes

• The main theme of the poem is love. The poets of the Renaissance began to elevate the earthly woman to heaven, often calling her Madonna. Love, according to Dante, is the cause and beginning of everything. She is the stimulus for writing the poem, the reason for his journey already in the context of the work, and most importantly, the reason for the beginning and existence of the Universe, as is commonly believed in Christian theology.
• Edification - next topic"Comedy". Dante, like everyone else in those days, felt a great responsibility for earthly life before the heavenly world. For the reader, he can act as a teacher who gives everyone what they deserve. It is clear that in the context of the poem, the inhabitants of the underworld were located as the author describes them, by the will of the Almighty.
• Policy. Dante's work can safely be called political. The poet always believed in the benefits of the emperor's power and wanted such power for his country. In total, his ideological enemies, as well as the enemies of the empire, like Caesar's murderers, experience the most terrible suffering in hell.
• Strength of mind. Dante often falls into confusion when he finds himself in the afterlife, but Virgil tells him not to do this, not stopping at any danger. However, even under unusual circumstances, the hero shows himself with dignity. He cannot not be afraid at all, since he is a man, but even for a man his fear is insignificant, which is an example of exemplary will. This will did not break either in the face of difficulties in the poet’s real life or in his book adventure.

Issues

• The fight for the ideal. Dante strived for his goals both in real life and in the poem. Once a political activist, he continues to defend his interests, branding all those who are in opposition to him and do bad things. The author, of course, cannot call himself a saint, but nevertheless he takes responsibility by distributing sinners to their places. The ideal for him in this matter is Christian teaching and own views.
• Correlation between the earthly and afterlife worlds. Many of those who lived, according to Dante, or according to Christian law, unrighteously, but, for example, for their own pleasure and benefit for themselves, find themselves in hell in the most scary places. At the same time, in paradise there are martyrs or those who during their lifetime became famous for great and useful deeds. The concept of punishment and reward, developed by Christian theology, exists as a moral guide for most people today.
• Death. When his beloved died, the poet was very sad. His love was not destined to come true and be embodied on earth. “The Divine Comedy” is an attempt to reunite, at least briefly, with a woman who has been lost forever.

Meaning

“The Divine Comedy” fulfills all the functions that the author intended for this work. It is a moral and humanistic ideal for everyone. Reading the “Comedy” evokes many emotions, through which a person learns what is good and what is bad, and experiences purification, the so-called “catharsis,” as Aristotle dubbed this state of mind. Through the suffering experienced in the process of reading the everyday description of hell, a person comprehends divine wisdom. As a result, he treats his actions and thoughts more responsibly, because the justice laid down from above will punish his sins. In a bright and talented manner, the artist of the word, like an icon painter, depicted scenes of reprisals against vices that enlighten the common people, popularizing and chewing on the content of the Holy Scriptures. Dante's audience, of course, is more demanding, because they are literate, wealthy and perspicacious, but, nevertheless, they are not alien to sinfulness. Such people tended to distrust the direct moralizing of preachers and theological works, and here the exquisitely written “Divine Comedy” came to the aid of virtue, which carried the same educational and moral charge, but did it in a secularly sophisticated way. This healing influence on those who are burdened with power and money is expressed main idea works.

The ideals of love, justice and the strength of the human spirit at all times are the basis of our existence, and in Dante’s work they are glorified and shown in all their significance. “The Divine Comedy” teaches a person to strive for the high destiny with which God has honored him.

Peculiarities

“The Divine Comedy” has the most important aesthetic significance because of the theme of human love that has turned into tragedy, and the richest art world poems. All of the above, together with a special poetic cast and unprecedented functional diversity, make this work one of the most outstanding in world literature.

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Medieval literature contributed to the strengthening of church power throughout the Old World. Many authors praised God and bowed before the greatness of his creations. But a few geniuses managed to dig a little deeper. Today we will find out what is the “Divine Comedy” about, who wrote this masterpiece, let's reveal the truth through the abundance of lines.

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Master's Immortal Feather

Dante Alighieri - an outstanding thinker, theologian, writer and public figure. The exact date of his birth has not been preserved, but Giovanni Boccaccio claims it to be May 1265. One of them mentions that main character born under the sign of Gemini, starting on May 21st. On March 25, 1266, at baptism, the poet was given a new name - Durante.

It is not known exactly where the young man received his education, but he knew the literature of Antiquity and the Middle Ages very well, knew the natural sciences perfectly, and studied the works of heretical authors.

The first documentary mentions of him are by 1296-1297. During this period the author was actively involved social activities, was elected prior of the Florentine Republic. Quite early he joined the White Guelphs, for which he was subsequently expelled from his native Florence.

Years of wandering were accompanied by active literary activity. In the difficult conditions of constant travel, Dante conceived the idea of ​​writing the work of his life. While parts of the Divine Comedy were completed in Ravenna. Paris incredibly impressed Alighieri with such enlightenment.

The year 1321 cut short the life of the greatest representative of medieval literature. As the ambassador of Ravenna, he went to Venice to make peace, but on the way he fell ill with malaria and died suddenly. The body was buried in its final resting place.

Important! Contemporary portraits of the Italian figure cannot be trusted. The same Boccaccio depicts Dante as bearded, while the chronicles speak of a clean-shaven man. In general, the surviving evidence is consistent with the established view.

The deep meaning of the name

“Divine Comedy” - this phrase can be viewed from several angles. In the literal sense of the word, this is a description of mental wanderings across the expanses of the afterlife.

The righteous and the sinners exist in different planes of existence after death. Purgatory serves as a place for the correction of human souls; those who end up here get a chance to be cleansed of earthly sins for the sake of a future life.

We see the clear meaning of the work - the mortal life of a person determines future fate his soul.

The poem abounds allegorical inserts, For example:

• three beasts symbolize human vices - insidiousness, gluttony, pride;
• the journey itself is presented as a search spiritual path for every person surrounded by vices and sinfulness;
• "Paradise" reveals main goal life - the desire for all-consuming and all-forgiving love.

Time of creation and structure of “Comedy”

The writer managed to create an extremely symmetrical work, which consists of three parts (edges) - “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”. Each section has 33 songs, which is equal to the number 100 (with an introductory chant).

The Divine Comedy is filled with the magic of numbers:

• the names of the numbers were played big role in the structure of the work, the author gave them a mystical interpretation;
• the number "3" is associated with Christian beliefs about God's Trinity;
• “nine” is formed from “three” squared;
• 33 – symbolizes the time of the earthly life of Jesus Christ;
• 100 is the number of perfection and universal harmony.

Now let's see during the years of writing The Divine Comedy and publication of each part of the poem:

1. From 1306 to 1309 The process of writing “Hell” was underway, editing lasted until 1314. Published a year later.
2. “Purgatory” (1315) lasted for four years (1308-1312).
3. "Paradise" was published after the poet's death (1315-1321).

Attention! The storytelling process is possible thanks to specific lines - terzas. They consist of three lines, all parts ending with the word “stars”.

Characters of the poem

A striking feature of the writing is identification of the afterlife with the mortal existence of man. Hell is raging with political passions, here eternal torment awaits Dante's enemies and enemies. It is not for nothing that the papal cardinals are in Hell of Fire, and Henry VII is at the unprecedented heights of a blooming Paradise.

Among the most bright characters can be distinguished:

1. Dante- a genuine one, whose soul is forced to wander through the expanses of the afterlife. He is the one who longs for atonement for his sins, trying to find the right way, cleanse yourself for a new life. Throughout the journey, he observes a host of vices, the sinfulness of human nature.
2. Virgil– a faithful guide and assistant to the main character. He is an inhabitant of Limbo, so he accompanies Dante only through Purgatory and Hell. From a historical point of view, Publius Virgil Maro is the Roman poet most beloved by the author. Dante's Virgil is such an island of Reason and philosophical Rationalism, following him to the end.
3. Nicholas III- Catholic prelate, served as Pope. Despite his education and bright mind, he was condemned by his contemporaries for nepotism (he promoted his grandchildren career ladder). Dante's holy father is an inhabitant of the eighth circle of Hell (as a holy merchant).
4. Beatrice- Alighieri's secret lover and literary muse. She personifies all-consuming and all-forgiving love. The desire to become happy through sacred love makes the hero move along thorny path, through the abundance of vices and temptations of the afterlife.
5. Gaius Cassius Longinus- Roman leader, conspirator and direct participant in the assassination of Julius Caesar. Being of a noble plebeian family, he was susceptible to lust and vice from a young age. He is given the place of a conspirator in the ninth circle of Hell, which is what Dante’s “Divine Comedy” speaks about.
6. Guido de Montefeltro- mercenary soldier and politician. Inscribed his name in history thanks to the glory of a talented commander, cunning, treacherous politician. A summary of his “atrocities” is told in verses 43 and 44 of the eighth den.

Plot

Christian teachings say that eternally condemned sinners go to Hell, souls who atone for guilt go to Purgatory, and blessed souls go to Paradise. The author of The Divine Comedy gives a surprisingly detailed picture of the afterlife and its internal structure.

So, let's begin to carefully analyze each part of the poem.

Introductory part

The story is told in the first person and tells about the lost in a dense forest, a man who miraculously managed to escape from three wild animals.

His deliverer Virgil offers help on his further journey.

We learn about the motives for such an act from the lips of the poet himself.

He names the three women who patronize Dante in heaven: Virgin Mary, Beatrice, Saint Lucia.

The role of the first two characters is clear, and the appearance of Lucia symbolizes the morbidity of the author's vision.

Hell

According to Alighieri, the stronghold of sinners is shaped like a titanic funnel, which gradually narrows. For a better understanding of the structure, we will briefly describe each of the parts of the Divine Comedy:

1. The vestibule - here rest the souls of insignificant and petty people who were not remembered for anything during their lifetime.
2. Limbo is the first circle where virtuous pagans suffer. The hero sees outstanding thinkers Antiquity (Homer, Aristotle).
3. Lust is the second level, which has become home to harlots and passionate lovers. The sinfulness of all-consuming passion, clouding the mind, is punished by torture in pitch darkness. An example from the author's real life is Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta.
4. Gluttony is the third circle, punishing gluttons and gourmets. Sinners are forced to rot forever under the scorching sun and freezing rain (analogous to the circles of Purgatory).
5. Greed - spendthrifts and misers are doomed to endless disputes with their own kind. The guardian is Plutos.
6. Wrath - Lazy and intemperate souls are forced to roll huge boulders through the Styk Swamp, constantly getting bogged down, fighting with each other.
7. The walls of the city of Dita - here, in the red-hot graves, heretics and false prophets are destined to reside.
8. The characters of The Divine Comedy are boiling in a bloody river in the middle of the 7th circle of Hell. There are also rapists, tyrants, suicides, blasphemers, and covetous people here. Representatives of each category have their own torturers: harpies, centaurs, hounds.
9. Sinisters await bribe-takers, sorcerers and seducers. They are subjected to reptile bites, evisceration, immersion in feces, and scourging by demons.
10. Ice Lake Katsit is a “warm” place for traitors. Judas, Cassius and Brutus are forced to rest in the ice until the end of time. Here is the gate to the circles of Purgatory.