This lecture focuses on the middle zone of Inferno, the area of violence (Inferno XII-XVI). Introductory remarks are made on the concentration of hybrid creatures in this area of Hell and followed by a close reading of cantos XIII and XV. The pilgrim's encounter with Pier delle Vigne (Inferno XIII) is placed in literary context (Aeneid III). The questioning of authority staged in this scene resurfaces in the circle of sodomy (Inferno XV), where the pilgrim's encounter with his teacher, Brunetto Latini, is read as a critique of the humanistic values he embodied.
The course is an introduction to Dante and his cultural milieu through a critical reading of the Divine Comedy and selected minor works (Vita nuova, Convivio, De vulgari eloquentia, Epistle to Cangrande). An analysis of Dante's autobiography, the Vita nuova, establishes the poetic and political circumstances of the Comedy's composition. Readings of Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise seek to situate Dante's work within the intellectual and social context of the late Middle Ages, with special attention paid to political, philosophical and theological concerns. Topics in the Divine Comedy explored over the course of the semester include the relationship between ethics and aesthetics; love and knowledge; and exile and history.
