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Dante in Translation

Yale,, Fall 2008 , Prof. Giuseppe Mazzotta

Updated On 02 Feb, 19

Overview

(ITAL 310) 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, Purgatorio and Paradiso 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.

Includes

Lecture 6: Inferno XII, XIII, XV, XVI

4.1 ( 11 )


Lecture Details

Dante in Translation (ITAL 310)

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 pilgrims 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 pilgrims encounter with his teacher, Brunetto Latini, is read as a critique of the humanistic values he embodied.

0000 - Chapter 1. Canto XII-XI The Middle Ground and Its Presiding Figures
0522 - Chapter 2. Canto XIII The Suicides
2049 - Chapter 3. Pier delle Vigne
3341 - Chapter 4. Canto XV Brunetto Latini; Dantes Understanding of Sodomy
5707 - Chapter 5. Canto XI The Figure of Geryon
010305 - Chapter 6. Question and Answer

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website httpopen.yale.educourses

This course was recorded in Fall 2008.

Ratings

3.8


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Comments
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Sam

Excellent course helped me understand topic that i couldn't while attendinfg my college.

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Dembe

Great course. Thank you very much.

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