The Divine Comedy

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Throughout the Middle Ages, art and philosophy has been lost in darkness, but with the reintroduction of ideas that came with the Renaissance in Italy, brought about a literary revival. One of the writers that influenced this revival is Dante Alighieri, a 13th century poet from Florence, Italy. His world famous epic, La Commedia, or more commonly known as The Divine Comedy remains a poetic masterpiece depicting truth and sin. The Divine Comedy, through the journey into the three hells, expresses a universal truth of good versus evil. Alighieri’s life of heartbreak with the influences of other famous poets like Homer and Virgil has affected his writing style, and through reviews by literary experts and their interpretation of Alighieri’s unique use of motifs, The Divine Comedy can be broken down to a epic that expresses a global message of human life.
I.
To understand The Divine Comedy and its impact, an understanding of Dante Alighieri’s life of tragic love and civil war can assist in unraveling the truth on Dante’s philosophical epic. Alighieri’s grief of a lost love and his involvement in a civil war led to his philosophical masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, influenced by classical writers like Homer and Virgil, using a distinct style and use of language that reflect Alighieri’s early life and philosophical involvement.
Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy in 1265 into a noble family. As a young boy, Alighieri’s mother passed away and by the age of nine, he was put into an arranged marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati although still in love with another girl, Beatrice. On Beatrice’s sudden young death, Alighieri dedicated the Vita Nuova or New Life, a collection of lyrical poems expressing his love for her ...

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Reynolds, Matthew. "Jamming up the Flax Machine." London Review of Books. Web.
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Wetherbee, Winthrop. "Dante Alighieri." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Winter
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