How to correctly understand why we dream about certain signs and symbols? What are they...
On May 21, 1265, one of the founders of the literary Italian language, the greatest poet, theologian, and politician, who went down in the history of world literature as the author of The Divine Comedy, was born. Dante Alighieri.
The Alighieri family belonged to the city's middle-class nobility, and its ancestor was the famous knight Cacciaguida, who died in the Second Crusade in 1147. The full name of the legendary poet is Durante degli Alighieri, he was born in Florence, the largest Italian economic and cultural center of the Middle Ages, and all his life he remained devoted to his hometown. Little is known about the writer’s family and life; even the exact date of his birth is questioned by many researchers.
Dante Alighieri was an amazingly confident man. At the age of 18, the young man said that he could write poetry perfectly and that he mastered this “craft” on his own. Dante received his education within the framework of medieval school programs, and since there was no university in Florence at that time, he had to obtain basic knowledge himself. The author of The Divine Comedy mastered the French and Provençal languages, read everything he could get his hands on, and his own path as a scientist, thinker and poet gradually began to emerge before him.
Poet-exile
The youth of the brilliant writer fell on a difficult period: at the end of the 13th century, the struggle between the emperor and the pope intensified in Italy. Florence, where the Alighieris lived, was divided into two opposing factions - the “blacks” led by Corso Donati and the “whites,” to which Dante belonged. Thus began the political activity of the “last poet of the Middle Ages”: Alighieri participated in city councils and anti-papal coalitions, where the writer’s oratory gift was revealed in all its brilliance.
Dante did not seek political laurels, but political thorns very soon overtook him: the “blacks” intensified their activities and carried out a pogrom against their opponents. On March 10, 1302, Alighieri and 14 other “white” supporters were sentenced to death in absentia. To save himself, the philosopher and politician had to flee Florence. Dante was never able to return to his beloved city again. Traveling around the world, he looked for a place where he could retire and work quietly. Alighieri continued to study and, most importantly, create.
Monogamous poet
When Dante was nine years old, a meeting took place in his life that changed the history of all Italian literature. On the threshold of the church he ran into a little neighbor girl Beatrice Portinari and at first sight fell in love with the young lady. It was this tender feeling, as Alighieri himself admitted, that made him a poet. Until the last days of his life, Dante dedicated poems to his beloved, idolizing “the most beautiful of all angels.” Their next meeting took place nine years later, by this time Beatrice had already married, her husband was a rich signor Simon de Bardi. But no ties of marriage could prevent the poet from admiring his muse; all her life she remained “the mistress of his thoughts.” The autobiographical confession of the writer “New Life”, written at the fresh grave of his beloved in 1290, became a poetic document of this love.
Dante himself entered into one of those business marriages for political convenience that were accepted at that time. His wife was Gemma Donati, the daughter of a wealthy gentleman Manetto Donati. When Dante Alighieri was expelled from Florence, Gemma remained in the city with the children, preserving the remnants of her father’s property. Alighieri does not mention his wife in any of his works, but Dante and Beatrice became the same symbol of a love couple as Petrarch And Laura, Tristan And Isolde, Romeo And Juliet.
Dante and Beatrice on the banks of Lethe. Cristobal Rojas (Venezuela), 1889. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Italian "Comedy"
Beatrice's death marked the beginning of Dante's philosophical reflections on life and death, he began to read a lot Cicero, attend a religious school. All this served as the impetus for the creation of The Divine Comedy. A work of genius, created by the author in exile, and today is traditionally one of the ten most famous books. Dante's poem had a huge influence on the emergence of Italian literature itself. According to researchers, it is this work that summarizes the entire development of medieval philosophy. It also reflects the worldview of the greatest poet, which is why The Divine Comedy is called the fruit of the entire life and work of the Italian master.Alighieri’s comedy did not immediately become “divine”, as it was later dubbed by the author of “The Decameron” Giovanni Boccaccio, having come to admiration from what I read. Dante called his manuscript very simply - “Comedy”. He used medieval terminology, where comedy is “any poetic work of the middle style with a terrifying beginning and a happy ending, written in the vernacular”; tragedy is “any poetic work of high style with an admiring and calm beginning and a terrible end.” Despite the fact that the poem touches on the “eternal” themes of life and immortality of the soul, retribution and responsibility, Dante could not call his work a tragedy, because it, like all genres of “high literature,” had to be created in Latin. Alighieri wrote his “Comedy” in his native Italian, and even with the Tuscan dialect.
Dante worked on his greatest poem for almost 15 years, managing to complete it shortly before his death. Alighieri died of malaria on September 14, 1321, leaving behind a significant mark on world literature and marking the beginning of a new era - the early Renaissance.
The first love in the biography of Dante Alighieri was Beatrice Portinari. But she died in 1290. After this, Alighieri married Gemma Donati. One of Dante Alighieri's first stories was “A New Life.” In 1300-1301 Alighieri held the title of Prior of Florence, and the following year he was expelled. At the same time, his wife remained living in her old place; he did not invite Gemma to accompany him. For the rest of his life, Alighieri never came to Florence again.
The next work in Alighieri’s biography was “The Feast,” written in exile. It was followed by the treatise “On Popular Eloquence.” Forced to leave Florence, Alighieri traveled around Italy and France. At the same time he was an active public figure - he gave lectures and took part in debates. The most famous work in the biography of Dante Alighieri was The Divine Comedy, which the writer created from 1306 until the end of his life. The work consists of three parts - Hell, Purgatory, Paradise. Among Alighieri's other works: "Eclogues", "Epistle", the poem "Flower", the treatise "Monarchy".
In 1316 he began to live in Ravenna. Dante Alighieri died in September 1321, contracting malaria.
Biography score
New feature! The average rating this biography received. Show rating
Illustration by Gustave Doré for Song XXI "Ada". 1900 editionIn the fifth ditch of the eighth circle of hell (21st canto), Dante and Virgil meet a group of demons. Their leader, Tailtail, says that there is no further road - the bridge is destroyed:
To go out anyway, if you wish,
Follow this shaft, where the trail is,
And with the nearest ridge you will come out freely.Twelve hundred and sixty-six years
Yesterday, five hours late, we managed
Leak since there is no road here Here and below, the translation of Mikhail Lozinsky is quoted, unless otherwise indicated..
The demon’s words are surprising in their exaggerated detail - why would Dante and the readers know about the time of the collapse of some bridge with an accuracy of an hour? Meanwhile, these stanzas contain the key to one of the main mysteries of the “Divine Comedy” - the chronology of Dante’s journey, which Dante does not speak about directly anywhere, but which can be reconstructed on the basis of hints scattered here and there .
In the first terzine of “Hell” it is said that Dante was lost in a dark forest, “halfway through his earthly life.” We can assume that we are around 1300 AD: in the Middle Ages it was believed that life lasts 70 years See King David's psalm: “The days of our years are seventy years” (89:10)., and Dante was born in 1265. We subtract 1266 years from 1300, which Tail Man speaks of, and it turns out that the bridge collapsed approximately at the end of Christ’s earthly life. Let us remember the Gospel, where it is written that at the moment of Jesus’ death there was a powerful earthquake - apparently, it destroyed the bridge. If we add to these considerations the message of the Evangelist Luke that Christ died at noon, and count back five hours, it becomes clear that the conversation about the bridge takes place at 7 am on March 26, 1300 - 1266 years and five hours to the day after the death of Christ on the cross (Dante thought it occurred on March 25, 34).
Taking into account all the other temporal indications of the Comedy (changes of day and night, the location of the stars), we can establish that Dante’s journey to the afterlife lasted a week from March 25 to March 31, 1300 An alternative view places it in Easter week 1300, April 8 to April 14; but the principle of establishing chronology does not change, it’s just that the countdown is carried out not from the “historical” date of the death of Christ, but from the church calendar - Good Friday..
This date was not chosen by chance. In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII declared the first jubilee year in the history of the church: it was promised that every hundred years every believer who made a pilgrimage to Rome and visited the cathedrals of St. Peter and the Apostle Paul would receive complete absolution. It is likely that in the spring of the anniversary year, Dante went to Rome to visit the graves of the apostles - in any case, the lines of the 18th canto sound like an eyewitness description:
So the Romans, to the influx of crowds,
In the year of the anniversary, did not lead to congestion,
They separated the bridge into two paths,And one by one the people go to the cathedral,
Turning your gaze to the castle wall,
And on the other they go towards, up the mountain.
It was there, in jubilee Rome, that a miraculous pilgrimage to the afterlife could take place. The day the pilgrimage begins, March 25, carries a number of other meanings: on March 25, the Lord created the world; On March 25, nine months before Christmas, Christ became incarnate. In addition, in Florence, the countdown of the new year began on this day.
Dante began writing the Comedy a few years after the supposed date of his afterlife journey (the first sketches date back perhaps to 1302, but full-fledged work on the poem continued from 1306-1307 until the death of the poet). Working on a poem from the “future,” Dante fills it with impressive prophecies and predictions.
2. The Mystery of Saint Lucia
Illustration by Gustave Doré for Song II of the Ada. 1900 edition Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library / University of Toronto In the second song of “Hell”, Virgil tells who sent him to help Dan-te, who was dying in the dark forest. It turns out that these were three beautiful women:
...Three blessed wives
You have found words of protection in heaven
And a wondrous path is foreshadowed for you.
The three blessed wives are the Virgin Mary, Saint Lucia and Beatrice. Maria (she, however, is not named) told Saint Lucia about the poet’s misfortune, and she called Beatrice. Beatrice is Bice Portinari, who died 10 years before the time of the Comedy, the love of young Dante, to whom he dedicated his “New Life” "New life"- Dante’s first book, written in the 90s of the 13th century, where the love story of the poet and Beatrice is told in prose and verse.. Beatrice was not afraid to descend from heaven to limbo Limbo- the first circle of Dante's hell, where the souls of unbaptized infants and virtuous people who died before the coming of Christ are located. to Virgil and beg him for help. The attention of Mary, the main intercessor for people before the Lord, to Dante is also quite understandable, but what does Saint Lucia have to do with it?
Saint Lucia in folk tradition was considered the patroness of vision and helped with eye diseases Such a “saint” is connected with the etymology of her name: Lucia is derived from the Latin lux, lucis - “light”.. Dante's special relationship with Saint Lucia is due to serious vision problems that he received in his youth due to diligent reading. Dante talks about this in the Symposium. "Feast" - philosophical treatise by Dante, written approximately 1304-1307.: “Having tired my eyesight with persistent reading, I weakened my visual abilities so much that all the luminaries seemed to me surrounded by some kind of haze.” It is possible that Beatrice was also a devotee of Saint Lucia: the house in which she lived after her marriage was adjacent to the Church of Saint Lucia. So the saint was perfect for the role of mediator between Mary, Beatrice, who ascended to heaven, and Dante.
The choice of this character reflects the general principle of the “Comedy”: being a grand theological, philosophical and poetic canvas, it is at the same time a story about the individual life of the author, where every poetic decision is connected with his feelings, passions and details of his earthly path.
3. The secret of Muslims
Illustration by Gustave Doré for Song XXVIII of Dante Alighieri's Inferno. 1900 edition Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library / University of Toronto In the 28th canto of “Hell”, Dante meets the prophet Muhammad and the righteous caliph Ali, suffering eternal torment as “sowers of discord and schism”: in Dante’s time it was believed that Mohammed was a Catholic prelate who broke away from the true faith, so for Dante he dissenter. The unflattering portrayal of the prophet (the description of his torment is one of the most physiological in the Comedy) earned Dante the reputation of an enemy of Islam (the Comedy is even banned in Pakistan).
Like a barrel without a bottom, full of holes -
From the mouth to where the feces come out,
Inwardly, one of them was revealed to the eye.The intestines hung disgustingly between the knees,
The heart and stomach sac were visible,
Stuffed with gum, stained with feces Translation by Alexander Ilyushin..
However, Dante's attitude towards Islam is much more complex and subtle. In limbo, among the heroes and sages of Antiquity, there are famous Muslims: Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and the fighter against, Avicenna Avicenna(c. 980 - 1037) - medieval Persian doctor, philosopher and scientist. and Averroes Averroes(1126-1198) - medieval Andalusian Arabic-speaking philosopher, physician and mathematician.. These three are the only inhabitants of limbo born after the coming of Christ.
In addition, it is believed that the entire structure of the poem can reflect the story of the night journey and ascension of the Prophet (isra and miraj), during which Muhammad appeared before Allah, and also visited heaven and hell, where he saw the bliss of the righteous and the torment of sinners . In the medieval Arabic tradition, there were many descriptions of the mirage - their similarity to the Comedy was first substantiated by the Spanish Arabist Miguel Asin-Palacios in 1919. Later, versions of these texts in Romance languages became known, detailing the Prophet's journey and spreading throughout Europe from Arab Spain. These findings made the hypothesis of Dante's acquaintance with this Arabic tradition much more plausible - and today it is accepted by the majority of Dante scholars.
4. The Mystery of Epicurus
Illustration by Gustave Doré for Song X of Ada. 1900 edition Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library / University of Toronto Still in the same limbo, Dante meets many ancient philosophers:
Then, looking at the low slope,
I saw: the teacher of those who know,
Surrounded by a wise-loving family This means Aristotle..Socrates sits closest to him
And with him Plato; the whole host honors the omniscient;
Here is the one who assumes the world to be accidental,The famous philosopher Democritus;
Here are Diogenes, Thales and Anaxagoras,
Zeno, and Empedocles, and Heraclitus...
Epicurus is not on this list, and this is no coincidence: he is destined for a completely different place in the Comedy - Dante will see his grave in the sixth circle of hell, where heretics reside:
Here is a cemetery for those who once believed,
Like Epicurus and all who are with him,
That souls with flesh perish without return.
Epicurus (341-270 BC) lived before the advent of Christianity and therefore could not be considered a heretic in the full sense of the word. The usual accusations of atheism against Epicurus in the Middle Ages originate in the speeches of the Apostle Paul against Epicureanism and continue in the writings of the first Christian apologists: thus, Lactantius condemned Epicurus for denying divine providence and the immortality of the soul, for destroying religion and preaching debauchery. This anachronism is consonant with the general medieval anti-historicism: the Middle Ages molds historical characters in its own image, turning ancient heroes into knights, and philosophers into Christian thinkers and erasing the differences between eras. This is no stranger to Dante.
5. The Mystery of the Broken Vessel
At the beginning of the 19th canto, Dante retells a vague biographical episode: shortly before the time of the Comedy, he broke a vessel with baptismal water in the Florentine Baptistery of San Giovanni, saving a child drowning in it:
Everywhere, along the riverbed and along the slopes,
I saw an innumerable series
Round holes in grayish stone.They look exactly the same
Like those in my beautiful San Giovanni,
Where the sacrament of baptism is performed.I, saving a boy from suffering,
Recently, one of them was broken...
Indeed, in the time of Dante, in the Florence Baptistery, recesses were made around the baptismal spring, where large clay vessels with holy water were placed. According to philologist Marco Santagata, this episode is inserted into the text of the poem for two reasons. On the one hand, Dante wanted to give an explanation for his action, which may have caused the scandal (this is indicated by the words with which he ends his story: “And here is the seal, in protection from whispers!” - which means: let this evidence convince tells people not to listen to false rumors).
At the same time, Dante's story is reminiscent of the Old Testament parable about the prophet Jeremiah and the clay jug. Obeying the will of the Lord, the prophet buys an earthen jar and breaks it in front of the elders: just as a man breaks an earthen vessel, the Lord can crush the people of Israel if people break the covenants of the Lord and worship idols.
Breaking a jug of holy water, Dante imitates the gesture of the prophet. Jeremiah rebelled against the idolatry of the people of Israel, and Dante in the Comedy rebels against contemporary idolatry - the simony of the church Simony- purchase of church positions. In the broadest sense of the word, this is the name given to the predominance of material interests over spiritual ones in the affairs of clergy.. In Canto 19, Dante unleashes anger at the popes who exchange the spiritual for the material and lead the world to destruction:
O Simon the Magus, O ill-fated hosts,
You, that holy thing of God, are good
A pure bride, in terrible hungerCorrupted for the sake of gold and silver,
Now about you, executed in the third crack,
It's time for the trumpet to ring!
Dante has already vaguely hinted at his prophetic gift. In “New Life”, having reached the moment of Beatrice’s death, Dante refuses to talk about her: “It is not proper for me to talk about this, since I would extol myself, which is especially reprehensible” (Dante hints at a mystical vision , what happened to him at the time of Beatrice’s death). Modern Dante scholar Mirko Tavoni brings this episode closer to the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: 14 years after the event, the apostle talks about how he was “caught up” (that is, taken up) into heaven. Paul was silent about this miracle earlier, so as not to exalt himself and not be proud of such a divine sign. Dante is also endowed with a special gift and also does not want to talk about it directly, so as not to praise himself.
6. The secret of living people in hell
Illustration by Gustave Doré for Song XVIII "Ada". 1900 edition Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library / University of Toronto In canto 18, Dante meets an acquaintance:
As I walked forward, my gaze fell
For one; and I exclaimed: “Somewhere
I was already looking at his face.”I began, trying to recognize who it was,
And the good leader, stopping with me,
There was no prohibition against catching up with him.Scourged, hiding his appearance,
He bowed his forehead; but the labor was wasted;
I said: “You, with your head bowed,When you don’t wear someone else’s appearance,
Venedico Caccianemico. How
Do you deserve a seasoning this cool?”
Venedico dei Caccianemichi - a prominent political figure of the second half of the 13th century, leader of the Bolognese Guelphs In the 13th century, there was a fierce struggle between the papacy and the German emperors for dominance in the Italian Peninsula. The pope's supporters were called Guelphs and stood against the Ghibellines, supporters of the emperor. In 1289, after the Battle of Campaldino, in which Dante took part, the Ghibellines were expelled from Florence and the city became the patrimony of the Guelphs. But the political conflicts did not end there. Soon the Guelphs themselves were divided into two factions - white and black. Whites sought greater political and economic independence from the papacy, while blacks, representing the interests of the city's wealthiest families, supported papal intervention in the internal affairs of Florence. After the division, Dante joined the White Guelphs.. It was after his party came to power that Dante was forced to leave Bologna, where he spent several years of exile Dante's expulsion from his native Florence happened several years earlier. He actively participated in Florentine political life starting around 1295, and in 1300 he was even elected one of the seven members of the college of priors. But his political career cost him dearly: when the black Guelphs came to power in Florence, Dante was immediately sentenced to death. The poet, who was outside the city at that time, will never return to his homeland.. This explains Dante's personal dislike for Venedico.
In 1300, when the action of the Comedy takes place, the historical Venedico was still alive - he would die only in 1303. Dante writes this song around 1307-1308 - and either forgets about the exact time of the Bolognese’s death, or deliberately neglects chronology in order to get even with his enemy.
But if this case allows for a double interpretation, then in other places Dante deliberately goes to some lengths to place people in hell during the action of the Comedy - at the end of March 1300 - who were still alive. For example, in the 19th canto the poet settles scores with the hated Pope Boniface VIII He supported the black Guelphs, so Dante believed that the expulsion was a consequence of Boniface's political intrigues., who died only in 1303. Dante meets Pope Nicholas III, who is suffering eternal torment for the sin of simony, and turns to him. But the soul of the sinful pope takes the poet for Boniface:
“How, Boniface,” he responded, “
Are you here already, are you here already so early?
Thus, Dante indicates that Boniface’s soul is already destined for a place in hell.
Another living dead is Branca Doria, a Genoese who is paying for the betrayal of his guest. He also ended up in hell long before his historical death in 1325 (several years after the death of Alighieri himself). The souls of such traitors are cast into hell immediately after committing the crime, and a demon enters the body. Therefore, it seems alive that “Branca d’Oria is alive, healthy, he eats, and drinks, and sleeps, and wears dresses.”
7. The Secret of the Centaurs
Illustration by Gustave Doré for Song XII of the Ada. 1900 edition Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library / University of Toronto In the seventh circle of hell, Dante and Virgil first meet the guard - the half-man, half-bull Minotaur:
...And on the edge, above the descent to a new abyss,
The Cretans' shame lay spread out,Conceived in ancient times by an imaginary cow.
Like a bull struck to death by an axe,
Tears his lasso, but is unable to run
And he just jumps, stunned by pain,So the Minotaur rushed about, wild and evil...
Descending even lower, they see centaurs with their “double nature” and harpies “with wide wings and a maiden face.”
The presence in Dante’s Christian hell of mythological characters of pagan Antiquity no longer surprises the reader, because the guardians of previous circles were the carrier of the souls of the dead through the Styx Charon, the king of Crete Minos, Cerberus guarding the gates of hell, and the god of wealth Plutos. Dante again acts in a medieval way, adapting Antiquity to his needs: pagan monsters turn into hellish demons, and the mythical rivers Acheron, Styx and Phlegethon flow on the map of hell.
But the Minotaur, centaurs and harpies are united not only by their ancient origin: they are also connected by their dual nature, combining human and animal. Why is it important? Because Dante builds his hell, imitating Aristotle. Let us remember the words of Virgil at the end of the 11th canto:
Don't you remember the saying?
From Ethics, what is most destructive
Three heaven-hating attractions:
Incontinence, anger, violent bestiality?
And that incontinence is a lesser sin before God
And that’s not how he punishes him?
The first circles are devoted to the sins of intemperance, then there are rapists, and in the very depths there are deceivers and traitors.
Ancient hybrid monsters are located in the seventh circle, the circle of rapists, and represent an allegorical image of the sins of this part of hell: the animal element, manifested in the vices of the sinners languishing here, is physically manifested in them.
This is just one of the many cases of Dante's use of allegory: each element, be it a historical character or a mythological monster, acquires, in addition to the specific poetic, an additional allegorical meaning. This allegorism of Dante is typical of the Middle Ages, and yet his idea of man anticipates the ideas of the Neoplatonists of the Italian Renaissance Neoplatonists- Italian humanists of the 15th century who turned to the philosophical ideas of Plato, breaking with the Aristotelianism of medieval scholasticism. The central figures of Renaissance Italian Neoplatonism are Marsilio Ficino and Giovan Pico della Mirandola.: a person is halfway between animals and God and can approach the divine pole, relying on the mind given to him, or descend to the state of an animal (it is significant that the adjective bestiale- “animal” - used by Dante only in relation to human behavior and always in a very negative way).
As a poet, Dante begins by imitating the most influential lyric poet of Italy at that time, Guittone d'Arezzo, but soon changes his poetics and, together with his older friend Guido Cavalcanti, becomes the founder of a special poetic school, which Dante himself called the school of the “sweet new style” (Dolce style nuovo ) Its main distinguishing feature is the utmost spiritualization of the feeling of love.
1292 - autobiographical story in verse and prose “New Life” (La vita nuova), telling about Dante’s love for Beatrice (it is believed that this was Beatrice, daughter of Folco Portinari) from the moment of their first meeting, when Dante was nine years old and she was eight , and until the death of Beatrice in June 1290. The poems are accompanied by prose inserts explaining how this or that poem appeared. In this work, Dante develops the theory of courtly love for a woman, reconciling it with Christian love for God. After the death of Beatrice, Dante turned to the consolation of philosophy and created several allegorical poems in praise of this new “lady.”
1295-1296 - Dante is called up several times for public service, including participation in the Council of the Hundred, which was in charge of the financial affairs of the Florentine Republic.
1300 - as an ambassador, he travels to San Gimignano with a call on the citizens of the city to unite with Florence against Pope Boniface VIII. In the same year, Dante was elected a member of the government council of priors, a position Dante held from June 15 to August 15. By fulfilling it, he is trying to prevent the escalation of the struggle between the parties of the White Guelphs (who advocated the independence of Florence from the pope) and the Blacks (supporters of papal power).
Around this time, Dante marries Gemma Donati, whose family belongs to the Black Guelphs.
1301 - from April to September, Dante again enters the Council of Sta. In the autumn of the same year, he was part of the embassy sent to Pope Boniface in connection with the attack on Florence by Prince Charles of Valois. In his absence, on November 1, 1301, with the arrival of Charles, power in the city passed to the black Guelphs, and the white Guelphs were subjected to repression.
January 27, 1302 - Dante, whose sympathies are on the side of the white Guelphs, is sentenced to exile and deprived of civil rights. He never returns to Florence again.
1304-1308 - treatise “The Feast” (Il convivio), written, according to Dante himself, in order to declare himself as a poet who had moved from the glorification of courtly love to philosophical themes. "The Feast" is intended as a kind of encyclopedia in the field of philosophy and art, intended for a wide range of readers; The name “Feast” is allegorical: scientific ideas presented simply and clearly should saturate not just a select few, but everyone. It was assumed that the Symposium would include fourteen poems (canzons), each of which would be equipped with an extensive gloss interpreting its allegorical and philosophical meaning. However, having written interpretations of the three canzones, Dante leaves work on the treatise. In the first book of the Feast, which serves as a prologue, he ardently defends the right of the Italian language to be the language of literature.
Best of the day
Dante is also working on a treatise in Latin “On Popular Eloquence” (De vulgari eloquentia, 1304-1307), which was not completed: Dante wrote only the first book and part of the second. In it, Dante talks about the Italian language as a means of poetic expression, sets out his theory of language and expresses his hope for the creation in Italy of a new literary language that would rise above dialectal differences and would be worthy of being called great poetry.
1307 - Around this time, Dante begins to write the Divine Comedy, interrupting work on the treatises “The Feast” and “On Popular Eloquence.” Dante calls his poem “Comedy” because it has a dark beginning (Hell) and a joyful ending (Paradise and the contemplation of the Divine Essence). In addition, the poem is written in a simple style (as opposed to the sublime style inherent, in Dante’s understanding, of tragedy), in the vernacular language “as women speak.” The epithet “Divine” in the title was not invented by Dante, it was prefaced by Boccaccio’s Commedia, who expressed admiration for the artistic beauty of creation, and it first appears in the publication published in 1555. in Venice.
The poem consists of one hundred songs of approximately the same length (130-150 lines) and is divided into three cantics - “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”, with thirty-three songs in each; The first song of “Hell” serves as a prologue to the entire poem. The size of the “Divine Comedy” is eleven syllables, the rhyme scheme, terza, was invented by Dante himself, who put deep meaning into it. “The Divine Comedy” is an unsurpassed example of art as imitation; Dante takes as a model everything that exists, both material and spiritual, created by the triune God, who left the imprint of his trinity on everything. Therefore, the structure of the poem is based on the number three, and the amazing symmetry of its structure is rooted in imitation of the measure and order that God gave to all things.
Although the narrative of the Comedy can almost always rest on the literal sense alone, this is far from the only level of perception. Following the medieval tradition, Dante puts four meanings into his work: literal, allegorical, moral and anagogical (mystical). The first of them assumes a “natural” description of the afterlife with all its attributes. The second meaning involves the expression of the idea of being in its abstract form: everything in the world moves from darkness to light, from suffering to joy, from error to truth, from bad to good. The main idea can be considered the ascent of the soul through knowledge of the world. The moral meaning presupposes the idea of retribution for all earthly deeds in the afterlife. The anagogical meaning presupposes the comprehension of the Divine idea through the perception of the beauty of poetry itself, as a language that is also Divine, although created by the mind of the poet, an earthly man.
1310 – Emperor Henry VII invades Italy for “peacekeeping” purposes. Dante, who had by that time found temporary shelter in Casentino, responded to this event with an ardent letter “To the rulers and peoples of Italy,” calling for support for Henry. In another letter, entitled “The Florentine Dante Alighieri, unjustly expelled, to the wicked Florentines who remained in the city,” he condemns the resistance shown by Florence to the emperor.
1312-1313 – treatise-research “On the monarchy” (De monarchia). Here, in three books, Dante seeks to prove the truth of the following statements:
1) only under the authority of a single universal monarch can humanity come to a peaceful existence and fulfill its destiny;
2) God chose the Roman people to rule the world (hence this monarch should be the Holy Roman Emperor);
3) the emperor and pope receive power directly from God (hence, the first is not subordinate to the second).
These views were expressed before Dante, but he brings to them the fervor of conviction. The Church immediately condemns the treatise and condemns the book to be burned.
1313 - After an unsuccessful three-year campaign, Henry VII suddenly dies at Buonconvento.
1314 - after the death of Pope Clement V in France, Dante issues another letter addressed to the conclave of Italian cardinals in the city of Carpentra, in which he calls on them to elect an Italian as pope and return the papal throne from Avignon to Rome.
For some time, Dante finds refuge with the ruler of Verona, Can Grande della Scala, to whom he devotes the final part of the Divine Comedy - “Paradise”.
The poet spent the last years of his life under the patronage of Guido da Polenta in Ravenna.
In the last two years of his life, Dante wrote two eclogues in Latin hexameter. This was a response to Giovanni del Virgilio, professor of poetry at the University of Bologna, who urged him to write in Latin and come to Bologna to be crowned with a laurel wreath. The study “Questio de aqua et terra” (Questio de aqua et terra), dedicated to the much controversial question of the relationship between water and land on the surface of the Earth, Dante may have read publicly in Verona. Of Dante's letters, eleven are recognized as authentic, all in Latin (some have been mentioned).
September 13, 1321 - Dante dies in Ravenna, having completed the Divine Comedy shortly before his death.
Durante deli Alighieri (May 26, 1265 – September 14, 1321) was a world-famous Italian thinker, poet, writer and theologian. Dante is considered not only a magnificent writer of his time, who created the famous “Divine Comedy,” but also the founder of the Italian literary language, since it was he who first began to use stable literary expressions in his works.
Childhood
It is not known for certain to what noble and aristocratic family Dante belonged, since only a few manuscripts of that time have survived, and scientists have still not been able to determine the origin of the writer. The only known fact is that Alighieri’s ancestors were most likely the founders of Florence. In manuscripts that have survived to this day, there is a mention of Dante’s great-grandfather, Cacciagvide, ─ who was knighted and participated in the crusade of Conrad III.
He died in one of the battles against Muslims, after which he was posthumously ranked among the aristocrats. The personal life of Kacciagvida is also little known. According to scientists, the surname “Alighieri” was taken precisely from his wife, who belonged to a family of Lombard aristocrats. Initially, the surname was in the form "Aldighieri", but later, most likely due to difficulty in pronunciation, it was transformed into "Alighieri".
Durante's exact date of birth is also unknown. According to Boccaccio, the great writer and thinker was born on the night of May 13-14. Nevertheless, Alighieri himself never indicated the exact date of birth, but only casually mentioned that at birth he was under the sign of Gemini. That is why only the name given to the child at birth is accurate - Durante.
From childhood, the child was taught everything necessary by his parents. At the age of five, a special teacher was hired - Brunetto Latini - who began to teach Dante not only reading and writing, but also a number of exact sciences. In addition to home schooling, Durante most likely attended ancient schools and adopted the experience of several teachers at once. But, unfortunately, it is also unknown which educational institutions the boy attended and who his teacher was.
Youth and early career as a public figure
In 1286, Dante, leaving his family, left for Bologna, where he settled in a small house with his best friend, the poet Guido Cavalcati. Initially, it remained a mystery how Alighieri was able to leave the family that had cared for and cared for him for many years.
However, then notes from Durante were found that in 1285 a friend asked him to move with him to Bologna, where he planned to enter the university. In order to keep up with his comrade, the future poet decided not to notify his family about his departure, and on a summer night he simply disappeared from home, setting off on his first independent journey.
After graduating from university in 1296, Dante decides to become a public figure. At that time, he already had sufficient connections and spoke to the general public more than once, calling for certain actions. Many of Durante's friends testified that the young man had an exceptional talent for oratory, despite the fact that he himself never recognized such a gift. However, Alighieri’s violent and stubborn character very often became the cause of conflicts between the speaker and the local authorities, which subsequently ended for Dante in exile from Florence, where he was no longer able to return.
In 1300, Dante Alighieri was elected prior. From this moment on, he receives quite extensive powers, including writing his own laws. The enthusiast decides to take the matter seriously and “slightly” remake the system that had existed for many years in Florence. Alighieri issues several decrees and laws, and begins to actively collect complaints from citizens, which, naturally, does not go unnoticed by the local authorities. A couple of months after his appointment, Dante and his party of white Guelphs, which consisted mainly of the writer’s loyal friends and comrades, were expelled in disgrace and forbidden to return to the city.
Writing career
After Dante said goodbye to his career as a public leader and speaker, the most difficult and depressive period in his biography begins. Being in exile, Dante feels not only humiliated, but also unnecessary to humanity. His poetry, which was previously light, airy and positive, takes on bitter notes of bondage, hatred and sadness for his hometown (and even family).
At this time, an allegorical scholastic commentary on the fourteen canons called “The Feast” appeared. In it, Dante not only openly criticizes the existing government system in Florence, but also blames the authorities for all the troubles of the people, mocking the stupidity and arrogance of officials. But, unfortunately, “Convivio” - this is how “The Feast” was translated into Italian - was never completed, because Alighieri considered it overly pretentious and rude. The work ends at the 14th chapter, after which there are only a few lines and an ellipsis.
The thinker's most famous work, The Divine Comedy, was written in exile. According to Boccaccio, Dante created it for a very long time, so there is no exact information and dating. The fact is that at that time Alighieri was forced to constantly travel around Italy in search of a better life. It is known that he created the beginning of the Comedy in Verona, under the patronage of Bartolomeo della Scala, then moved to Bologna, where he heard the good news for himself: Henry VII was going to Italy. Deciding that now his life will improve, Alighieri returns to his hometown and even manages to show himself to the local authorities, declaring that now he can return all his civil rights. However, in 1313, Henry VII unexpectedly dies, and the authorities, taking advantage of the situation, confirm Durante’s exile, adding to it the death penalty for returning to their homeland not only the poet himself, but also all his relatives.
Since 1316, Dante Alighieri has been under the patronage of the lord of the city of Ravenna. Here the poet is allowed not only to create and create new songs of the “Divine Comedy”, but also to act as a public figure (naturally, under the supervision of the signor himself). Life begins to slowly improve, but in 1321, having gone as an ambassador to Venice to conclude a peace treaty with the Republic of St. Mark, Durante becomes seriously ill. Upon arrival in Ravenna, it turns out that the poet is sick with malaria, and on the night of September 13-14 of the same year he suddenly dies.
Personal life
In 1274, at the age of nine, Dante Alighieri saw the incredibly beautiful Beatrice Portinari, the daughter of a gardener, in the garden of his house. The aspiring poet fell in love with the young beauty so much that he even dedicated poems to her, but all this remained a strict secret, and the lovers met only nine years later, when Durante saw Peatrice already in the status of a married woman. Boccacce often mentioned young lovers in his treatises, calling them the Romeo and Juliet of their time.
Already at a more mature age, Alighieri married the daughter of his political opponent, Gemma Donati. The exact date of their marriage is unknown, so scientists do not undertake to say that the couple lived in marriage for many years. However, what is known is that Gemma gave birth to the poet three children, whom he loved very much, unlike his own wife (the wife was never even indirectly mentioned in Dante’s works).
