Dante created his main work over the course of about fourteen years (1306-1321) and, in accordance with the canons of ancient poetics, called it “Comedy”, as a work that begins sadly, but has a happy ending. The epithet “divine” appeared in the name later, it was introduced by Giovanni Boccaccio, one of the first biographers and interpreters of the work of his famous countryman.

“The Divine Comedy” tells about the journey of a lyrical hero, who has reached the pinnacle of his life, to the afterlife. This is an allegorical story about the revaluation of life values ​​by a person who has “gone halfway through his earthly life.” The poet himself points out the allegorical nature of his work in the ninth song of “Hell”:

O you intelligent ones, take a look for yourself,

And let everyone understand the instruction,

Hidden under strange verses.

Allegory is an artistic technique based on the depiction of an abstract concept in the form of a specific object or phenomenon. So, for example, the gloomy forest in which the hero finds himself is an allegorical representation of illusions, delusions and vices, from which he strives to emerge to the truth - the “hill of virtue.”

The work consists of three parts: “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise” - in accordance with the medieval Christian idea of ​​​​the structure of the afterlife. When reading the poem, one gets the impression that the entire structure of the universe has been thought out to the smallest detail, and this is indeed so; it is no coincidence that editions of the poem are usually accompanied by maps and diagrams of hell, purgatory and heaven.

The symbolism of numbers: three, nine and thirty-three is of great importance for Dante’s work “The Divine Comedy”. The sacred number three corresponds to the Christian trinity, nine is three times three, and thirty-three is the number of years lived by Jesus Christ on earth. Each of the three parts - the cantik of the "Divine Comedy" consists of thirty-three canzone songs, in turn built from three-line stanzas - terzin. Together with the introduction (the first song of “Hell”) there are one hundred songs. Hell, Purgatory and Paradise consist of nine circles each, and together with the vestibule and the empyrean there are thirty circles. The hero, in his wanderings through the afterlife, meets Beatrice exactly in the middle, that is, she finds herself at the center of the universe, personifying harmony and the path to enlightenment.

Having chosen the hero's journey through the afterlife as the plot, Dante does not invent something new, but turns to a long-standing literary tradition. Suffice it to recall the ancient Greek myth about Orpheus’ journey to Hades for his beloved Eurydice. The instructive story about journeys to hell, describing the terrible torments of sinners, was also very popular in the Middle Ages.

Over the centuries, Dante's creation has attracted many creative individuals. Illustrations for The Divine Comedy were made by many outstanding artists, including Sandro Botticelli, Salvador Dali and others.

The hero's journey begins with his soul falling into Hell, all nine circles of which he must go through in order to cleanse himself and get closer to Paradise. Dante gives a detailed description of the torment of each of the circles, in which sinners are rewarded according to their sins. So, in the first five circles those who sinned unconsciously or due to weakness of character are tormented, in the last four - true villains. In the very first circle - Limbo, intended for those who have not known true faith and baptism, Dante places poets, philosophers, heroes of antiquity - Homer, Socrates, Plato, Horace, Ovid, Hector, Aeneas and others. In the second circle, those who in life were driven only by pleasures and passions are punished. It contains Helen of Troy, Paris, Cleopatra... Here the hero meets the shadows of the unhappy lovers Francesca and Paolo, his contemporaries. In the last, ninth circle - the Giudecca - the most disgusting sinners languish - traitors and traitors. In the middle of the Giudecca is Lucifer himself, with his three terrible mouths gnawing Judas and the murderers of Caesar - Cassius and Brutus.

The hero's guide to Hell is Dante's favorite poet, Virgil. First, he leads the hero out of the forest, and then saves him from three allegorically depicted vices - voluptuousness (lynx), pride (lion) and greed (she-wolf). Virgil guides the hero through all the circles of Hell and takes him to Purgatory - a place where souls receive cleansing from sins. Here Virgil disappears, and another guide appears in his place - Beatrice. The ancient poet, who allegorically represents earthly wisdom, cannot continue the path to Christian paradise; he is replaced by heavenly wisdom. The hero, cleansed of his sins, is carried away by Beatrice to the “mountain heights”, to the abode of the blessed - the Empyrean, where he discovers the contemplation of the “heavenly Rose” - the highest wisdom and perfection.

Dante's Divine Comedy, especially the "Paradise" section, reflects the philosophy of Christian theologian Thomas Aquinas, an older contemporary of the poet. The Divine Comedy has been translated into Russian many times. The very first translation was made at the beginning of the 19th century by P.A. Katenin, and one of the last - at the end of the 20th century, but the translation by M.L. is considered the best. Lozinsky.

"Comedy" is the main fruit of Dante's genius. It is written in terza - a three-line stanza. The plot scheme of the “Comedy” is an afterlife journey, since it was a very popular artistic motif among the classics: Lucan, Statius, Ovid, Virgil and others. The plot of the poem is literally understood - the state of the soul after death; understood allegorically, this is a person who, by virtue of his inherent free will, is subject to justice, rewarding or punishing. If we talk about construction, the poem consists of three cantikas: “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”. Each cantika is divided into songs, and each song into terzas. The Comedy is a grand allegory. Above its wonderful, almost incredible design in terms of its precise calculation, shines the magic of numbers, originating from the Pythagoreans, reinterpreted by scholastics and mystics. The numbers 3 and 10 are given a special meaning, and the poem presents infinitely varied variations on numerical symbolism. The poem is divided into three parts. Each of them has 33 songs, 99 in total, along with the opening 100; all numbers are multiples of 3 and 10. The stanza is a terza, that is, a three-line verse, in which the first line rhymes with the third, and the second with the first and third lines of the next verse. Each edge ends with the same word - “luminaries”. From the point of view of the initial meaning of the Comedy, conceived as a poetic monument to Beatrice, the central point of the poem should have been the song where Dante first meets the “noble one.” This is the XXX canticle of "Purgatory". The number 30 is simultaneously a multiple of 3 and 10. If you count in a row from the beginning, this song will be the 64th in order; 6 + 4 = 10. There are 63 songs before it; 6 + 3 = 9. The song has 145 verses; 1 + 4 + 5 = 10. It has two central points. The first is when Beatrice, addressing the poet, calls him “Dante” - the only place in the entire poem where the poet put his name. This is verse 55; 5 + 5 = 10. There are 54 verses before it; 5 + 4 = 9. After it there are 90 verses; 9 + 0 = 9. The second place that is equally important for Dante is where Beatrice first calls herself: “Look at me. It’s me, it’s me, Beatrice.” This is verse 73; 7 + 3 = 10. And besides, this is the middle verse of the entire song. There are 72 verses before and after it; 7+2=9. This game of numbers still baffles many commentators who have tried to understand what secret meaning Dante put into it. There is no need to present here various hypotheses of this mystery; it is worth mentioning only the main plot allegory of the poem.

“At the halfway point of earthly existence,” on Good Friday of the “Jubilee” year 1300 - this is the fictitious date of the beginning of the wanderings, which allowed Dante to become a prophet, where more, where less than ten years - the poet got lost in a dense forest. There he is attacked by three animals: a panther, a lion and a she-wolf. Virgil saves him from them, sent by Beatrice, who descended from paradise to limbo for this purpose, so Dante fearlessly follows him everywhere. He leads him through the underground funnels of hell to the opposite surface of the globe, where the mountain of purgatory rises, and on the threshold of earthly paradise he hands him over to Beatrice herself. Together with her, the poet ascends through the heavenly spheres higher and higher and, finally, is awarded the sight of the deity. The dense forest is the complications of human life. Animals are his passions: the panther is sensuality, the lion is lust for power or pride, the she-wolf is greed. Virgil, who saves from beasts, is reason. Beatrice - divine science. The meaning of the poem is the moral life of a person: reason saves him from passions, and knowledge of theology gives eternal bliss. On the path to moral rebirth, a person goes through the consciousness of his sinfulness (hell), purification (purgatory) and ascension to bliss (paradise). In the poem, Dante’s fantasy was based on Christian eschatology, so he draws the landscapes of hell and heaven according to the outline, and the landscapes of purgatory are the creation of his own imagination. Dante depicts hell as a huge funnel going to the center of the earth. Hell is divided into nine concentric circles. Purgatory is a mountain surrounded by the sea with seven ledges. In accordance with Catholic teaching about the posthumous destinies of people, Dante depicts hell as a place of punishment for unrepentant sinners. In purgatory there are sinners who managed to repent before death. After purifying tests, they move from purgatory to heaven - the abode of pure souls.

For posterity, “Comedy” is a grandiose synthesis of the feudal-Catholic worldview and an equally grandiose insight into a new culture. Dante's poem is a whole world, and this world lives, this world is real. The extraordinary formal organization of the Comedy is the result of using the experience of both classical poetics and medieval poetics. "Comedy" is, first of all, a very personal work. There is not the slightest objectivity in it. From the first verse, the poet speaks about himself and does not leave the reader without himself for a single moment. In the poem, Dante is the main character, he is a man full of love, hatred and passions. Dante's passion is what makes him close and understandable to people of all times. Describing the other world, Dante talks about nature and people. The most characteristic feature of the remaining images of the Comedy is their drama. Each of the inhabitants of the afterlife has its own drama, which has not yet been overcome. They died long ago, but none of them forgot about the land. Dante's images of sinners are especially vivid. The poet has special sympathy for sinners condemned for sensual love. Grieving over the souls of Paolo and Francesca, Dante says:

"Oh, did anyone know

What bliss and dream, what

She brought them down this path!

Then addressing the silent ones,

Said: “Francesca, your complaint

I listen with tears, compassion.”

Dante's mastery is simplicity and tactility, and thanks to these poetic techniques we are attracted to the “Comedy”.

Dante placed popes and cardinals in hell, among covetous people, deceivers, and traitors. Dante's denunciations of the papacy gave birth to the traditions of anti-clerical satire of the Renaissance, which would become a devastating weapon for humanists in the fight against the authority of the Catholic Church. It is not for nothing that church censorship continually banned certain parts of the Divine Comedy, and to this day, many of its poems arouse the ire of the Vatican.

Also in The Divine Comedy there are glimpses of a new view of ethics and morality. Making his way through the thicket of theological casuistry, Dante moves towards an understanding of the relationship between the ethical and the social. The ponderous scholastic reasoning of the philosophical parts of the poem is now and then illuminated by flashes of bold realistic thought. Dante calls acquisitiveness “greed.” The motive of denouncing greed was heard both in popular satire and in accusatory sermons of the lower clergy. But Dante not only denounces. He tries to comprehend the social meaning and roots of this vice. Dante calls greed “the mother of dishonesty and shame.” Greed brings cruel social disasters: eternal strife, political anarchy, bloody wars. The poet brands the servants of greed and inflicts sophisticated torture on them. Having reflected in his denunciations of “greed” the protest of the poor, disadvantaged people against the acquisitiveness of the powerful, Dante looked deep into this vice and saw in it a sign of his era.

People have not always been slaves to greed, she is the god of modern times, she was born of growing wealth, the thirst for possessing it. She reigns in the papal palace, has built a nest for herself in urban republics, and settled in feudal castles. The image of a skinny she-wolf with a red-hot gaze - a symbol of greed - appears in The Divine Comedy from its first lines and runs like an ominous ghost throughout the poem.

In the allegorical image of the lion, Dante condemns pride, calling it “the accursed pride of Satan,” agreeing with the Christian interpretation of this trait.

“... A lion with his mane raised came out to meet me.

It was as if he stepped on me

From hunger, growling, he became furious

And the very air is frozen with fear.”

Condemning the pride of Satan, Dante, nevertheless, accepts the proud self-awareness of man. Thus, the god-fighter Capaneus evokes Dante’s sympathy:

“Who is this tall guy, lying there gloomily,

Disdaining the fire burning from everywhere.

Even the rain, I see, does not soften him.

And he, realizing that I was marveling at a miracle,

His pride, he answered shouting:

“As I lived, so will I be in death!”

Such attention and sympathy for pride marks a new approach to the individual, his emancipation from the spiritual tyranny of the church. The proud spirit of the ball is inherent in all the great artists of the Renaissance and Dante himself in the first place.

But not only betrayal, greed, deceit, sinfulness and ruin are affected by “Comedy”, but also love, because the poem is dedicated to Beatrice. Her image lives in “Comedy” as a bright memory of the great, only love, of its purity and inspiring power. In this image, the poet embodied his quest for truth and moral perfection.

The Comedy is also called a kind of chronicle of Italian life. The history of Italy appears in The Divine Comedy, first of all, as the history of the political life of the poet’s homeland, in deeply dramatic pictures of the struggle of warring parties, camps, groups and in the stunning human tragedies generated by this struggle. From song to song, the tragic scroll of Italian history unfolds in the poem: urban communes in the fire of civil wars; the age-old enmity of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, traced back to its very origins; the whole history of the Florentine feud between “whites” and “blacks” from the moment of its inception until the day when the poet became a homeless exile... Fiery, indignant passion bursts uncontrollably from every line. The poet brought to the kingdom of shadows everything that burned him in life - love for Italy, irreconcilable hatred for political opponents, contempt for those who doomed his homeland to shame and ruin. The poem evokes a tragic image of Italy, seen through the eyes of a wanderer who traveled all over its land, scorched by the fire of bloody wars:

Italy, slave, hearth of sorrows,

In a great storm, a ship without a helm,

Not the lady of nations, but a tavern!

And you can’t live without war

Yours are alive, and they are bickering,

Surrounded by one wall and a ditch.

You, unfortunate one, should look back.

To your shores and cities:

Where are peaceful abodes to be found?

(“Purgatory”, canto VI)

And yet there is interest in the person; to his position in nature and society; understanding of his spiritual impulses, recognition and justification of them is the main thing in the Comedy. Dante's judgments about man are free from intolerance, dogmatism, and one-sided scholastic thinking. The poet did not come from dogma, but from life, and his person is not an abstraction, not a scheme, as was the case with medieval writers, but a living personality, complex and contradictory. His sinner can be righteous at the same time. There are many such “righteous sinners” in The Divine Comedy, and these are the most vivid, most humane images of the poem. They embodied a broad, truly humane view of people - the view of a poet who holds everything human dear, who knows how to admire the strength and freedom of the individual, the inquisitiveness of the human mind, who understands the thirst for earthly joy and the torment of earthly love.

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 only a series of lyrical poems, and “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 kept it until the last days of his life, although he was never able 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, into 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. The transfigured Beatrice, a symbol of 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. By clearly allegorical images they understood either the struggle of the Guelphs and 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 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. To do this, the poet depicts in the “Divine Comedy” an underground kingdom, where he combines 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 the different degrees of 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 a difficult fate and is not without genius, there is a possibility that he is capable of writing one of the 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 refuge 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 the work “Comedy” by Giovanni Boccaccio, following the logic of Aristotle’s teaching on 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 work of the 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. It is they who form that unique style of Italian poetry of the 13th - 17th 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. The Catholic Church later called them mortal sins (those that can be “prayed away”). 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 two previous 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.

Topics

• 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 is the next theme of the 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 advantages 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 spirit. 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 in this matter for him is Christian teaching and his own views.
• Correlation between the earthly and afterlife worlds. Many of those who lived, according to Dante, or according to the Christian law, unrighteously, but, for example, for their own pleasure and benefit for themselves, find themselves in hell in the most terrible places. At the same time, in heaven 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 laid down in this work. She 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. The main idea of ​​the work is expressed in this healing influence on those who are burdened with power and money.

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 rich artistic world of the poem. 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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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”. A 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 a 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 for modern teenagers to perceive. A detailed analysis of 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.

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

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

The path of the characters begins in hell. Before entering it there are pitiful souls who during their lifetime did neither good nor evil. The Acheron River flows outside the gates, 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.

"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.

"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.