How to Read Dante's Inferno (Introductory Lecture) (Patreon)

'Midway in the journey of our life, I came to myself in a dark wood, for the straight way was lost.'

Today we are preparing to descend into the darkest depths of hell as we begin our deep appreciation of Dante's Inferno.

Our reading will prompt us to think about spiritual crisis, redemption, confronting our dark side, the afterlife, good vs evil, moral examination, epic storytelling, the poetic tradition, love, the human condition, and much more.

Video Timestamps:

0:00 abandon all hope ye who enter here

0:30 why should you read Dante’s Inferno?

1:30 the Supreme Poet of Italian Literature

2:30 how to read Dante’s Inferno

3:00 is Dante Alighieri a difficult poet?

4:00 Divine Comedy as grand allegory

5:30 you’re already a master of symbolism

6:00 the beginning of Dante’s Inferno

7:00 ‘midway in the journey of our life’

8:00 experiencing midlife spiritual crisis

9:30 ‘I came to myself in a dark wood’

10:00 going through hell to get to heaven

11:00 looking your dark side in the face

12:00 when is Dante’s Inferno set?

12:30 Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso

13:00 why is it called The Divine Comedy?

13:30 what does descending into hell mean?

14:00 recognition, renunciation, reward

14:30 journalling, note-making, rereading

15:00 do you have to read Dante religiously?

15:30 heaven, hell, purgatory as states of mind

17:30 Dante the Pilgrim vs Dante the Poet

18:30 symbolism of leopard, lion, she-wolf

19:30 the influence of Virgil’s Aeneid

20:00 epics of Homer, Virgil, Dante, Milion

21:00 Italian vernacular vs Classical Latin

21:30 Virgil as guide in Dante’s Inferno

22:30 Dante’s Beatrice as Divine Love

24:00 analysing the architecture of hell

24:30 understanding the law of contrapasso

25:00 exploring the nine circles of hell

25:30 virtuous pagans in Limbo/circle one

26:40 lustful sinners in the second circle

28:00 gluttonous sinners in the third circle

29:00 greedy sinners in the fourth circle

30:30 wrathful sinners in the fifth circle

31:30 heretic sinners in the sixth circle

32:00 what are the cantos in Dante’s Inferno?

34:00 violent sinners in the seventh circle

35:00 fraudster sinners in the eight circle

36:00 traitor sinners in the ninth circle

38:00 cosmology of Dante’s universe

38:50 nine spheres of Dante’s paradise

39:00 welcome to the darkest depths of hell

39:30 Dante’s Satan vs Milton’s Satan

40:20 themes to note for beginning readers

41:00 theme of sinfulness in Dante’s Inferno

41:30 why was Dante exiled from Florence?

42:00 Guelphs vs Ghibellines in medieval Italy

43:00 political persecution of Dante Alighieri

43:30 what sins was Dante was guilty of?

44:00 difference between hell & purgatory

45:00 beautiful message at heart of Christianity

46:00 what are the seven deadly sins?

47:00 how to overcome your personal vices

49:00 multiple meanings & inexhaustibility

50:00 architectonics & back-illumination

51:30 what is the best translation of Dante?

53:00 terza rima of Dante’s Divine Comedy

54:00 Italian rhyming vs English rhyming

54:30 translators as puritans vs cavaliers

56:00 how to choose the right translation

57:30 John Ciardi’s translation of Dante

1:00:00 translation comparison exercise

1:01:40 Hollander translation of Dante

1:03:40 Mark Musa translation of Dante

1:05:20 Mandelbaum translation of Dante

1:07:15 Clive James translation of Dante

1:10:00 Dante’s Inferno book club lectures

Resources:

• Translations: We are spoilt for choice when it comes to good translations of Dante. I encourage you to sample a few different translations and go for the one that gets you into the work. These are the translations we curated, compared, and discussed in the above video: John Ciardi, Robert and Jean Hollander, Mark Musa, Allen Mandelbaum, Clive James. I'll be working primarily from the Hollander (great for readers who want a scholarly edition) and mixing in some Ciardi (which is a wonderfully poetic rendering).

• Art Appreciation: You may know that one of my favourite artists of all time is the prolific wood-engraving illustrator Gustave Doré. His depictions of Dante's Divine Comedy, Milton's Paradise Lost, and the Bible are phenomenal. You can check out some of his illustrations here and here, but you may also enjoy this entire book dedicated to his illustrations of Dante's work.

• Life of Dante: Boccaccio, the great writer of the Decameron, was a great admirer of Dante and he wrote a beautiful work honouring Dante, which you can read here.

• Ballet Appreciation: As part of a 700th anniversary celebration of the poet’s death in 2021, the Royal Ballet produced a stunningly choreographed adaptation of the Divine Comedy, which you might find interesting to check out here.

• Journalling: Dante's masterful work is one that, like with the plays of Shakespeare, deserves an entire journal all to itself. Read slowly, reread, pause, and jot down any thoughts that leap out at you either in the margins of your copy or in a notebook. You can hear about my personal journalling and marginalia practice here. I continue to be a lover of the Leuchturrm1917 bullet journals and Muji pens.

Reading Assignment:

Our next discussion will take us through the first nine cantos of Dante's Inferno: Canto I to Canto IX. So start journeying into the work, appreciating the poetry, and noting down any themes, ideas, or passages that personally resonate with you.

Questions for You:

1) What is your current relationship with Dante? Is this your first reading or a rereading of this masterpiece?

2) What are you hoping to get out of your deep reading of Dante's Inferno?

3) What themes from your wider reading, and your life, would you like to pull into this work?

Happy reading, everybody!