The year 2021 marks the 700th anniversary of the death of the great Florentine medieval poet, writer and philosopher Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). Italy has established a National day to be dedicated to Dante who is known as the Father of the Italian language, to be held annually on March 25. This date was chosen since it is the date recognised by scholars for the start of the journey to the after-life in Dante’s most famous work La Divina Commedia (the Divine Comedy).
This has been a strange and difficult year for all of us and since travel is currently out of bounds I have had to be grateful for my reliance on memories, virtual lectures and virtual events in celebration of this date.
Things were very different back in 2015 however, when I was fortunate enough to be in Florence for the 750th anniversary of Dante’s birth (see photos). Oh such fond memories; the city was alive with pageantry and colour which was made even more marvellous with the special appearance of the great poet himself. Okay it wasn’t the real Dante but he was a good lookalike!
One of the most memorable moments of the celebrations was when crowds of people congregated on and near the steps in front of the majestic Franciscan church of Santa Croce to recite in unison from the Divine Comedy. This experience was absolutely incredible and one which will remain with me for always.
I remember the very first time I read the Divine Comedy, like many I navigated through Inferno with relative ease; buffeted forward and onward by its vivid imagery of the suffering and agony of Hell. I was captivated by the descriptions of the tortured and tormented souls and their respective atrocious punishments. Inferno with all of its sadness, was like entering into some horrific nightmare but the vivid storytelling of Dante kept me desirous to read on. Dante’s Inferno is just a point of departure through Purgatory and Paradise, it is a journey.
It was a somewhat different story (excuse the pun) however, when I began to read Purgatorio where souls are purged or cleansed in order that they can begin to make their ascent into Paradiso. I struggled in my comprehension of this and when I finally began reading Paradiso I was disappointed to discover even more complexities.
I have returned to the Divine Comedy several times since and each time my appreciation of the genius of Dante is enhanced even more.
With patience , persistence and study both the Purgatorio and Paradiso may be understood and enjoyed as much as the Inferno. Interesting characters also appear in Paradiso. Paradiso is the land of peace and joy, we have singing and rapture, no-one sings in Hell.
Dante Alighieri was an intellectual who cherished ideas. In his writings it is possible to determine how Dante’s mind developed over time; how he worked out tensions etc.
I have been grateful for the guidance from Dante scholars to further my understanding of his writings and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those scholars all around the world who have delivered lectures and, or staged cultural events to celebrate Dante Alighieri this year. I have been loyally and excitedly signing into Zoom lectures on Dante’s life and work since January. I have welcomed the opportunity to study not only Dante’s Divine Comedy but several other works by him including La Vita Nuova, De Monarchia, Convivio and De Vulgari Eloquentia.
I would quite happily take Dante’s Divine Comedy with me to a desert island since there would be enough in it to last me a lifetime. With its exploration of the very height and depth of human experience the Divine Comedy is about this world and about us now, enjoy!