Synthesis of ancient and Christian traditions in the work of Dante Alighieri. Dante's Divine Comedy

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In a remarkably coherent composition " Divine Comedy The rationalism of creativity, which developed in the atmosphere of the new bourgeois culture, had an effect.

The Divine Comedy is extremely symmetrical. It falls into three parts; each part consists of 33 songs, and ends with the word Stelle, that is, the stars. In total, 99 songs are obtained in this way, which, together with the introductory song, make up the number 100. The poem is written in terts - stanzas consisting of three lines. This tendency to certain numbers is explained by the fact that Dante gave them a mystical interpretation - so the number 3 is associated with the Christian idea of ​​​​the Trinity, the number 33 should remind of the years of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, etc.

According to Catholic beliefs afterworld consists of hell, where eternally condemned sinners go, purgatory - the seat of sinners who atone for their sins - and paradise - the abode of the blessed.

Dante describes the structure of the afterlife with extreme accuracy, capturing all the details of its architectonics with graphic certainty. In the opening song, Dante tells how he, having reached the middle life path, once got lost in a dense forest and, like the poet Virgil, having saved him from three wild animals that blocked his path, he invited Dante to make a journey through the afterlife. Upon learning that Virgil was sent to Beatrice, Dante surrenders without trepidation to the leadership of the poet.

Having passed the threshold of hell, inhabited by the souls of insignificant, indecisive people, they enter the first circle of hell, the so-called limbo (A., IV, 25-151), where the souls of virtuous pagans reside, who have not known the true God, but who have come closer to this knowledge and beyond then delivered from hellish torments. Here Dante sees prominent representatives ancient culture- Aristotle, Euripides, etc. The next circle (hell looks like a colossal funnel, consisting of concentric circles, the narrow end of which rests on the center of the earth) is filled with the souls of people who once indulged in unbridled passion. Among those carried by a wild whirlwind, Dante sees Francesca da Rimini and her beloved Paolo, who fell victim to forbidden love for each other. As Dante, accompanied by Virgil, descends lower and lower, he becomes a witness to the torment of gluttons, forced to suffer from rain and hail, misers and spendthrifts, tirelessly rolling huge stones, angry, bogged down in a swamp. They are followed by heretics and heresiarchs engulfed in eternal flame (among them Emperor Frederick II, Pope Anastasius II), tyrants and murderers swimming in streams of boiling blood, suicides turned into plants, blasphemers and rapists burned by falling flames, deceivers of all kinds. The torments of deceivers are varied. Finally, Dante enters the last, 9th circle of hell, intended for the most terrible criminals. Here is the abode of traitors and traitors, of which the greatest are Judas, Brutus and Cassius - they are gnawed with their three mouths by Lucifer, an angel who once rebelled against God, the king of evil, doomed to imprisonment in the center of the earth. The description of the terrible appearance of Lucifer ends the last song of the first part of the poem.

Purgatory

Having passed a narrow corridor connecting the center of the earth with the second hemisphere, Dante and Virgil come to the surface of the earth. There, in the middle of the island surrounded by the ocean, a mountain rises in the form of a truncated cone - purgatory, like hell, consisting of a series of circles that narrow as they approach the top of the mountain. The angel guarding the entrance to purgatory lets Dante into the first circle of purgatory, having previously drawn seven Ps (Peccatum - sin), that is, a symbol of the seven deadly sins, on his forehead with a sword. As Dante rises higher and higher, passing one circle after another, these letters disappear, so that when Dante, having reached the top of the mountain, enters the "earthly paradise" located on the top of the latter, he is already free from the signs inscribed by the guardian of purgatory. The circles of the latter are inhabited by the souls of sinners atoning for their sins. Here, the proud are cleansed, forced to bend under the burden of weights crushing their backs, envious, angry, negligent, greedy, etc. Virgil brings Dante to the gates of paradise, where he, as someone who did not know baptism, has no access.

In the earthly paradise, Virgil is replaced by Beatrice, seated on a chariot drawn by a vulture (an allegory of the triumphant church); she prompts Dante to repentance, and then lifts him, enlightened, to heaven. The final part of the poem is devoted to Dante's wanderings in the heavenly paradise. The latter consists of seven spheres encircling the earth and corresponding to seven planets (according to the then widespread Ptolemaic system): the spheres of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, etc. the region inhabited by the blessed contemplating God is the last sphere that gives life to all that exists. Flying through the spheres, led by Bernard, Dante sees Emperor Justinian, introducing him to the history of the Roman Empire, teachers of the faith, martyrs for the faith, whose shining souls form a sparkling cross; Rising higher and higher, Dante sees Christ and the Virgin Mary, angels, and, finally, the “Heavenly Rose” is revealed before him - the abode of the blessed. Here Dante partakes of the highest grace, reaching communion with the Creator.

The Comedy is Dante's last and most mature work. The poet did not realize, of course, that through his mouth in the Comedy "ten silent centuries spoke", that he sums up in his work the entire development of medieval literature.

In form, the poem is a vision of the afterlife, of which there were many in medieval literature. Like the medieval poets, it rests on an allegorical core. So the dense forest, in which the poet got lost halfway through earthly existence, is a symbol of life's complications. The three beasts that attack him there: a lynx, a lion and a she-wolf are the three most powerful passions: sensuality, lust for power, greed. These allegories are also given a political interpretation: the lynx is Florence, the spots on the skin of which should indicate the enmity of the parties of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. The lion is a symbol of rough physical strength— France; she-wolf, greedy and lustful - papal curia. These beasts threaten the national unity of Italy that Dante dreamed of, a unity held together by the rule of a feudal monarchy (some literary historians give Dante's entire poem a political interpretation). Virgil saves the poet from the beasts - reason sent to the poet Beatrice (theology - faith). Virgil leads Dante through hell to purgatory, and on the threshold of paradise gives way to Beatrice. The meaning of this allegory is that reason saves a person from passions, and knowledge of divine science delivers eternal bliss.

The Divine Comedy is imbued with the political tendencies of the author. Dante never misses an opportunity to reckon with his ideological, even personal enemies; he hates usurers, condemns credit as "excess", condemns his own age as an age of gain and avarice. In his opinion, money is the source of all evils. To the dark present, he contrasts the bright past, bourgeois Florence - feudal Florence, when simplicity of morals, moderation, chivalrous "knowledge" ("Paradise", the story of Cacchagvida), the feudal empire (cf. Dante's treatise "On the Monarchy") prevailed. The tercines of "Purgatory", accompanying the appearance of Sordello (Ahi serva Italia), sound like a real hosanna of Ghibellinism. Dante treats the papacy as a principle with the greatest respect, although he hates individual representatives of it, especially those who contributed to the strengthening of the bourgeois system in Italy; some dads Dante meets in hell. His religion is Catholicism, although a personal element is already woven into it, alien to the old orthodoxy, although mysticism and the Franciscan pantheistic religion of love, which are accepted with all passion, are also a sharp deviation from classical Catholicism. His philosophy is theology, his science is scholasticism, his poetry is allegory. The ascetic ideals in Dante have not yet died, and he regards free love(Hell, 2nd circle, famous episode with Francesca da Rimini and Paolo). But it is not a sin for him to love, which attracts to the object of worship with a pure platonic impulse (cf. "New Life", Dante's love for Beatrice). This is the great world force that "moves the sun and other luminaries." And humility is no longer an absolute virtue. “Whoever in glory does not renew his strength with victory will not taste the fruit that he obtained in the struggle.” And the spirit of inquisitiveness, the desire to widen the circle of knowledge and acquaintance with the world, combined with “virtue” (virtute e conoscenza), prompting heroic daring, is proclaimed an ideal.

Dante built his vision from pieces of real life. Separate corners of Italy, which are placed in it with clear graphic contours, went to the construction of the afterlife. And so many living human images are scattered in the poem, so many typical figures, so many bright psychological situations that literature still continues to draw from there. People who suffer in hell, repent in purgatory (moreover, the volume and nature of the punishment corresponds to the volume and nature of sin), abide in bliss in paradise - all living people. In these hundreds of figures, no two are the same. In this huge gallery historical figures there is not a single image that would not be faceted by the unmistakable plastic intuition of the poet. No wonder Florence experienced a period of such intense economic and cultural upsurge. That keen sense of landscape and man, which is shown in the Comedy and which the world learned from Dante, was possible only in the social situation of Florence, which was far ahead of the rest of Europe. Separate episodes of the poem, such as Francesca and Paolo, Farinata in his red-hot grave, Ugolino with children, Capaneus and Ulysses, in no way similar to ancient images, the Black Cherub with subtle devilish logic, Sordello on his stone, are produced to this day strong impression.

The role of the symbol in Dante's Divine Comedy.

Dante's ego is unusual. On his way, he is hindered by three symbolic beasts - the three most terrible sins according to Dante. This is a panther (lynx), a lion and a she-wolf. The lynx is voluptuousness, the panther is the personification of the oligarchic power in Florence. He bypasses the lynx. The lion is the pride, as well as the political tyranny of the monarch and the state, he was on the coat of arms of Florence. Bypasses him too. The worst thing is greed, a she-wolf. AT broad sense. Virgil, sent by Beatrice. Dante does not want to go down to hell, he is afraid of the inscription above the gates of hell. Virgil persuades in the name of Beatrice, she is not just a woman.

Dante turns to passions for the first time in world literature, makes them the subject of depiction. Human image. Proverb: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Sinners in the highest circles of hell most often get there for good intentions. The lower circles are hardened criminals, but there are exceptions. In higher circles there is hope for forgiveness.

The image of Beatrice in the work of Dante ("New Life", "Divine Comedy").

Born Dante in Florence, his name is a family tradition. The Alighieri family was noble, middle-class. Ordinary people. When Dante becomes famous, the Italians begin to look for signs in ordinary events. Giovanni Boccaccio - the first biographer of Dante, tells the dream of Dante's mother. She lies in a meadow under a laurel, next to a clean spring. Unexpectedly, he gives birth to a son, he eats laurel berries, drinks from a spring, becomes a shepherd, tries to pick laurel leaves, gets tired, falls, and when he gets up, he is already a peacock.

Symbolism: berries are the fruits of the labors of his predecessors, water is philosophy, laurel leaves are glory, the shepherd is the shepherd of peoples. Dante wanted to be crowned with a laurel wreath. The fall is death, the peacock is a symbol of eternity. Boccaccio does not present facts to us, but creates the spiritual image of a person living on the verge of centuries. Engels: "Dante is the last poet of the Middle Ages and the first poet of modern times." In his nature, the features of both eras coexisted - increased reflection, psychological conflict. Dante's image is by no means perfect. Excessively proud, ambitious, passionate, did not shy away from politics, but honest. One of the most educated people- but this is self-education. University of Bologna studied jurisprudence.

Italy in the Middle Ages was not single state, most of all consisted of the so-called city-republics with guild self-government. Each department has a representative. There should be no disagreements in the workshop - the representative expressed single point vision. The Italians understood that they had to unite. Separation of two parties: Guelphs and Ghibellines. Ghibellines - the highest nobility, the aristocracy, fought for the unification of the country under the rule of the German emperor - secular power. The Pope of Rome also claimed the unification - the Guelphs, for the most part the city nobility, stood for him. Dante was a Guelph by family tradition. He achieved success in politics, but after ruling for almost 20 years, the Guelphs split into blacks and whites. The whites, and with them Dante, were guided by the emperor, the blacks - by the pope. The coup in Florence, the whites were defeated, almost everyone was brought to court, Dante received such a summons, he fled from Florence, he never returns there in his whole life - a wanderer. A wife and children remained in Florence, only a third of the property remained. In exile, Dante wanted worldwide fame, wanted the Florentines to ask him to return. Glory came, but the Florentines did not forgive him. September 14, 1321 - dies in Rovenna, in the house of his great-nephew Francesca da Ramini. Dante's ashes are demanded by Florence, but Rovenna never returned them.

In 1283 Dante comes to the workshop of poets, brings the first sonnet. It is dedicated to Beatrice. At this time, the “new sweet style” (“dolce stil nuovo”) dominates in Italy. Knightly literature - castle, salon, and here - the townspeople, they write for the townspeople. Stylistic poets adapted the poetry of the troubadours for the townspeople - they reinforce the moment of worship of the lady - the lady angel, the madonna. Love for such a lady is the first step leading to God. The world was created by divine love, it is difficult to know, earthly love is the first step to this. The lady becomes incorporeal, in the poetry of the "stylists" - there are no descriptions. Beatrice is always dressed in scarlet robes - a sacred color. That's all, but a lot about the spiritual appearance. Scholars debate whether Beatrice was in fact. Beatrice is an image-symbol. There was such a girl, Dante knew her, she died early. Something in her struck Dante, and he created a conditionally ideal image.

“New Life” - Dante writes after the death of Beatrice, should perpetuate her appearance and explain to humanity the concept of love of stylists. Both poetry and prose. Starts seriously and clumsily. Wants to describe a new life after the death of Beatrice. He writes that he first met her when he was nine - a magic number (three triples). Then 18 is also a magic number. I always saw her in sacred scarlet robes. He begins to love her with the love of stylists at 18. At first, Beatrice's inattention hurts Dante, but gradually the bitterness goes away, as Dante realizes that love is valuable in itself, it is an incentive for constant spiritual work, self-improvement. Image idealization. In the third part, Beatrice dies, nature mourns her. Death is seen as world catastrophe. But there is also a 4th part, where Dante describes his illness, a lady looked after him - 4 sonnets are dedicated to her. It is clear that he loves her, but with an ordinary love. Dante forbids himself to deal with her. "New Life" is the first autobiographical story in the history of Western European literature, revealing to the reader the most intimate feelings. Then the exile and Dante for many years forgets about the lyrics.

At the heart of Dante's poem lies the recognition by mankind of their sins and the 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 give up blessings, and redeem 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". 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. She is recognized in world literature as a brilliant creation. The author himself gave her the name "Comedy". So in those days it was customary to call any work that has a happy ending. "Divine" Boccaccio called her, thus putting the highest mark.

Dante's poem "The Divine Comedy", a summary of which schoolchildren pass in the 9th grade, is difficult to perceive modern teenagers. A detailed analysis of some songs cannot give full view about the work, especially considering today's attitude to religion and human sins. However, an acquaintance, albeit an overview, with the work of Dante is necessary to create a complete picture of world fiction.

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

The protagonist of the work is Dante himself, to whom the shadow appears famous poet Virgil, with a proposal to make a trip to Dante, at first doubts, but agrees after Virgil informs him that Beatrice (the author's lover, who had long since died) asked to become his guide to the poet.

Way actors starts from hell. In front of the entrance to it are miserable souls who, during their lifetime, did neither good nor evil. Outside the gate flows the river Acheron, through which Charon transports the dead. Heroes are approaching the circles of hell:

Having passed all the circles of hell, Dante and his companion went upstairs and saw the stars.

"The Divine Comedy". Brief summary of the part "Purgatory"

The protagonist and his guide end up in purgatory. Here they are met by the guard Cato, who sends them to the sea to wash. The companions go to the water, where Virgil washes away the soot of the underworld from Dante's face. At this time, a boat sails up to the travelers, which is ruled by an angel. He lands on the shore the souls of the dead who did not go to hell. With them, the heroes make a journey to the mountain of purgatory. On the way, they meet fellow countryman Virgil, the poet Sordello, who joins them.

Dante falls asleep and is transported in a dream to the gates of purgatory. Here the angel writes seven letters on the forehead of the poet, denoting the Hero goes through all the circles of purgatory, being cleansed of sins. After passing each circle, the angel erases from Dante's forehead the letter of the overcome sin. 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 of 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.

"The Divine Comedy". Summary of the part "Paradise"

Beloved ascend to heaven. To the surprise of the protagonist, he was able to take off. Beatrice explained to him that souls not burdened with sins are light. Lovers pass through all heavenly skies:

• the first sky of the moon, where the souls of the nuns are;
• the second is Mercury for the ambitious righteous;
• the third is Venus, the souls of the loving ones rest here;
• the fourth - the Sun, intended for the sages;
• the fifth is Mars, which receives warriors;
• the sixth - Jupiter, for the souls of the just;
• the seventh is Saturn, where the souls of contemplators are;
• the eighth is 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 to the bright and blinding light and finds the highest truth. He sees the deity in his trinity.

HORIZONTALLY:
1. Which Lydia "practically gave Russia" Henri Matisse?
3. What part closes the trap?
9. What substance, improving appearance products, often makes them dangerous for our body?
10. Where did Disney's Rapunzel grow up?
11. Fainting.
15. In which country is it not considered a crime to try to escape from prison?
16. "Nose in a wet place."
17. Who developed the reform program implemented by Pyotr Stolypin?
18. Gordon Gekko with the face of Michael Douglas from the drama of Oliver Stone.
21. Stash of fate.
27. Who sent Virgil to meet Dante in his Divine Comedy?
28. What did the heroine of the story "Damn" by Mikhail Zoshchenko go too far with?
29. "Tired of talking, and arguing, and loving tired eyes" (poet).
31. Literary expert.
33. Method of writing from ancient Greek monuments.
34. The star of our stage, who milked a cow from the age of six.
37. "Sovereign purse."
38. "Revolutionary Method".
39. Criminal, but not a code.
41. Philosophical prose writer.
43. Murder in criminal slang.
44. Which of the Russian poets has served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since the age of 18?
46. ​​Whose murder did Nikita Khrushchev want to hang on Joseph Stalin?
47. What work sounds for someone who cannot hear it?
48. Who was the first to spend more than a day in space?
49. Gravedigger of many currencies.
50. Belly pumped up on simulators.

VERTICALLY:
1. Collection of rings.
2. Why did the hero of the novel "The Phantom of Memory" by Alexandra Marinina end up in a hospital bed?
4. Which chess champion was given a monument in Riga?
5. "When the point of my patience turned into a boiling point, I filed for ...".
6. Thriller atmosphere.
7. Husband and wife in the unit of radioactivity.
8. "Permanent pass" to the fitness club.
12. The "living room heater" of the aristocrats.
13. Beer measure among the British.
14. What helps the heroine of the short story "The Monkey from Shinagawa" by Haruki Murakami remember her name?
17. A film with a cowboy flavor.
19. A gift to Daphnis from the love drama Casanova's Cloak.
20. What chess piece has become a symbol of the little man?
22. Shock softener.
23. What does Morpheus evoke?
24. He has insidious money relations with the people.
25. Profession of Igor Skvortsov performed by Leonid Filatov from the film "Crew".
26. What Ukrainian city at different times was part of eight states?
28. English lawyer of the highest rank.
30. "Mechanical" style of music.
31. Which film director made a star of the first magnitude out of Lyudmila Kasatkina?
32. Undermining process.
35. What archangel "looks" from the bell tower of the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice?
36. Which fortune teller did Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov visit?
40. Presented to the defendant.
42. Ussuriysky ... got on the coat of arms of Primorsky Krai.
43. Dog "fat".
45. "Dropping... is easy, but not dialing it again is much more difficult."

The eighth ditch of the eighth circle hides in itself moving fires, in the flame of which crafty advisers are enclosed. Here Dante meets with Ulysses (Odysseus), punished for cunning with Trojan horse. Ulysses serves as Dante's mirror of self-knowledge. He is similar to Dante in his desire to break out of the ordinary, to discover new worlds.

I could not curb my longing,

And, placing hope on the sea, p> I was driven by the desire to know

Other edges of distant outlines.

At the same time, Ulysses is the antipode of Dante. Ulysses is driven by curiosity, while Dante is driven by a thirst for truth. “Dante is a pilgrim, and Ulysses is a traveler,” sums up Yu.M. Lotman. Ulysses is the hero of the coming Renaissance, and it is characteristic that this image both attracts and repels Dante. Marching on, Dante and Virgil distinguish a semblance of a tower in the distance. These are giants standing in a well that leads to the lowest part of Hell. Zeus threw them into the underworld because the titans encroached on his power. The giant Antaeus in the palm of his hand carries Dante and Virgil to the bottom of the well, and they end up on the ice of Lake Cocytus. This is the ninth and last circle of Hell.

Cocytus is divided into four belts, in the center is the lord of evil Lucifer himself. Here is the place of those whose sin is betrayed trust. Dante shows that he has learned the lessons of Virgil well: he is full of hatred, beats one of the sinners, deceives another. Dante vows that he will clear the eyes of the sinner from the ice if he tells him about himself, but then refuses to fulfill the promise.

First answer me, sinful creature,

Who are you - and I will immediately rip

Cover with you. And if your desire

I will not fulfill, then in a cold moat

With you I will freeze under the wind.

So be it, if I lie to you.

And this happens in that part of Hell, where they are punished for desecrated trust. But this is an inverted world, a world of mirrored ethical norms, where such an act is a moral feat.

It was not fair to treat him - it was honest

And I didn’t tear off the ice from him then ...

The last canto of "Hell" describes the meeting with Lucifer. Dante sees from a distance what looks like a giant windmill. To get out of Hell, Virgil tells Dante to wrap his arms around his neck and starts down the devil's shaggy fur. Climbing along the Lethe stream, the wanderers come to the surface: they are on the island of Purgatory.

Chapter 4. Purgatory

The heroes go to the first ledge of the Prepurgatory, where the souls of the excommunicated are located. Traveling through the ledges and circles of Purgatory, Dante often hears the requests of souls to remind him of himself upon his return. because prayers still living on earth good people can reduce the trials reserved for the inhabitants of Purgatory.

And if you are touched by my prayers,

Maybe you want to convey

Constance everything that is said between us.

The living must help the dead.

This is the request of Manfred, son of Frederick II.

The second ledge of Purgatory is a place where negligent souls wait in the wings. Further, Dante gets to the gates of Purgatory, where, together with Virgil, he appears before an angel. The angel draws seven "P" on Dante's forehead (peccatum - sin) and after the request unlocks the gate, warning that the one who looks back will be punished. The angel lets the travelers through. Why not the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice?

In the first circle, pride is redeemed:

The race of Christians, embarrassed by pride,

Do you think people are great?

Oh no! Perverted from the straight path,

You forgot that we are all worms.

In the second circle, envious people atone for their sin. Their eyes are sewn up. The angry ones of the third circle are suffocating in thick smoke. The despondent dwell in the fourth circle.

In the fifth circle, where stinginess and wastefulness are punished, Dante and Virgil meet Stadius, who, according to Dante, secretly converted to Christianity and therefore found a way to Heaven. Stages is one of the alter ego of the author, a poet who has passed from pagan spirituality to Christian.

Then the travelers pass the sixth circle, where sinners guilty of gluttony are starving near a tree rich in fruits (see the myth of Tantalus).

The last obstacle on the way to Paradise is in the seventh circle, where voluptuaries are purified. The poet has to pass through the wall of fire in order to be cleansed of voluptuousness and the last "P" (the previous six have disappeared in the previous circles).

By leading Dante through all the circles of Hell and Purgatory, Virgil fulfilled his role as a guide. The earthly mind (that is, Virgil) can no longer lead a person in the area that is in contact with the heavenly worlds.

But I suddenly realized that there was no singer nearby,

whom she sent to me.

And immediately the blood drained from his face.

Virgil is no more near me!

Antiquity accompanied and patronized Christianity for a long time. But there is no more room for her. End the way will pass under the sign of heavenly wisdom (the essence is Beatrice).

Danger breathes in the disturbing dusk.

Having passed with the poet through the gloomy Hell,

Through everything that seemed impossible to me, Climbing the Mountain, I was glad

As a result, ascend with my companion

To Paradise, where immortal fires burn.

Chapter 5

Further, the poet visits the earthly Paradise on the top of the mountain of Purgatory (here his long-awaited meeting with his beloved takes place) and ascends to the first heaven, falling into the sphere of the Moon. Taking off, travelers cross the sphere of Fire, surrounding land(medieval idea of ​​the atmosphere?). On the moon, they meet pale shadows - passive souls who have not kept their vows, but are not burdened with sins either.

Here are the souls that violated the sacred

Vow; they are removed here

By the will of Providence unchanged.

The second heaven is Mercury. The dignity of the local inhabitants - active implementation ideals. This is the abode of the reformers and the innocent victims.

I did good deeds as Caesar.

Now call me Justinian

You can ... I gave the country debts,

Hurrying to change the laws for the better,

High respecting their purpose,

To make it easier to eradicate evil.

Taking off to the third sky - the sky of Venus, Dante sees small stars spinning inside the luminaries. These are the souls of the loving. Here the poet (hatred of the Florentines who slandered him has not subsided yet!) creates an expressive image: Lucifer, like a bad seed, sprouted from the underworld with a stem, which is Florence. The accursed flower bloomed on the stalk - the florin (a lily is depicted on the coin), multiplied by Florence on a mountain of people.

Your city has now begun to spread,

Unaccustomed to observe decency strictly,

Damned flower to knock them down

Out of the way of the lambs. The shepherd has now become a wolf.

And only now Dante finds himself in the sphere of the Sun - the fourth circle (heliocentrism has not yet been invented). The poet paints an impressive picture of the constellation of great thinkers, who revolve around him in two crowns in opposite directions, forming a "commonwealth of deities." Among them are Thomas Aquinas, Dionysius the Areopagite, Paul Orosius, Boethius, Augustine, John Chrysostom, Joachim and many others. Among the sages of the fourth circle (and it belongs to them) there are many who, through their works, had a considerable influence on Dante in general and on the creation of the Divine Comedy in particular. But not everyone. Here you will not find the sages of antiquity - for them Dante kindly allocated living space in the first circle of Hell.

Illustration by Gustave Doré for song XXI "Ada". 1900 edition

In the fifth ditch of the eighth circle of hell (21st song), Dante and Virgil meet a group of demons. Their leader, Khvostach, says that there is no further road - the bridge is destroyed:

To go out all the same, if you like,
Go with this shaft, where the trail is,
And you will freely exit with the near comb.

Twelve hundred and sixty six years old
Yesterday, five hours late,
Leak since there is no road here Here and below, Mikhail Lozinsky's translation is cited unless otherwise noted..

The words of the demon surprise with their exaggerated detail - why would Dante and readers know about the time of the collapse of a bridge with an accuracy of up to an hour? Meanwhile, these stanzas contain the key to one of the main mysteries of the Divine Comedy - the chronology of Dante's journey, about which Dante does not speak directly anywhere, but which can be reconstructed on the basis of hints scattered here and there .

In the first tercene of "Hell" it is said that Dante was lost in a gloomy forest, "having passed half of his earthly life." It can be assumed that we are in the region of 1300 from the birth of Christ: 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 Khvostach 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 time of Jesus' death, strongest earthquake It looks like it destroyed the bridge. If we add to these considerations the message of the Evangelist Luke that Christ died at noon, and count five hours ago, it becomes clear that the conversation about the bridge takes place at 7 am on March 26, 1300 - 1266 years later and five hours to the day after the death of Christ on the cross (Dante thought it happened on March 25, 34).

Taking into account all the other time indications of the Comedy (changes of day and night, the arrangement of stars), we can establish that Dante's journey to the afterlife lasted a week from March 25 to March 31, 1300 An alternative point of view ties it to the Easter week of 1300 - from April 8 to April 14; but the principle of establishing the chronology does not change, it’s just that the countdown is 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 announced 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 a full remission of sins. It is likely that in the spring of the jubilee year, Dante went to Rome to visit the graves of the apostles - in any case, the lines of the 18th song sound like an eyewitness description:

So the Romans, to the influx of the crowd,
In the year of the anniversary, did not lead to congestion,
Divided the bridge into two paths,

And one by one the people go to the cathedral,
Looking towards the castle wall
And on the other they go towards, uphill.

It was there, in jubilee Rome, that a wonderful pilgrimage to the afterlife could take place. The day the pilgrimage began, March 25, carries a number of other meanings: on March 25, the Lord created the world; On March 25, nine months before Christmas, Christ incarnated. In addition, in Florence, it was from this day that the countdown of the new year began.

Dante started to "Comedy" a few years after the supposed date of the afterlife journey (the first drafts may date back to 1302, but full-fledged work on the poem lasted 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 St. Lucia

Illustration by Gustave Doré for Canto II "Ada". 1900 edition Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library / University of Toronto

In the second song of "Hell" Virgil tells who sent him to help Dante, who was dying in a gloomy forest. It turns out that these were three beautiful women:

... At the three blessed wives
You found the 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. Mary (who, however, is not named) told about the trouble of the poet Saint Lucia, 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 the New Life "New life"- the first book of Dante, written in the 90s of the XIII century, where the love story of the poet and Beatrice is told in prose and verse.. Beatrice was not afraid to descend from paradise to limbo Limbo- the first circle of Dante's hell, where the souls of unbaptized babies and virtuous people who died before the coming of Christ are located. to Virgil and pray for his 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 associated with the etymology of her name: Lucia is derived from the Latin lux, lucis - “light”.. special treatment Dante to Saint Lucia is associated with serious vision problems that he received in his youth due to diligent reading. Dante talks about it in "Feast" "Pir" - Dante's philosophical treatise, written around 1304-1307.: "Having tired my eyesight with persistent reading, I so weakened my visual abilities that all the luminaries seemed to me surrounded by some kind of haze." It is possible that Beatrice was also an admirer of Saint Lucia: the house in which she lived after her marriage was adjacent to the Church of Saint Lucia. So the saint perfectly suited the role of mediator between Mary, Beatrice ascended to heaven, and Dante.

The choice of this character reflects general principle"Comedies": being a grandiose theological, philosophical and poetic canvas, it is at the same time a story about individual life the author, where each poetic decision is connected with his feelings, passions and details of the earthly path.

3. The secret of the Muslims

Illustration by Gustave Doré for Canto XXVIII "Ada" by Dante Alighieri. 1900 edition Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library / University of Toronto

In the 28th song of "Hell" Dante meets the prophet Muhammad and righteous caliph Ali, who endure eternal torment as "sowers of discord and schism": in the time of Dante, it was believed that Mohammed was a Catholic prelate who broke away from the true faith, so for Dante he is a schismatic. The unflattering depiction of the prophet (the description of his torments is one of the most physiological in the Comedy) earned Dante the reputation of an enemy of Islam (Comedy is even banned in Pakistan).

Like a barrel without a bottom, perforated through and through -
From the mouth to where the feces exit,
Inwardly, one of them was revealed to the eye.

Intestines hung disgustingly between the knees,
One could see the heart and stomach sack,
Stuffed with gum, stained with feces Translation by Alexander Ilyushin..

However, Dante's attitude to Islam is much more complex and subtle. In limbo, among the heroes and sages of Antiquity, famous Muslims meet: Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and the fighter with, Avicenna Avicenna(c. 980 - 1037) - a medieval Persian physician, philosopher and scientist. and Averroes Averroes(1126-1198) - medieval Andalusian Arabic-speaking philosopher, physician and mathematician.. These three are the only inhabitants of limbo who were 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 Arab tradition, there were many descriptions of the miraj - their similarity with the Comedy was first substantiated by the Spanish Arabist Miguel Asin-Palacios in 1919. Later versions of these texts in Romance languages ​​became known, describing in detail the journey of the Prophet and spread across Europe from Arabic Spain. These findings made the hypothesis of Dante's acquaintance with this Arabic tradition much more plausible - and today it is recognized by most Dante scholars.

4. The Secret of Epicurus

Illustration by Gustave Doré for Canto X "Ada". 1900 edition Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library / University of Toronto

All 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 family I mean Aristotle..

Socrates sits closest to him
And Plato with him; the whole host honors the omniscient;
Here is the one who thinks the world is random

The famous philosopher Democritus;
Here Diogenes, Thales with Anaxagoras,
Zeno, and Empedocles, and Heraclitus...

Epicurus is not on this list, and this is no coincidence: a completely different place is prepared for him 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. Epicurus' accusations of godlessness, common in the Middle Ages, originate in the speeches of the Apostle Paul against Epicureanism and continue in the writings of the first Christian apologists: for example, Lactantius reproached Epicurus for denying divine providence and the immortality of the soul, for destroying religion and preaching depravity. This anachronism is consonant with the general medieval anti-historicism: the Middle Ages sculpts historical characters in its own way, turning ancient heroes into knights, and philosophers into Christian thinkers and erasing the differences between eras. This is not alien to Dante.

5. The mystery of the broken vessel

At the beginning of the 19th ode, 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, and along the channel, and along the slopes,
I saw an innumerable number
Rounded wells in grayish stone.

They look exactly the same
Like those in my beautiful San Giovanni,
Where the sacrament of baptism is performed.

I, saving the lad from suffering,
Broke one of them last year...

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 the 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 a scandal (this is indicated by the words with which he concludes his story: "And here is the seal, in defense against whispers!" - which means: let this evidence convince dit people not to listen to false rumors).

At the same time, Dante's story is reminiscent of the Old Testament parable of the prophet Jeremiah and the earthen jar. 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 violate the commandments of the Lord and worship idols.

Breaking a jug of holy water, Dante reproduces the gesture of the prophet. Jeremiah rebelled against the idolatry of the people of Israel, and Dante in the Comedy rebelled against contemporary idolatry - the simony of the church Simony- purchase of church positions. In the broad sense of the word, this is the name given to the predominance of material interests over spiritual interests in the affairs of churchmen.. In the 19th song, Dante unleashes anger on the popes, who exchange the spiritual for the material and lead the world to destruction:

O Simon the sorcerer, O ill-fated host,
You, that the shrine of God, Good
A pure bride, in terrible greed

Corrupted for the sake of gold and silver,
Now about you, who are executed in the third gap,
It's time to ring the trumpet!

Dante had already vaguely hinted at his prophetic gift. In the New Life, having reached the moment of Beatrice's death, Dante refuses to talk about her: "It does not befit me to talk about it, since I would exalt myself, which is especially reprehensible" (Dante alludes to a mystical vision that happened to him at the time of Beatrice's death). The contemporary Danish scholar Mirko Tavoni brings this episode closer to the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: 14 years after the event, the apostle tells how he was “caught up” (that is, taken up) to heaven. Paul kept silent about this miracle before, 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 mystery of living people in hell

Illustration by Gustave Doré for songs XVIII"Ada". 1900 edition Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library / University of Toronto

In the 18th song, Dante meets a friend:

As I walked forward my gaze fell
For one; and I exclaimed: "Somewhere
I already fed his eyes with his face.

I became, trying to recognize who it is,
And the good leader, stopping with me,
I was not forbidden to catch up with him.

Scourged, hiding his appearance,
bowed his brow; but the labor was wasted;
I said: "You, with bowed head,

When you don't wear someone else's appearance, -
Venedico Cacchanemico. How
Did you deserve a condiment so cool?”

Venedico dei Cacchanemici - prominent political figure second half of XIII century, leader of the Bolognese Guelphs In the XIII century between the papacy and the German emperors there was a fierce struggle for dominance in the Italian peninsula. The supporters of the pope were called Guelphs and stood up against the Ghibellines, the 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 fiefdom 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 wealthiest families in the city, 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. Beginning around 1295, Dante was actively involved in political life Florence. In 1300 he was elected one of the seven members of the college of priors. But political career Dante is expensive: when the black Guelphs come to power in Florence, he is immediately sentenced to death penalty. Dante, who was outside the city at that time, would never return to his homeland.. This explains Dante's personal dislike for Venediko.

In 1300, when the action of the Comedy unfolds, the historical Venediko was still alive - he will die only in 1303. Dante writes this song around 1307-1308 - and either forgets the exact time of the death of the Bolognese, or deliberately neglects the 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 tricks to put people in hell, during the action of the Comedy - at the end of March 1300 - still alive. For example, in the 19th song, the poet settles scores with the hated Pope Boniface VIII He supported the black Guelphs, so Dante believed that the exile was the result of the political intrigues of Boniface. 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 answered, -
Are you here already, are you here so early?

Thus, Dante indicates that the soul of Boniface has already been destined for a place in hell.

Another living dead is Branca Doria, a Genoese who pays for the betrayal of a guest. He also ended up in hell long before his historical death in 1325 (a few years after the death of Alighieri himself). The souls of such traitors are thrown into hell immediately after the commission of villainy, and a demon enters the body. Therefore, it seems alive that "Branca d'Oria is alive, well, he eats and drinks and sleeps and wears dresses."

7. Mystery of the centaurs

Illustration by Gustave Doré for Canto XII "Ada". 1900 edition Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library / University of Toronto

In the seventh circle of hell, Dante and Virgil first of all meet the guard - the half-man, half-bull Minotaur:

... And on the edge, over the descent to the new abyss,
Spread out lay the shame of the Cretans,

Conceived of old imaginary cow.

Like a bull struck to death with an axe,
Tearing his lasso, but unable to run
And only jumps, stunned by pain,

So the Minotaur rushed about, wild and vicious ...

Going even lower, they see the centaurs with their " dual nature"and harpies" with broad wings, with a maiden's face.

The presence of mythological characters of pagan Antiquity in Dante's Christian hell no longer surprises the reader, because the guards of the previous circles were the carrier of the souls of the dead through the Styx Charon, the king of Crete Minos, guarding the gates of hell Cerberus, the god of wealth Plutos. Dante again acts in the middle---not-century, adapting Antiquity to his needs: pagan monsters turn into hellish demons, and on the map of hell flow mythical rivers Acheron, Styx and Phlegethon.

But the Minotaur, centaurs and harpies are united not only by ancient origin: they are also connected by a dual nature, combining human and animal. Why is it important? Because Dante builds his hell by imitating Aristotle. Let us recall the words of Virgil at the end of the 11th ode:

Don't you remember the saying
From Ethics, which is most pernicious
Three heaven-hated attraction:

Incontinence, malice, violent bestiality?
And that intemperance is the lesser sin before God
And he doesn't punish him that way?

The first circles are reserved for the sins of intemperance, then the rapists come, in the very depths there are deceivers and traitors.

Ancient hybrid monsters are in the seventh circle, the circle of rapists, and represent an allegorical representation of the sins of this part of hell: the animal element, manifested in the vices of sinners languishing here, is physically manifest in them.

This is just one of the many instances of Dante's use of allegory: each element, whether historical character or a mythological monster, acquires, in addition to a 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 the Renaissance Italian Neoplatonism are Marsilio Ficino and Gio van ni 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 sink to the state of an animal (it is significant that the adjective bestiale- "animal" - is used by Dante only in relation to human behavior and always in a very negative way).