The Divine Comedy!

Writing a blog on Divine Comedy by Dante is not a joke. It is formidable. Still, having labored to read it, I thought I might as well write about it! If not as a literary critic, I will write as a common lay person who happen to read this magnificent poem.

Dante Alighieri was born in AD 1265 in Florence, Italy. He was a poet, philosopher and a politician, who wrote this work in vernacular Italian language and not in Latin as it was vogue in those days. The poem is an allegory, describing the journey that every soul must undertake to reach God. Dante wrote it in three volumes, Hell – ‘Inferno,’ Purgatory – ‘Purgatorio,’ and Paradise – ‘Paradiso’. He started to write it almost 20 years back, completing just before his death in exile in AD 1320 in Ravenna, a Roman city.

What amazed me as I ploughed through this masterpiece was that though it is a Christian theological work, it is heavily influenced by Greek and Roman antiquity, the epic poems of Homer (Iliad and Odyssey), Virgil (Aeneid) and many others including Greek and Roman gods and goddesses and the myths surrounding them. That these pagan literature of pre-Christian era should influence the Christian writers of 14^th century AD to this extent is amazing. No wonder Apostle Paul and other Apostles struggled against it and died in the process. However by the second century AD we can see this influence catching up as the intellectuals and philosophers of the Greek culture turned to Christ. Most important example being St. Augustine, who as the first Christian philosopher tried to replace the pagan philosophy popularized by the Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The early Church Fathers continued the trend, trying to instill Christian theology in the population and intellectuals steeped in Greco-Roman literature and antiquity.

Florence itself was a prosperous self-governing state in Europe with trade, and banking systems flourishing. But there were lot of internecine quarrels during Dante’s time and wars between different groups raged and led to its decline. It was strife between the rich families of the Dukes with agricultural land income supporting the Holy German Emperor and the wealthy mercantile families supporting the Papacy, religion combined with politics unfortunately, to gain control of Europe. Dante was in a sect of the pro-Papal group and was excommunicated when the opposite party seized power. He died in exile.

“Hell” is described by Dante as a place of lost souls after death, a huge funnel shaped pit in his imagination, situated beneath the northern hemisphere, running down to the center of earth. At the bottom of this pit stands Satan. This is a place which stubborn souls chose, on their own will, as they refused to repent in life. It consisted of 24 circles, and Dante is given the privilege of visiting all of it, by the grace of Beatrice, who prays to Mary, mother of Jesus, for such an access, so that the poet could warn the living, with Virgil the poet playing the guide at Hell and Purgatory.

Dante finds many historical figures wallowing in hell, eg. Cleopatra, Helen, Paris, Dido, all punished for incontinence and for lustful life. Many of Dante’s opponents he finds in hell! Violence against self, in the form of suicides, violence against God, in the form of sodomy, usury, blasphemy, were all punished there. Odyssey’s hero Ulysses was in hell for being a fraudulent Councillor, advising the Greeks to build the wooden horse and get into the fort of Troy! Some Popes of 13^th century, Nicholas III and Clement, were there for offences of simonizes! Prophet Mohammad was in hell for sowing discard among the faithful! So also were there religious leaders of Jesus’ time, like Caiaphas, for hypocrisy! Just a few examples!  Dante encounters Nimrod, Judas, Brutus, Cassius, the traitors and rebellious against God and man. It is horrifying to read about the punishments meted out to these lost souls!

Purgatory is a concept of Catholics, which was negated in the Reformation that led to the split in the church as Catholics and Protestants. There is no biblical evidence of such a place where penance could be made and prayers said to speed them in their upward journey to the Paradise. Catholics believe that here the stain of sinfulness is cleansed, and the penitent souls undergo penance to shed their imperfections, and are purged and reach Heaven. The truth according to Bible is when one believes in Christ’s death on the cross as atonement to our sins, the sins are washed away and we are justified in the eyes of God, and we are imputed with the righteousness of Christ. This belief might have originated in 2^nd century AD with Alexandrian Fathers like Origen. According to Catholics faults like lust, gluttonous, slothfulness, envy, pride, covetousness, the dead undergo penance here. Penalties themselves are not heavy but the years one spends here wallowing in self-pity could be unbearable. The souls that Dante encounters here requests for prayers so that their stay could be cut short and they ascend to heaven early.

This belief in purgatory and effectiveness of prayers to speed up the journey of the dead to heaven, led to misuses like the issue of Indulgences, where by church issued certificates that the sins of the dead are written off, especially if the relatives paid for the church expenses, including construction of beautiful churches in the Middle Ages. These were pointed out and when the Catholic Church would not give up such corrupt practices, protest arose, resulting in the division of the church.

Paradise is the place where God, the Unmoved Mover of Aristotle, referred to as the Prime Mover by Dante abides in Empyrean, the Abode of God. According to Dante, there are 10 heavens, including Moon, Mercury, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the planets known in those days. Dante follows the Ptolemaic system of astronomy, where earth was regarded as a fixed point at the center of the universe. In this geocentric universe, sun, moon, the planets and stars revolved around the earth. He meets St. Peter, Adam who was rescued by Christ from Limbo (a place above hell, where good pagans like Virgil stayed); Seraphim, Dominations and Thrones and Archangels, the three hierarchies of the angels arranged in three rings around the Empyrean; the celestial White Rose close to the Empyrean, where were seated Virgin Mary, Eve, Rachel, Sarah, Rebecca, and also the Apostles like Peter, James, John the Baptist, and Saints like Francis of Assisi, Benedict and Augustine. Whole of paradise resounds with angelic songs and peace and joy and brightness and beauty. It is a pleasure to read these accounts.

On the way, Dante also discusses pertinent issues like free will, why cross was chosen as the method of salvation of mankind by God, resurrection of the body along with the soul, Triune nature of God, two natures of Christ, Nicene Creed, life stories of St. Bonaventure, St Dominic and such vital and interesting issues.

On the whole the reading was tough but started to become interesting as Dante inserts many contemporary beliefs and personalities, explanations of which were given in detail by the translator and commentator, Dorothy Sayers. It is good to know about the traditions and beliefs which have shaped Christianity as it stands today. Don’t we have 2000 years of history to catch up with! This is just a small portion of it. But God alone can guide us in the right path, away from the wrong influences of tradition and history. I firmly believe that if we adhere to Bible and Bible alone, we will be safe. ‘Sola Scriptura’ (Scripture alone!) was the bugle call of Martin Luther which started the Reformation and brought out Protestantism. Let us walk by the light of the Scripture, the Word of God, and not by traditions. All the same it is good to know what influences shaped our traditions, so that we are beware of some of the false influences and avoiding them walk in the right path.