Lecturae Dantis: Inferno Canto 2

 We continued with the reading of the Inferno with Canto 2.  Today's reader was Prof. Brian Reynolds of the Fu Jen Catholic Univeristy of Taipei.  

Salient points:

  • There are two levels of allegory.  One is that which shows fiction that has truth to it.  Another is that which is used in scripture, which involves truth with further truth within it  (e.g., Moses literally did lead the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land, but at the same time, that points to a deeper meaning of our lives being a journey to the Promised Land.)  It is that second type of allegory that is involved in The Divine Comedy.
  • In this Canto, we get a sense that Dante's journey is not just a personal journey; it is the journey of all of us.
  • It is in this Canto that Dante realizes that he needs to rely on others to get out of the dark wood.  A theme is the need to balance recognizing one's talents and recognizing the need for others, especially the need for divine assistance in the form of grace.  This is related to the theme of the limitations of philosophy without theology.  
  • It was Virgil, the pagan poet, who guides Dante out of the dark wood.  The theme that classical culture contains seeds of the Word of God. 
  • The lecturer highlighted important Italian phrases.  Stella:  stars, a key motif in the Comedy.  De la pietate:  "pity" and "mercy" in addition to misery.  (Hmm...maybe this is why Pope Francis has been highly recommending The Divine Comedy!)  Parola ornata with which Virgil saves Dante:  Virgil saves Dante through "ornate words"; the speaker mentioned the art of rhetoric but for me this is also one among many clues in the Comedy that a central theme is the vocation of the poet; same with Lines 121-126 of this Canto)  
  • "the love that moved me" in line 72 as a foreshadowing of the last stanza of the Paradiso
  • courtly love; women like Beatrice, the Blessed Virgin, St. Lucy, and Rachel.  The three ladies (the Blessed Virgin, St. Lucy, and Rachel) as counterparts to the three beasts that keep Dante from ascending the hill. 
And many many more.  A summary cannot capture the euphoria one experiences upon either reading Dante for the first time or re-reading Dante and seeing new things for the first time.  Many insights leave me speechless with awe. 

The speaker also shared his experiences of teaching The Divine Comedy to non-Christian audiences and told us that it does resonate with them.  He said that in understanding The Divine Comedy, what matters is not one's religion or even one's familiarity with the classical and medieval allusions in the Comedy but openness of soul.

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