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閱讀但丁 Dante Alighieri在诗海的作品!!! | |||||
但丁但丁出生在意大利的佛羅倫薩一個沒落的貴族家庭，生於1265年，出生日期不清，按他自己在詩中的說法“生在雙子座下”，應該是5月下旬或6月上旬。5歲時生母去世，父親續弦，後母為他生了兩個弟弟、一個妹妹。
生平
但丁的生平記錄很少，但寫作的人很多，有許多並不可靠，他可能並沒有受過正式教育（也有人說他在波隆那及巴黎等地念書），從許多有名的朋友兼教師那裏學習不少東西，包括拉丁語、普羅旺斯語和音樂，年輕時可能做過騎士，參加過幾次戰爭，33歲時就已經結婚，他妻子為他生了6個孩子，衹有4個（3男1女）存活。 但他真正愛的,是一個8歲的小女孩,姓名是貝蕾雅妮彩.
佛羅倫斯但丁博物館門外的但丁雕像..當時佛羅倫薩政界分為兩派，一派是效忠神聖羅馬帝國皇帝的齊伯林派，另一派是效忠教皇的蓋爾非派，1266年後，由於教皇勢力強盛，蓋爾非派取得勝利，將齊伯林派放逐。蓋爾非派掌權後1294年當選的教皇卜尼法斯八世想控製佛羅倫薩，一部分富裕市民希望城市的獨立，不願意受製於教皇，分化成“白黨”，另一部分沒落戶，希望藉助教皇的勢力翻身，成為“黑黨”。兩派重新爭鬥，但丁的傢族原來屬於蓋爾非派，但丁熱烈主張獨立自由，因此成為白黨的中堅，並被選為最高權利機關執行委員會的六位委員之一。
1301年教皇特派法國國王的兄弟瓦魯瓦的卡羅(Carlo di Valois)去佛羅倫薩“調節和平”，白黨懷疑此行另有目的，派出以但丁為團長的代表團去說服教皇收回成命，但沒有結果，果然卡羅到佛羅倫薩後立即組織黑黨屠殺反對派，控製佛羅倫薩，並宣佈放逐但丁，一但他回城，任何佛羅倫薩士兵都可以處决燒死他，從此但丁再也沒有能回到家乡。
1308年盧森堡的亨利七世當選為神聖羅馬帝國皇帝，預備入侵佛羅倫薩，但丁給他寫信，指點需要進攻的地點，因此白黨也開始痛恨但丁。1313年亨利去世，但丁的希望落空。
1315年，佛羅倫薩被軍人掌權，宣佈如果但丁肯付罰金，並於頭上撒灰，頸下挂刀，遊街一周就可免罪返國。但丁回信說：“這種方法不是我返國的路！要是損害了我但丁的名譽，那麽我决不再踏上佛羅倫薩的土地！難道我在別處就不能享受日月星辰的光明嗎？難道我不嚮佛羅倫薩市民卑躬屈膝，我就不能接觸寶貴的真理嗎？可以確定的是，我不愁沒有面包吃！”
但丁在被放逐時，曾在幾個意大利城市居住，有的記載他曾去過巴黎，他以著作排遣其鄉愁，並將一生中的恩人仇人都寫入他的名作《神麯》中，對教皇揶揄嘲笑，他將自己一生單相思的戀人，一個叫貝亞德的，25歲就去世的美女，安排到天堂的最高境界。
但丁於1321年客死他鄉，在意大利東北部臘萬納去世。
但丁的作品基本上是以意大利托斯卡納方言寫作的，對形成現代意大利語言以托斯卡納方言為基礎起了相當大的作用，因為除了拉丁語作品外，古代意大利作品衹有但丁是最早使用活的語言寫作，他的作品對意大利文學語言的形成起了相當大作用，所以也是對文藝復興運動起了先行者的作用。
主要作品
意大利出品的歐元上的但丁像但丁的著名作品有：
愛情詩歌《新生》
哲學詩歌《宴會》
抒情詩《詩句集》
長詩《神麯》
拉丁文文章《俗語論》
政論文《王國論》
拉丁文詩歌《牧歌》
但丁的被收集的《書信集》
《神麯》介紹
《神麯》代表了中世紀文學和最高成就，這樣一部劃時代的巨著得以産生，是與當時意大利的社會狀況、詩人所具有的深厚學識和獨特的個人經歷分不開的。
但丁生活的時代，已不同於是世紀前期歐洲社會發展相對緩慢、工商業極不發達、基督教完全壟斷意識形態的狀況。13世紀時，意大利北部的熱那亞、威尼斯、佛羅倫薩、米蘭等地，由於海上貿易和工商業的蓬勃發展，成為歐洲最富庶的地區。
早期資産階級日益強大，並建立了城邦共和國，取得了自治權。儘管與整個歐洲甚至與意大利其他大部分地區比較而言，這衹是資産階級取得的小小的勝利，但它卻對社會現實和歐洲的歷史進程産生了深刻的影響。但丁在政治傾嚮上，就是與意大利的資産階級相一致的。
當時的意大利，並不是今天意義上的統一國傢，而衹是一個四分五裂的地域名稱，經濟的發展也極不平衡。政治上主宰意大利的， 主要有兩大勢力， 一為神聖羅馬帝國皇帝，一為羅馬教皇。所謂的“神聖羅馬帝車”，是中世紀中期遺留下來的一個歷史名稱。
962年，又紅又專當時的教皇約翰十二世為德國國王奧托一世（936—973在位）加冕， 封其為“神聖羅馬帝國皇帝，”領有意大利。 因此， 歷任帝國皇帝，均為日耳曼血統。由於德國本身內亂不息，其國王衹是勢力或強或弱的封建主，統治中心一直在德國，對意大利的控製也時緊時鬆。羅馬教皇則一直把意大利視作自己的勢力範圍，與帝國皇帝矛盾重重。意大利人民希望國傢統一，而教皇與皇帝的鬥爭及他們各自的野心則是統一的障礙。他們采取分而治之的政策，唯恐統一的意大利對其統治構成危脅。錯綜復雜的矛盾，使意大利的政治生活異常活躍，政敵之産的對産，不同階級間的利益衝突， 常以極為殘酷的形式表現出來。 但丁就是政治迫害的見證人之一。
從文化領域看，基督教的嚴密控製，到12世紀時已顯出辦不從心。在其神學探討過程中，常需藉助柏拉圖、亞裏士多德等古希臘哲學有的觀念與邏輯論證方法，證明和論述神的存在及屬性，闡述塵世與彼岸的關係。
12世紀後，更是出現了越來越多的古希臘羅馬時期著作的匯編。教會的本意是為自己的神學理論尋找方法論和依據，但研究者們卻從中發現了與基督教理論完全不同的另一重文化境界。意大利出現了西歐最早的一批古典學者，但丁就是其中最博學者之一。
但丁生於佛羅倫薩一個城市貴族之傢，其父因傢道中落，長期經商。當時該城有代表封建貴族利益、支持羅馬教皇的基白林黨和支持神聖羅馬帝國皇帝、代表資産階級利益的貴爾夫黨。但丁的父親自然擁戴貴爾夫黨，而但丁本人後來則成為該黨的領袖之一。
但丁早年曾師從著名學者布魯內托·拉蒂尼，係統學習拉丁文、修辭學、詩學和古典文學，對羅馬大詩人維吉爾推崇備至。在繪畫、音樂領域，但丁也造詣不凡。此外，但丁精心研究神學和哲學，古代教父聖·奧古斯丁的思想對他影響尤深。
但丁有過一次刻骨銘心的愛情，在其文學創作中留下了不可磨滅的烙印。那是在他的少年時代，他隨父參加友人聚會，遇上一位名叫貝阿特麗齊的未滿8歲的少女。少女的端莊、貞淑與優雅的氣質令但丁對她一見鐘情，再不能忘。遺憾的是貝阿特麗齊後來遵從父命嫁予他人，婚後數年竟因病夭亡。 哀傷不已的但丁將自己幾年來陸續寫給貝阿特麗齊的三十一首抒情詩以散文相連綴， 取名《新生》（1292—1293）結集出版。詩中抒發了詩人對少女深摯的感情，純真的愛戀和綿綿無盡的思念，風格清新自然，細膩委婉。
這部詩集是當時意大利文壇上“溫柔的新體”詩派的重要作品之一，也是西歐文學史上第一部剖露心跡，公開隱秘情感的自傳性詩作。
早在青年時期，但丁就以激昂的政治熱情了貴爾夫黨，投身反對封建貴族的鬥爭，並參加了粉碎基白林黨的戰鬥。貴爾夫黨在佛羅倫薩掌權後，但丁被選為該城行政官。該黨後又分裂為黑白兩黨，但丁屬於白黨，反對羅馬教皇對佛羅倫薩的干涉。教皇夥同法國軍隊支持黑黨於1302年擊敗白黨，掌握了政權，開始清洗白黨成員。但丁被沒收全部傢産，判處終身流放，自此再未回到故鄉，直至客死於拉文那。
曾有學者將但丁與我國的屈原相比，謂屈原被逐乃賦《離騷》，但丁流放纔有《神麯》。如果從兩位詩人在顛沛流離過程中的精神境界不斷升發，憂國憂民癡心不改的角度看，這種比附是有道理的。二十年的流放使但丁對意大利社會的現實有了更深切的瞭解，逐漸將自己的命運融合於對民族前途的深沉思考之中。
流放初年，但丁曾寫了《饗宴》（1304—1307）和《論俗語》兩書，前者希望以道德和知識消除各城邦之間與城邦內部各派之間的傾軋、攻伐；後者則批駁衹重拉丁語、輕視意大利語的傾嚮。這不僅表明但丁超越了狹隘的黨派偏見，以理性意識思考民族現實與未來的胸襟，而且顯示出他對民族語言文化的重視，這結意大利文學的發展意義深遠。
但丁有詩人的柔腸與激情，也有學者的銳利與智慧，他是當時最傑出的語言學家之一，又是在時代激流中衝浪的政治傢，這是博大精深的《神麯》問世的基礎。
《神麯》（1307—1321）是但丁於流放期間歷時十四年完成的長篇詩作，原名為“喜劇”。中世紀時，人們對“喜劇”的解釋與今人不同，其意為結局令人喜悅的故事。1555年後，人們在原書名前加上修飾語“神聖的”，既表示對詩人的崇敬，亦暗指此詩主題之莊嚴深奧，意境之巍峨崇高。在我國，則將書名譯為“神麯”。
《神麯》全詩長一萬四千二百三十三行，分為3部，每部33篇，詩句三行一段，連鎖押韻（aba,bcb,cdc,……），象徵聖父聖子聖靈三位一體。前加1篇序詩，共100篇，表示“完全中的完全”。由《地獄》、《煉獄》和《天堂》三部分構成，各篇長短大致相等，每部也基本相等（地獄4720行；煉獄4755行；天堂4758行），每部都以“群星”（stelle）一詞結束。它是但丁幻遊三界的神奇描述。詩人自敘在大赦聖年的1300年春天，正當自己35歲的人生中途。是年 4月 8日， 詩人迷失於一座黑暗的森林之中， 正當他努力嚮山峰攀登時，唯一的出口又被象徵淫欲、強暴和貪婪的母豹、雄獅和母狼攔住去路。詩人驚慌不已，進退維𠔌。值此危急關頭，羅馬大詩人維吉爾突然出現， 他受已成為天使的但丁精神上的戀人貝阿特麗齊之托， 救但丁脫離險境，並遊歷地獄和煉獄。在維吉爾的帶領下，但丁首先進入地獄，但見陰風怒號，惡浪翻涌，其情可怖，其景驚心。地獄分九層，狀如漏鬥，越往下越小。 居住於此的， 都是生前犯有重罪之人。他們的靈魂依罪孽之輕重，被安排在不同層面中受永罰。這裏有貪官污吏、偽君子、邪惡的教皇、買賣聖職者、盜賊、淫媒、誣告犯、高利貸者，也有貪色、貪吃、易怒的邪教徒。詩人最痛恨賣國賊和背主之人，把他們放在第九層，凍在冰湖裏，受酷刑折磨。
從冰湖之底穿過地球中心，就來到了煉獄。煉獄是大海中的一座孤山，也分九層。這裏是有罪的靈魂洗滌罪孽之地，待罪惡煉淨後，仍有望進入天堂。悔悟晚了的罪人不得入內，衹能在山門外長期苦等。煉獄各層中分別住着兒以驕、妒、怒、惰、貪、食、色等基督教“七罪”中罪過較輕者的靈魂。但丁一層層遊歷，最後來到頂層的地上樂園，維吉爾隨即離去。原來他尚夫資格進入天堂，衹能在“候判所”等待。此時天空彩霞萬道，祥雲繚繞。在繽紛的花雨中，頭戴橄欖葉桂冠、身着狸紅長裙，披着潔白輕紗的貝阿特麗齊緩緩降臨。貝阿特麗齊一邊溫柔地責備詩人不該迷誤於象徵罪惡的森林，一邊指引他飽覽各處勝境。在她指點下，但丁進入“忘川”，頓覺身心一爽，忘卻了往昔的痛苦，隨後貝阿特麗齊帶他進入天堂。
天堂共有九重天，即月球天、水星天、金星天、太陽天、火星天、木星天、土星天、恆星天和水晶天，天使們就住在這裏，能入天堂者都是生前的義人，英明的君主、學界的聖徒和虔誠的教士，才能在此享受永恆的幸福。天堂氣象宏偉莊嚴，流光溢彩，充滿仁愛和歡樂。在第八重天，但丁接受了三位聖人關於“信、望、愛”神學三美德的詢問，頓感神魂超拔，跟隨聖人培納多進入神秘明麗的蒼穹，欲一窺“三位一體”的深刻意義，但見金光一閃，幻想和全詩在極樂的氣氛中戛然而止。
今天的讀者看《神麯》，常覺其內容龐雜、情節離奇，意義晦暗不明，這是因為不熟悉此書的中世紀文化背景所致。實際上，《神麯》結構嚴謹，情節服從於全詩的主題，其中的人物、場景均有所指。這裏我們僅從大的方面來談談有關問題。但丁對當時的羅馬教皇卜尼法西八世和已故的一些罪惡滔天的教皇切齒痛恨，對宗教蒙昧主認也持鮮明的否定態度，但他並沒有否定基督教信仰。寫於1309年的《帝製論》第三捲最後一章，是理解《神麯》的一把鑰匙。但丁認為，人生有兩種幸福：“今生的幸福在於個人行善；永生的幸福在於蒙受神恩”。“此生的幸福以人間天國為象徵，永生的幸福以天上王國為象徵。 此生幸福須在哲學 （包括一切人類知識）的指導下，通過道德與知識的實踐而達到。永生的幸福則須在啓示的指導下，通過神學之德（信德、望德、愛德）的實踐而達到”。這其實是奧古斯丁在《上帝之城》中提出的“人間天國”與“天上王國”的翻版。在《神麯》中，但丁精心安排了兩個人物作為自己的導師，一為象徵理性、知識的維吉爾，一為象徵信仰、虔敬的貝阿特麗齊。我們在前面曾講過，基督教認為人人都是罪人，因此，地獄、煉獄中所囚之人，都是有罪的靈魂，區別衹在罪的性質不同，罪的輕重不一，他們都是現實社會中各色人等的體現。 天堂中的人是經過煉獄活盡罪惡後的靈魂， 可以與神同享榮耀。但丁在進入煉獄之前，天使用利刃在其額頭刻下七個象徵罪惡的 “P”字（意大利語中“罪過”一詞的首字母），詩人在煉獄中每登上一層，既有一位天使將 “P”字抹去一個，及至走出煉獄山，七個 “P”字全被抹去，表明罪惡已清，可上天堂上。地獄、煉獄和天堂分別對位應着“人間天國”和“天上王國”。象徵理性的維吉爾衹能“人間天國”裏充當詩人的引路者，象徵信仰的貝阿特麗齊纔有資格帶領詩人進入“天上王國”。這清楚地說明，但丁是將信仰置於理性之上的。《神麯》的主題，意在探索詩人自身、意大利民族，乃至人類的未來命運，但丁的結論是，意大利民族和整個人類必須在信仰的啓示下，以理性規範行為，實行道德完善和精神境界的不斷超越，才能與最高真理合一，獲得光明的前途。但丁筆下天堂的九重天結構，則是以被教會接受的托勒密天體論為依據的，詩中所謂的“永久的輪盤”，正是托勒密關於宇宙是由同一軸心上的九重天構成的球面體理論的寫照。
作為新舊交替時期的詩人，但丁不可能不接受中世紀文化的洗禮，但《神麯》中表現出的深刻批判精神和新思想的萌芽，則使詩人成為文藝復興新時期既將到來的預言者。但丁結古希臘、羅馬的先賢如柏拉圖、亞裏士多德、荷馬、維吉爾等人由衷地贊佩，肯定這些異教時期燦爛文化的代表者，肯定知識和理性精神，客觀上就批判了中世紀的文化專製主義和蒙昧主義，儘管作為一個基督徒，但丁不可能將他們直接安排進天堂，但卻把這些"高貴的"異教徒放進地獄中一個毫不受苦的美麗幽靜之處。但丁還同情為愛情而遭慘殺在地獄中受苦的保羅和弗蘭采斯加，批判了教會的禁欲主義。長詩多處流露出期待結束黨派紛爭， 實現民族統一的強烈願望， 對祖國的摯愛，常使詩人情不自禁。在《地獄》第六歌中，四分五裂的意大利引發了但丁無限的痛惜之情：
唉，奴隸般的意大利， 你哀痛之逆旅， 你這暴風雨中沒有舵手的孤舟，你不再是各省的主婦，而是妓院！……你的活疾的人民住在你裏面，沒有一天不發生戰爭，為一座城墻和一條城壕圍住的人卻自相殘殺。你這可憐蟲啊！你嚮四下裏看看你國土的濱岸，然後再望你的腹地，有沒有一塊享受和平幸福的土地。
對民族傢園現實的哀嘆，隨即轉變為對禍國殃民者的憤怒。但丁揭露一些教皇幹預世俗政治和對權利的貪欲，是民族不和城邦紛爭的罪魁禍首。在地獄中遇到尼古拉三世教皇的靈魂，詩人痛斥：“因為你的貪婪使世界陷入悲慘，把好人蹂躪，把惡人提升”。卜尼法斯八世教皇當時尚在人間，詩人卻在獄中為他找好了位置，倒栽於石穴中受火刑的懲罰。但丁還抨擊腐敗的教會勢力， 藉使徒彼得之品將貪財敗德的主教們比喻為 “穿着牧人衣服的貪狼”。詩人鄙視那些喪失原則，在激烈的政治鬥爭中見風使舵的政客，為此在地獄第一層外為他們的靈魂專設一個長廊。這些人連地獄都不肯收容，在長廊裏被無數大黃峰蟄刺，被狂風吹得飄來蕩去。實際上，儘管《神麯》采用了夢幻的形式，它的具體描繪--特別是在《地獄》篇中--都是當時意大利社會現實的縮影。
《神麯》在藝術上取得了極高的成就，是中世紀文學哺育出的瑰寶。詩人藉助基督教救贖觀念和地獄、煉獄、天堂三界的神學教義結構全詩，將紛繁復雜的素材納入嚴謹的構架之中。長詩自然地分為三部，每部三十三篇，加序詩一篇，共100篇。每3行分節，各部詩行也大致相符等，不僅工整、勻稱，結構本身也富有象徵含義。詩中的許多人物雖然是但丁筆下的鬼魂，但由於均有現實依據，因此寫得血肉豐滿，性格鮮明，令讀者難以忘懷。詩人繼承了先知文學和啓示文學的傳統，將澎湃的激情與匪夷所思的幻想相結合，將對現實的評判與對“天國”誠摯的信仰相結合，展示出詩人驚人的想象力，把以夢幻、寓意、象徵為特點的中世紀文學藝術推嚮了高峰。
另外但丁也是大傢都熟悉的“《鬼泣》係列”歷代主人公。他繼承傳說中的惡魔獵人斯巴達的血脈。曾經為了人類，打敗了魔界的帝王，把整個魔界封印起來。在佛爾德納（フォルトゥナ）的但丁屠殺魔劍教團的人，和尼祿是敵對關係。
關於“舊橋”（ponte vecchio）和但丁的愛情
貫穿全城的阿爾諾河上，橫跨着很多座造型優美的古橋，每座古橋都記錄着一個昔日的傳說。最為知名的是位於三聖橋下邊的“舊橋”（ponte vecchio），那是阿爾諾河上的唯一的廊橋，像一條“空中走廊”，把烏菲齊美術館和比蒂宮連成一體。這座飽經滄桑的老橋建於古羅馬時期，1177和1333年曾兩次受到洪水侵襲，衹剩下兩個大理石橋墩。現在這座造型典雅的三拱廊橋是1345年在原有的橋墩上重建而成，橋面過道兩側坐落着三層錯落有緻的樓房，橋面的中段兩側留有約20米寬的空間作為觀景臺，這一別開生面的設計使得整個大橋顯得奔放而和諧。1944年夏天，在第二次世界大戰中，阿爾諾河上的十座古橋中的其它九座都被納粹軍隊炸毀了，唯獨“舊橋”安然無恙。
不過，這座古橋之所以出名並不全在於它古老而傳奇的歷史，更重要的原因是這裏曾經演繹過另一個版本的“廊橋遺夢”，而它的主人公正是被世人所仰慕的偉大詩人但丁。
那是一個春光明媚的上午，陽光灑在阿爾諾河上，波光閃閃，把河上的廊橋（那時的老橋還是古羅馬時期的模樣，橋面和橋廊都是木料所搭）和橋畔的行人映襯得更加光彩奪目。一位高貴而美麗的8歲少女在侍女的陪伴下嚮老橋走來。此時，但丁正從廊橋的另一頭迎着8歲少女走上廊橋，兩人在橋上不期而遇。但丁凝視着8歲少女，既驚喜又悵然；而8歲少女卻手持鮮花，雙目直視前方，徑直從但丁身邊走過，仿佛沒有看見但丁。但她的眼裏放射出的異樣的光芒和臉上泛起的潮紅卻透露出少女情動的信息。
這是著名畫傢亨利·豪裏達在他的油畫《但丁與貝特麗絲邂逅》中所描繪的但丁與貝特麗絲相遇並一見鐘情的情景。畫中手持鮮花的少女就是詩人但丁的夢中情人貝特麗絲。
其實，這幅油畫所描繪的僅僅是但丁初戀的開始。貝特麗絲最終並沒有嫁給但丁，在但丁第二次見到她時，她已被迫嫁給了一位伯爵，不久就夭亡了。貝特麗絲帶走了但丁的夢想，也把美麗和哀傷留給了但丁。但丁是個對愛情矢志不渝的人，他一直愛戀着她，永志一生。這樣的哀傷和思念，成就了他早年詩作《新生》。
但丁在《新生》中抒發了自己對貝特麗絲的一片純真的愛戀之心後，繼而將他的戀人描繪成追求天國真理的化身，她的靈魂飛嚮天空，得到了新生。即便到了晚年，但丁對貝特麗絲的那份執着依然難以釋懷，他在《神麯》中，又把貝特麗絲描繪成集真善美於一身、引導他進入天堂的女神，以此來寄托他對貝特麗絲的美好情感。愛情催生了《新生》，《新生》又為他晚年創作《神麯》作了情感和素材的準備。而這一切都源於“廊橋”的一次邂逅。正是在“廊橋”的這一次相遇造就了但丁“中世紀最後一位詩人，同時也是新時代最初一位偉大的詩人”之地位，同時也造就了曠世詩作《神麯》。
順便說一下但丁也是大傢都熟悉的“《鬼泣》係列”歷代主人公。他繼承傳說中的惡魔獵人斯巴達的血脈。曾經為了人類，打敗了魔界的帝王，把整個魔界封印起來。在佛爾德納（フォルトゥナ）的但丁屠殺魔劍教團的人，和尼祿是敵對關係。
The exact date of Dante's birth is unknown, although it is generally believed to be around 1265. This can be deduced from self biographic allusions in La Vita Nuova, "the Inferno" (Halfway through the journey we are living, implying that Dante was around 35 years old, as the average lifespan according to the Bible (Psalms, 89, 10) is 70 years, and as the imaginary travel took place in the 1300 Dante must have been born around 1265). Some verses of "the Paradise" also provide information about the day he was born, stating that he was born under the Gemini sign, ie. the period between the 21st of May and the 21st of June ("As I revolved with the eternal twins, I saw revealed from hills to river outlets, the threshing-floor that makes us so ferocious", Paradise XXII 151-154)
Mural of Dante in the Uffizi Gallery, by Andrea del Castagno, c. 1450.Dante pretended that his family descended from the ancient Romans (Inferno, XV, 76), but the earliest relative he could mention by name was Cacciaguida degli Elisei (Paradiso, XV, 135), of no earlier than about 1100. Dante's father, Alighiero di Bellincione, was a White Guelph (see politics section) who suffered no reprisals after the Ghibellines won the Battle of Montaperti in the mid 13th century. This suggests that Alighiero or his family enjoyed some protective prestige and status.
Dante's family was prominent in Florence, with loyalties to the Guelphs, a political alliance that supported the Papacy and which was involved in complex opposition to the Ghibellines, who were backed by the Holy Roman Emperor. The poet's mother was Bella degli Abati. She died when Dante was not yet ten years old, and Alighiero soon married again, to Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. It is uncertain whether he really married her, as widowers had social limitations in these matters. This woman definitely bore two children, Dante's brother Francesco and sister Tana (Gaetana). When Dante was 12, in 1277, he was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati, daughter of Messer Manetto Donati. Contracting marriages at this early age was quite common and involved a formal ceremony, including contracts signed before a notary. Dante had already fallen in love with another girl, Beatrice Portinari (known also as Bice). Years after his marriage to Gemma he met Beatrice again. He had become interested in writing verse, and although he wrote several sonnets to Beatrice, he never mentioned his wife Gemma in any of his poems.
Dante fought in the front rank of the Guelph cavalry at the battle of Campaldino (June 11, 1289). This victory brought forth a reformation of the Florentine constitution. To take any part in public life, one had to be enrolled in one of “the arts”. So Dante entered the guild of physicians and apothecaries. In following years, his name is frequently found recorded as speaking or voting in the various councils of the republic.
Dante had several children with Gemma. As often happens with significant figures, many people subsequently claimed to be Dante's offspring; however, it is likely that Jacopo, Pietro, Giovanni, Gabrielle Alighieri, and Antonia were truly his children. Antonia became a nun with the name of Sister Beatrice.
Education and poetry
Not much is known about Dante's education, and it is presumed he studied at home. It is known that he studied Tuscan poetry, at a time when the Sicilian School (Scuola poetica siciliana), a cultural group from Sicily, was becoming known in Tuscany. His interests brought him to discover the Occitan poetry of the troubadours and the Latin poetry of classical antiquity (with a particular devotion to Virgil).
During the "Secoli Bui" (Dark Ages), Italy had become a mosaic of small states, Sicily being the largest one, at the time under the Angevine dominations, and as far (culturally and politically) from Tuscany as Occitania was: the regions did not share a language, culture, or easy communications. Nevertheless, we can assume that Dante was a keen up-to-date intellectual with international interests.
Statue of Dante at the Uffizi, Florence.When he was nine years old he met Beatrice Portinari, daughter of Folco Portinari, with whom he fell in love "at first sight", and apparently without even having spoken to her. He saw her frequently after age 18, often exchanging greetings in the street, but he never knew her well; he effectively set the example for the so-called "courtly love". It is hard now to understand what this love actually comprised, but something extremely important for Italian culture was happening. It was in the name of this love that Dante gave his imprint to the Stil Novo and would lead poets and writers to discover the themes of Love (Amore), which had never been so emphasized before. Love for Beatrice (as in a different manner Petrarch would show for his Laura) would apparently be the reason for poetry and for living, together with political passions. In many of his poems, she is depicted as semi-divine, watching over him constantly. When Beatrice died in 1290, Dante tried to find a refuge in Latin literature. The Convivio reveals that he had read Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae and Cicero's De amicitia. He then dedicated himself to philosophical studies at religious schools like the Dominican one in Santa Maria Novella. He took part in the disputes that the two principal mendicant orders (Franciscan and Dominican) publicly or indirectly held in Florence, the former explaining the doctrine of the mystics and of Saint Bonaventure, the latter presenting Saint Thomas Aquinas' theories. This "excessive" passion for philosophy would later be criticized by the character Beatrice, in Purgatorio, the second book of the Comedy.
At 18, Dante met Guido Cavalcanti, Lapo Gianni, Cino da Pistoia, and soon after Brunetto Latini; together they became the leaders of Dolce Stil Novo ("The Sweet New Style"). Brunetto later received a special mention in the Divine Comedy (Inferno, XV, 28), for what he had taught Dante. Nor speaking less on that account, I go With Ser Brunetto, and I ask who are His most known and most eminent companions. Some fifty poetical components by Dante are known (the so-called Rime, rhymes), others being included in the later Vita Nuova and Convivio. Other studies are reported, or deduced from Vita Nuova or the Comedy, regarding painting and music.
Florence and politics
Dante, like most Florentines of his day, was embroiled in the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict. He fought in the battle of Campaldino (June 11, 1289), with the Florentine Guelphs against Arezzo Ghibellines, then in 1294 he was among the escorts of Charles Martel d'Anjou (son of Charles of Anjou) while he was in Florence.
To further his political career, he became a pharmacist. He did not intend to actually practice as one, but a law issued in 1295 required that nobles who wanted public office had to be enrolled in one of the Corporazioni delle Arti e dei Mestieri, so Dante obtained admission to the apothecaries' guild. This profession was not entirely inapt, since at that time books were sold from apothecaries' shops. As a politician, he accomplished little, but he held various offices over a number of years in a city undergoing political unrest.
After defeating the Ghibellines, the Guelphs divided into two factions: the White Guelphs (Guelfi Bianchi) — Dante's party, led by Vieri dei Cerchi — and the Black Guelphs (Guelfi Neri), led by Corso Donati. Although initially the split was along family lines, ideological differences rose based on opposing views of the papal role in Florentine affairs, with the Blacks supporting the Pope and the Whites wanting more freedom from Rome. Initially the Whites were in power and expelled the Blacks.
In response, Pope Boniface VIII planned a military occupation of Florence. In 1301, Charles de Valois, brother of Philip the Fair king of France, was expected to visit Florence because the Pope had appointed him peacemaker for Tuscany. But the city's government had treated the Pope's ambassadors badly a few weeks before, seeking independence from papal influence. It was believed that Charles de Valois would eventually have received other unofficial instructions. So the council sent a delegation to Rome to ascertain the Pope's intentions. Dante was one of the delegates.
Exile and death
A recreated death mask of Dante Alighieri (in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence).Boniface quickly dismissed the other delegates and asked Dante alone to remain in Rome. At the same time (November 01, 1301), Charles de Valois entered Florence with Black Guelphs, who in the next six days destroyed much of the city and killed many of their enemies. A new Black Guelph government was installed and Messer Cante dei Gabrielli di Gubbio was appointed Podestà of Florence. Dante was condemned to exile for two years, and ordered to pay a large fine. The poet was still in Rome, where the Pope had "suggested" he stay, and was therefore considered an absconder. He did not pay the fine, in part because he believed he was not guilty, and in part because all his assets in Florence had been seized by the Black Guelphs. He was condemned to perpetual exile, and if he returned to Florence without paying the fine, he could be burned at the stake. (The city council of Florence finally passed a motion rescinding Dante's sentence in June 2008.)
The poet took part in several attempts by the White Guelphs to regain power, but these failed due to treachery. Dante, bitter at the treatment he received from his enemies, also grew disgusted with the infighting and ineffectiveness of his erstwhile allies, and vowed to become a party of one. At this point, he began sketching the foundation for the Divine Comedy, a work in 100 cantos, divided into three books of thirty-three cantos each, with a single introductory canto.
Statue of Dante in the Piazza di Santa Croce in Florence.He went to Verona as a guest of Bartolomeo I della Scala, then moved to Sarzana in Liguria. Later, he is supposed to have lived in Lucca with Madame Gentucca, who made his stay comfortable (and was later gratefully mentioned in Purgatorio, XXIV, 37). Some speculative sources say that he was also in Paris between 1308 and 1310. Other sources, even less trustworthy, take him to Oxford.
In 1310, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg, marched 5,000 troops into Italy. Dante saw in him a new Charlemagne who would restore the office of the Holy Roman Emperor to its former glory and also re-take Florence from the Black Guelphs. He wrote to Henry and several Italian princes, demanding that they destroy the Black Guelphs. Mixing religion and private concerns, he invoked the worst anger of God against his city, suggesting several particular targets that coincided with his personal enemies. It was during this time that he wrote the first two books of the Divine Comedy.
In Florence, Baldo d'Aguglione pardoned most of the White Guelphs in exile and allowed them to return; however, Dante had gone too far in his violent letters to Arrigo (Henry VII), and he was not recalled.
The memorial tomb for Dante Alighieri at Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence.In 1312, Henry assaulted Florence and defeated the Black Guelphs, but there is no evidence that Dante was involved. Some say he refused to participate in the assault on his city by a foreigner; others suggest that he had become unpopular with the White Guelphs too and that any trace of his passage had carefully been removed. In 1313, Henry VII died, and with him any hope for Dante to see Florence again. He returned to Verona, where Cangrande I della Scala allowed him to live in a certain security and, presumably, in a fair amount of prosperity. Cangrande was admitted to Dante's Paradise (Paradiso, XVII, 76).
Dante's tomb in Ravenna, built in 1780.In 1315, Florence was forced by Uguccione della Faggiuola (the military officer controlling the town) to grant an amnesty to people in exile, including Dante. But Florence required that as well as paying a sum of money, these exiles would do public penance. Dante refused, preferring to remain in exile. When Uguccione defeated Florence, Dante's death sentence was commuted to house arrest, on condition that he go to Florence to swear that he would never enter the town again. Dante refused to go. His death sentence was confirmed and extended to his sons. Dante still hoped late in life that he might be invited back to Florence on honourable terms. For Dante, exile was nearly a form of death, stripping him of much of his identity. He addresses the pain of exile in Paradiso, XVII (55-60), where Cacciaguida, his great-great-grandfather, warns him what to expect:
... Tu lascerai ogne cosa diletta "... You shall leave everything you love most:
più caramente; e questo è quello strale this is the arrow that the bow of exile
che l'arco de lo essilio pria saetta. shoots first. You are to know the bitter taste
Tu proverai sì come sa di sale of others' bread, how salty it is, and know
lo pane altrui, e come è duro calle how hard a path it is for one who goes
lo scendere e 'l salir per l'altrui scale... ascending and descending others' stairs..."
As for the hope of returning to Florence, he describes it wistfully, as if he had already accepted its impossibility, (Paradiso, XXV, 1–9):
Se mai continga che 'l poema sacro If it ever come to pass that the sacred poem
al quale ha posto mano e cielo e terra, to which both heaven and earth have set their hand
sì che m'ha fatto per molti anni macro, so as to have made me lean for many years
vinca la crudeltà che fuor mi serra should overcome the cruelty that bars me
del bello ovile ov'io dormi' agnello, from the fair sheepfold where I slept as a lamb,
nimico ai lupi che li danno guerra; an enemy to the wolves that make war on it,
con altra voce omai, con altro vello with another voice now and other fleece
ritornerò poeta, e in sul fonte I shall return a poet and at the font
del mio battesmo prenderò 'l cappello... of my baptism take the laurel crown...
Of course it never happened. Prince Guido Novello da Polenta invited him to Ravenna in 1318, and he accepted. He finished the Paradiso, and died in 1321 (at the age of 56) while returning to Ravenna from a diplomatic mission to Venice, perhaps of malaria contracted there. Dante was buried in Ravenna at the Church of San Pier Maggiore (later called San Francesco). Bernardo Bembo, praetor of Venice in 1483, took care of his remains by building a better tomb.
Cenotaph in Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence.On the grave, some verses of Bernardo Canaccio, a friend of Dante, dedicated to Florence:
parvi Florentia mater amoris
"Florence, mother of little love"
Eventually, Florence came to regret Dante's exile, and made repeated requests for the return of his remains. The custodians of the body at Ravenna refused to comply, at one point going so far as to conceal the bones in a false wall of the monastery. Nevertheless, in 1829, a tomb was built for him in Florence in the basilica of Santa Croce. That tomb has been empty ever since, with Dante's body remaining in Ravenna, far from the land he loved so dearly. The front of his tomb in Florence reads Onorate l'altissimo poeta - which roughly translates as "Honour the most exalted poet". The phrase is a quote from the fourth canto of the Inferno, depicting Virgil's welcome as he returns among the great ancient poets spending eternity in Limbo. The continuation of the line, L'ombra sua torna, ch'era dipartita ("his spirit, which had left us, returns"), is poignantly absent from the empty tomb.
Recently, a recreation of Dante's face was made, showing that his features were much more ordinary than once thought.
Works
Dante, poised between the mountain of purgatory and the city of Florence, displays the famous incipit Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita in a detail of Domenico di Michelino's painting, Florence 1465.See also Category:Works by Dante Alighieri.
The Divine Comedy describes Dante's journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso), guided first by the Roman poet Virgil and then by Beatrice, the subject of his love and of another of his works, La Vita Nuova. While the vision of Hell, the Inferno, is vivid for modern readers, the theological niceties presented in the other books require a certain amount of patience and knowledge to appreciate. Purgatorio, the most lyrical and human of the three, also has the most poets in it; Paradiso, the most heavily theological, has the most beautiful and ecstatic mystic passages in which Dante tries to describe what he confesses he is unable to convey (e.g., when Dante looks into the face of God: "all'alta fantasia qui mancò possa" - "at this high moment, ability failed my capacity to describe," Paradiso, XXXIII, 142).
Dante wrote the Comedy in a new language he called "Italian", based on the regional dialect of Tuscany, with some elements of Latin and of the other regional dialects. By creating a poem of epic structure and philosophic purpose, he established that the Italian language was suitable for the highest sort of expression. In French, Italian is nicknamed la langue de Dante. Publishing in the vernacular language marked Dante as one of the first (among others such as Geoffrey Chaucer and Giovanni Boccaccio) to break from standards of publishing in only Latin (the languages of liturgy, history, and scholarship in general). This break allowed more literature to be published for a wider audience - setting the stage for greater levels of literacy in the future.
Profile portrait of Dante, by Sandro Botticelli (1444–1510).Readers often cannot understand how such a serious work may be called a "comedy". In Dante's time, all serious scholarly works were written in Latin (a tradition that would persist for several hundred years more, until the waning years of the Enlightenment) and works written in any other language were assumed to be more trivial in nature. Furthermore, the word "comedy," in the classical sense, refers to works which reflect belief in an ordered universe, in which events not only tended towards a happy or "amusing" ending, but an ending influenced by a Providential will that orders all things to an ultimate good. By this meaning of the word, the progression of Dante's pilgrimage from Hell to Paradise is the paradigmatic expression of comedy, since the work begins with the pilgrim's moral confusion and ends with the vision of God.
Dante's other works include the Convivio ("The Banquet") a collection of his longest poems with an (unfinished) allegorical commentary; Monarchia,, which was condemned and burned after Dante's death by the Papal Legate Bertrando del Poggetto and which serves as a monumental political philosophy treatise describing a monarchial global political organization and its relationship to the Roman Catholic Church; De vulgari eloquentia ("On the Eloquence of Vernacular"), on vernacular literature, partly inspired by the Razos de trobar of Raimon Vidal de Bezaudun; and, La Vita Nuova ("The New Life"), the story of his love for Beatrice Portinari, who also served as the ultimate symbol of salvation in the Comedy. The Vita Nuova contains many of Dante's love poems in Tuscan, which was not unprecedented; the vernacular had been regularly used for lyric works before, during all the thirteenth century. However, Dante's commentary on his own work is also in the vernacular - both in the Vita Nuova and in the Convivio - instead of the Latin that was almost universally used.
Note: References to Divina Commedia are in the format (book, canto, verse), e.g., (Inferno, XV, 76).
Dante by Erminio Blotta, at Blvd. Oroño Rosario, Argentina
In popular culture
Main article: Dante and his Divine Comedy in popular culture
Dante and the Divine Comedy have been a source of inspiration for countless artists for almost seven centuries. As one of the best-known and greatest artistic works in the Western tradition, its influence on culture is difficult to overestimate.
References
^ Birth date is listed as "probably in the end of May" by Robert Hollander in "Dante" in Dictionary of the Middle Ages, volume 4.
^ Malcolm Moore "Dante's infernal crimes forgiven", Daily Telegraph, 17 June 2008. Retrieved on 18 June 2008.
^ Pullella, Philip. "Dante gets posthumous nose job - 700 years on", Reuters, 12 January 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-05.
^ Banquet. danteonline.it. Retrieved on May 12, 2008.
^ Anthony K. Cassell The Monarchia Controversy. The Monarchia stayed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum from its inception until 1881.
^ Giuseppe Cappelli,La divina commedia di Dante Alighieri, in Italian.
^ Dante Online - Le Opere
Published resources
Gardner, Edmund Garratt (1921). Dante, London, Pub. for the British academy by H. Milford, Oxford University Press. From Internet Archive.
Scott, John A. Dante's Political Purgatory, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996.
Whiting, Mary Bradford (1922). Dante the Man and the Poet. Cambridge, England. W. Heffer & Sons, ltd. From Internet Archive.