Focus: Durante Alighieri "Dante" 1265 - 1321

"Oh quanto č corto il dire e come fioco al mio concetto!
[Oh, how faint and ineffective are the words to express my idea!]"

by: Bea Tan

Pride, wrath, gluttony, envy, greed, lust, sloth. Seven deadly sins from the movie "Seven" starring Brad Pitt. Close but not quite. The seven deadly sins originated from an allegory "The Divine Comedy" written by one of the literary masters of the late Middle Ages. His name is Durante Alighieri or famously known as Dante.

Dante was a poet born in Florence, Italy on May 29, 1265. At the age of nine he met Beatrice Portinari and it was love at first sight. Although he loved Beatrice all throughout his life, he was married to another woman named Gemma Donati. Gemma was the daughter of a powerful Guelph (a political party) family. He had four children Jacopo, Pietro, Giovanni and Antonia. Dante himself was a white Guelfo. A white guelfo was in favor of the emperor while a black guelfo was in favor of the pope. The fight between the white and the black guelfo was grave. With the support of Carlo di Valois, a French prince, the black guelfo won and Dante was sentenced to two years' exile, a fine of 5,000 small florins, and disqualification from public office. Dante's failure to appear in court sentenced him to death. Under the protection of Bartolomeo della Scala he stayed in Verona but was never allowed to go back to Florence.

In the year 1290 Beatrice died, Dante went into mourning. This drove him to write a book of poems about her entitled La Vita Nuova (The New Life). The poems spoke of his devotion for Beatrice. The following lines from La Vita Nuova showed that Beatrice have been a constant inspiration of Dante.

"So that if it please Him by whom all things live to prolong my life for a few years, I hope to write of her what never yet was written of any woman."

His masterpiece "The Divine Comedy" is composed of 3 books and spoke of 3 journeys. Book 1 is entitled The Inferno and spoke of his journey to hell with another poet Virgil. Book 2 is The Purgatorio, a journey to Purgatory, where the seven deadly sins are introduced. The third book is The Paradiso where Dante guided by Beatrice journeyed into heaven. Here he praised God and all His creations. The Divine Comedy is probably his best work.

Dante is truly the greatest literary master not only in the middle ages but undoubtedly the greatest ever. And his work will continue to be acclaimed in all parts of the world and in all walks of life.