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Dante's Divine Comedy: An Introduction to Medieval Theology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2014

Keith J. Egan
Keith J. Egan*
Affiliation:
Marquette University
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Abstract

That the Commedia of Dante can be a stimulating initiation for undergraduates into the rich and exciting world of Medieval Theology is the conclusion of an experiment at Marquette University. The distinct advantages and some of the hazards encountered by the teacher of this course are shared in this article. Students in this experiment had the opportunity not only of becoming acquainted with the theological insights of the medieval world but were also able to enter into the discipline of Dante that integrated the tasks of poet and theologian.

Type
Creative Teaching
Information
Horizons , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , Spring 1977 , pp. 85 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © The College Theology Society 1977

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References

1 For this paper and for the last two times that this course has been taught by the author the following text was used: The Comedy of Dante Alighieri, The Florentine. 3 vols.: Hell (l'Inferno), Purgatory (Il Purgatorio), Paradise (Il Paradiso), translated by Dorothy Sayers, 3rd vol. translated by Sayers and Barbara Reynolds (Baltimore, Md.: Penguin Books, 1949, 1955, 1962).

2 Paradiso, 25:1Google Scholar.

3 Theology Department, Marquette University: 1st semester, 1972-73; 1st and 2nd semester, 1975-76.

4 Dr. James Gaffney of Loyola University, New Orleans, has indicated “very pleasant and encouraging consequences” in his use of the Commedia in undergraduate theology. Gaffney to Egan, 26 May 1976.

5 Gilson, Étienne, Dante the Philosopher, trans, by Moore, D. (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1949), p. 289, n. 2Google Scholar.

6 Mandonnet, Pierre, Dante le Théologien; introduction à l'intelligence de la vie, des oeuvres et de l'art de Dante Alighieri (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1935), p. 7Google Scholar.

7 Cf. Valensin, Auguste, Le Christianisme de Dante, “Théologie, 30” (Paris: Aubier, 1954)Google Scholar; Foster, Kenelm, “Dante as a Christian Poet,” God's Tree, Essays on Dante and Other Matters (London: Blackfriars, 1957), pp. 1–14Google Scholar; Moore, Edward, “Dante as a Religious Teacher, especially in relation to Catholic Doctrine,” Studies in Dante, 2nd Series (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899, reprinted 1968), pp. 1–78Google Scholar.

8 Inferno, 1: 1–2Google Scholar.

9 Cf. Gilson, , Dante the Philosopher, p. viiet passimGoogle Scholar. In the Commedia one can explore both Dante's Aristotelean-Thomistic leanings and his spiritual Platonism.

10 Purgatorio, 27: 139–142Google Scholar.

11 Inferno, 17: 52–57Google Scholar.

12 Ibid., 21: 97-102.

13 Gilson, Étienne, “Dante's Notion of a Shade: Purgatorio XXV,” Mediaeval Studies 29 (1967), 124–142CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14 Purgatorio, 27: 140Google Scholar.

15 Mr. Richard Peterson, doctoral student in theology at Marquette University, projects a dissertation investigating the theological meaning of holiness in the hagiographical tradition.

16 Eliot, T. S., “Dante,” Selected Essays (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1932, reprinted 1950), p. 199Google Scholar.

17 Chenu, M.-D., Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West, selected, edited and trans, by Taylor, J. and Little, L. K. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1968), pp. 146, 289, 291, 295, 301–302Google Scholar. See also Chenu, M.-D., Toward Understanding Saint Thomas, trans, by Landry, A.-M. and Hughes, D. (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1964), pp. 80ffGoogle Scholar; cf. index p. 374. Mandonnet has suggested that one might best approach the reading of the Divine Comedy by way of the four causes, that is, an understanding of medieval causality. Mandonnet, , Dante le Théologien, pp. 17–19Google Scholar.

18 Cf., e.g., Sexton, Mary Patricia, The Dante-June Correspondence (Northridge, California: Joyce Motion Picture Co., 1975)Google Scholar.

19 Lynch, Willam, Christ and Apollo; the dimensions of the literary imagination (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1960), p. 239Google Scholar quoting The Latin Works of Dante, “The Temple Classics” (London, 1934), pp. 347–348Google Scholar.

20 Pépin, Jean, Dante et la Tradition de l'Allégorie, “Conférence Albert-le Grand, 1969,” (Montréal: Inst. d'Études Médiévales, 1970)Google Scholar.

21 Egan, Keith J., “Guigo II: The Theology of the Contemplative Life,” in The Spirituality of Western Christendom, ed. by Elder, E. Rozanne (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1976), pp. 106–115, 201–202Google Scholar.

22 Purgatorio, 30. Cf. Dante's Vita Nuova, a Translation and an Essay by Musa, Mark, new ed. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1973)Google Scholar.

23 Pepin, , Dante et la Tradition de l'Allégorie, p. 4Google Scholar, quoting Boccacio, , Vita di Dante, 22Google Scholar.

24 Paradiso, 2:4Google Scholar.

25 Inferno, 34:139Google Scholar.

26 Purgatorio, 33: 145Google Scholar.

27 Paradiso, 33: 145Google Scholar.