Estudios 1

Estudios
http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/prologue.html#darkwood

The Dark Wood

The dark forest--selva oscura--in which Dante finds himself at the beginning of
the poem (Inf. 1.2) is described in vague terms, perhaps as an indication of the
protagonist's own disorientation. The precise nature of this disorientation--
spiritual, physical, psychological, moral, political--is itself difficult to determine
at this point and thus underscores two very important ideas for reading this
poem: first, we are encouraged to identify with Dante (the character) and
understand knowledge to be a learning process; second, the poem is carefully
structured so that we must sometimes read "backwards" from later events to
gain a fuller understanding of what happened earlier.

Characteristic of Dante's way of working, this "dark wood" is a product of the
poet's imagination likely based on ideas from various traditions. These include
the medieval Platonic image of chaotic matter--unformed, unnamed--as a type
of primordial wood (silva); the forest at the entrance to the classical underworld
(Hades) as described by Virgil (Aeneid 6.179); Augustine's association of
spiritual error (sin) with a "region of unlikeness" (Confessions 7.10); and the
dangerous forests from which the wandering knights of medieval Romances
must extricate themselves. In an earlier work (Convivio 4.24.12), Dante
imagines the bewildering period of adolescence--in which one needs guidance to
keep from losing the "good way"--as a sort of "meandering forest" (erronea
selva).

Three Beasts

The uncertain symbolism of the three beasts--a leopard (or some other lithe,
spotted animal), a lion, and a she-wolf--contributes to the shadowy
atmosphere of the opening scene. Armed with information from later episodes,
commentators often view the creatures as symbols, respectively, of the three
major divisions of Dante's hell: concupiscence (immoderate desires), violence,
and fraud (though some equate the leopard with fraud and the she-wolf with
concupiscence). Others associate them with envy, pride, and avarice. Perhaps
they carry some political meaning as well (a she-wolf nursed the legendary
founders of Rome--Romulus and Remus--and thus came to stand as a symbol of
the city). Whatever his conception, Dante likely drew inspiration for the beasts
from this biblical passage prophesying the destruction of those who refuse to
repent for their iniquities: "Wherefore a lion out of the wood hath slain them, a
wolf in the evening hath spoiled them, a leopard watcheth for their cities: every
one that shall go out thence shall be taken, because their transgressions are
multiplied, their rebellions strengthened" (Jeremiah 5:6).

It is perhaps best, at this early stage, to take note of the salient characteristics of
the animals--the leopard's spotted hide, the lion's intimidating presence, the
she-wolf's insatiable hunger--and see how they relate to subsequent events in
Dante's journey through hell.

Virgil

As guide for his character-self--at least through the first two realms of the
afterlife (hell and purgatory)--Dante chooses the classical poet he admired most.
Virgil (70-19 B.C.E.), who lived under Julius Caesar and then Augustus during
Rome's transition from republic to empire, wrote in Latin and was--he still is--
most famous for his Aeneid. This epic poem recounts the journey of Aeneas
from Troy (he is a Trojan prince)--following its destruction by the Greeks--
eventually to Italy, where he founds the line of rulers that will lead to Caesar and
the Roman empire of Virgil's day. The poem, in fact, is in one sense a
magnificent piece of political propaganda aimed at honoring the emperor
Augustus. Two episodes from Virgil's epic were of particular interest to Dante.
Book 4 tells the tragic tale of Aeneas and Dido, the queen of Carthage who kills
herself when Aeneas--her lover--abandons her to continue his journey and fulfill
his destiny by founding a new civilization in Italy. Book 6, in which Aeneas visits
the underworld to meet the shade of his father (Anchises) and learn future
events in his journey and in the history of Rome, provides key parts of the
machinery of the afterlife--primarily mythological monsters and rivers--that
Dante uses to shape his own version of the afterlife, hell in particular.

Virgil also wrote four long poems, the Georgics, which deal mostly with
agricultural themes (though they contain other important material--e.g., the
famous story of Orpheus and Eurydice in the fourth Georgic). And he wrote ten
pastoral poems (Eclogues), the fourth of which celebrates the birth of a
wonderchild and was thus commonly interpreted in the Christian Middle Ages
as a prophecy of the birth of Jesus.

Straight Way

When Dante says he has lost the "straight way"--diritta via (Inf. 1.3)--he again
leaves much to our imagination, with the result that we can perhaps relate to the
protagonist by imagining many possible meanings for this deviation from the
"straight way" (also translated as the "right way"). In medieval thought,
abandonment of the "straight way" often indicates alienation from God.
However, Dante certainly views such veering as a grand metaphor for the moral
and societal problems of his world in addition to any spiritual or psychological
issues the phrase may suggest. Dante's notion of the "straight way" appears in
all three realms of the afterlife as well as in the world of the living.

Simile

Dante uses numerous similes--comparisons usually with "as" and "so"--to help
us imagine what he claims to have seen by describing something similar that is
more likely to be familiar to us. The first simile occurs in Inferno 1.22-7. Here
Dante compares his narrow escape from danger to the experience of a man who,
after arriving safely on shore, looks back at the sea that almost claimed his life.
Look for other similes in cantos 1 and 2.

Synesthesia

Meaning a "mixing of senses," synesthesia occurs when one of the five senses is
used in a description that normally calls for one of the other senses. When
Dante says he was driven back to the place "where the sun is silent" (Inf. 1.60),
we wonder how the sun--usually associated with light and therefore sight--can
have somehow lost its voice. Look for another example of synesthesia in canto 1.
What is the effect of these strange descriptions? How do they contribute to the
overall atmosphere of the scene?

Greyhound

The greyhound (veltro) is the first of several enigmatic prophecies in the poem
to a savior figure who will come to redirect the world to the path of truth and
virtue (Inf. 1.100-11). Although Dante may be alluding to one of his political
benefactors--Cangrande, whose name means "big dog"--he probably intends for
the prophecy to remain as unspecific (and therefore tantalizingly open to
interpretation) as the three beasts and the overall atmosphere of the opening
scene.

Aeneas and Paul

Declaring himself unworthy to undertake this journey to the realms of the
afterlife, Dante compares himself unfavorably to two men who were in fact
granted such a privilege (Inf. 2.10-36). The apostle Paul claims in the Bible to
have been transported to the "third heaven" (2 Corinthians 12:2), and Aeneas
visits the underworld in book 6 of Virgil's Aeneid. These two otherworldly
travelers are linked through their association with Rome, seat of both the
empire and the church. Dante, contrary to Augustine and others, believed the
Roman empire in fact prepared the way for Christianity, with Rome as the
divinely chosen home of the Papacy.

Three Blessed Women

Similar to other epic poems, the Divine Comedy begins in medias res ("in the
middle of events"). This means something has happened prior to the opening
action that provides a catalyst for the journey. In this case, Virgil explains in
canto 2 that he was summoned to Dante's aid by Beatrice, who was herself
summoned by Lucia at the request of a woman able to alter the judgment of
heaven (Inf. 2.94-6). This last woman, who sets in motion the entire rescue
operation, can only be Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus according to Dante's
faith. "Lucia" is Saint Lucy of Syracuse, a Christian martyr closely associated
with sight and vision (her name means "light" and she was said to have gouged
out her eyes to protect her chastity). Beatrice, who will reappear as a major
figure later in the poem, was the inspiration for Dante's early love poetry (she
died in 1290 at age 24) and now plays the role of his spiritual guide as well.
Along with Virgil, these "three blessed women"--Mary, Lucia, Beatrice--thus
make possible Dante's journey to the realms of the afterlife.