Dante's "The Divine Comedy"

Paper Summary:

This paper explores how the work combines and expresses Dante's knowledge of the classic writer Virgil, Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, and the Medieval Christian Theory, predominantly Catholicism and the Bible. The author also demonstrates how Dante addresses the subject of love.

From the Paper:

"Dante draws on Aristotle for his conception of love in the case with Beatrice, who later escorts him into Paradise. Aristotle pictures the source of the universe not as love itself, but as the simple first cause, toward which all things aspire through love. In the same way that a moth is drawn toward a flame, the planets and celestial spheres are pulled toward the perfection of the first cause, and through this desire they are moved to participate in a circular dance. When Dante speaks of "The Love which moves the sun and the other stars" in the final line of The Divine Comedy, he is referring to Aristotle's idea that cosmic desire for the first cause energizes the motion of the entire universe."

More papers on Dante's "The Divine Comedy":

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• Analytical Essay # 123562 : "'The Divine Comedy' and Piety"

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