Dante’s Divine Comedy Seminar
led by Richard Cushman
Starting late January 2023
Richard Cushman, organist and retired English professor, is offering a seminar on Dante’s Divine Comedy this Spring. This is a great chance to read and explore one of the greatest works in literature and medieval Christian thought, under the guidance of someone who loves Dante and has taught him for generations. We hope to start the later part of January and meet on Saturdays, either 10:30am or 1pm. If you are interested or want to know more info, please fill out the survey.
Among the most lasting works of literature are those which are about everything - and all at once. Among these, Dante’s Divine Comedy stands almost alone. In this enormous poem or more accurately these three poems - “Inferno”, “Purgatorio”, and “Paradiso” - Dante explores not only his life in early Renaissance Florence, but his imaginative vision of the afterlife as seen through Christian eyes. Above all, however, as Dante advances from Hell to Paradise guided by the love of Beatrice, he learns, as we do, that the great principle which unites the universe and its Creator is LOVE, "which moves the sun and all the other stars." In his vision, Dante includes and writes elements of Christian Scriptures and theology, but also the ideas, values, and even personalities of the classical world, often as perceived and understood through the lens of medieval Christian thought.
But beyond these elements, Dante also presents himself as a cosmopolitan citizen’s politician, and upper-class young man in both a private and public life.
The “Comedy”, as Dante calls it is of course a poem and, as such, it conveys its meaning through formal elements like metre, imagery, allusion and, above all, metaphor. Perhaps because of its complexity, the Comedy is best read not alone, but with a group of friends, that is my hope for this class. I like to think of an enterprise like this one as “great literature in dialogue.” Showing our response to the poem is an essential part of how we will spend our time together. Forming a community is one of the things literature does best.
We need not expend our energy in writing papers - unless you want to - or taking exams. We will read and share our responses. In the process, we will understand Dante and ourselves more clearly.
I have taught for many years in a number of places. I am really hoping for the chance to explore a profound and relevant masterpiece with you. - Richard Cushman
