The Ancient Flame

Winthrop Wetherbee

Description

While the structure and themes of the Divine Comedy are defined by the narrative of a spiritual pilgrimage guided by Christian truth, Winthrop Wetherbee’s remarkable new study reveals that Dante’s engagement with the great Latin poets Vergil, Ovid, Lucan, and Statius constitutes a second, complementary narrative centered on psychological and artistic self-discovery.

This fresh, illuminating approach departs from the usual treatment of classical poets in Dante criticism, which assigns them a merely allegorical function. Their true importance to Dante’s project is much greater. As Wetherbee meticulously shows, Dante’s use of the poets is grounded in an astute understanding of their historical situation and a deeply sympathetic reading of their poetry.

Dante may have been motivated to correct pagan thought and imagery, but more pervasive was his desire to recreate classical style and to restore classical auctoritas to his own times. Dante’s journey in the Commedia, beginning with the pilgrim’s assumption of a tragic view of the human condition, progresses with the great poetry of the classical past as an intrinsic component of—not just a foil to—the spiritual experience. Dante ultimately recognizes classical poetry as an essential means to his discovery of truth.

A stunning contribution by one of the nation’s leading medievalists, Wetherbee’s investigation of the poem’s classicism makes possible an ethical and spiritual but non-Christian reading of Dante, one that will spur new research and become an indispensable tool for teaching the Commedia.

Sujets

• Literary Criticism
• Medieval
• Dantista
• Edad Media
• Commedia
• General officer
• Divine Comedy
• Middle Ages
• Italian
• General
• European
• The Divine Comedy
• Dante Alighieri

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268096595
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

*4#/ *4#/

The Ancient Flame Dante A N D T H E P oets

WinthropWetherbee

T h e A n c i e n t F l a m e

T H E W I L L I A M A N D K A T H E R I N E D E V E R S S E R I E S I N D A N T E A N D M E D I E V A L I T A L I A N L I T E R A T U R E

Zygmunt G. Baran é ski, Theodore J. Cachey, Jr., and Christian Moevs, editors Simone Marchesi, associate editor Ilaria Marchesi, assistant editor —————— V O L U M E 8 Accounting for Dante: Urban Readers and Writers in Late Medieval Italy Justin Steinberg

V O L U M E 7 Experiencing the Afterlife: Soul and Body in Dante and Medieval Culture Manuele Gragnolati

V O L U M E 6 Understanding Dante John A. Scott

V O L U M E 5 Dante and the Grammar of the Nursing Body Gary P. Cestaro

V O L U M E 4 TheFioreand theDetto d’Amore:theA Late 13thCentury Italian Translation of Roman de la Rose,attributable to Dante Translated, with introduction and notes, by Santa Casciani and Christopher Kleinhenz

V O L U M E 3 The Design in the Wax: The Structure of theDivine Comedyand Its Meaning Marc Cogan

V O L U M E 2 TheFiorein Context: Dante, France, Tuscany edited by Zygmunt G. Baranski and Patrick Boyde

V O L U M E 1 Dante Now: Current Trends in Dante Studies edited by Theodore J. Cachey, Jr.

T h e F A NC I E NT LA M E

Dante and the Poets

W I N T H R O P W E T H E R B E E

University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana

Copyright © 2008 by University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 www.undpress.nd.edu All Rights Reserved

Reprinted in 2011

Designed by Wendy McMillen Set in 10.8/14.2 Dante by Four Star Books

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Wetherbee, Winthrop, 1938– The ancient flame : Dante and the poets / Winthrop Wetherbee. p. cm. — (The William and Katherine Devers series in Dante studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN13: 9780268044121 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN13: 978-0-268-09659-5(web pdf) 1. Dante Alighieri, 1265–1321— Criticism and interpretation. 2. Dante Alighieri, 1265–1321— Knowledge — Literature. I. Title. PQ4427. C53W484 2008 851'.1— dc22 2008000420

This book is printed on recycled paper.

Le passé n’est pas fugace, il reste sur place. Proust

Contents

About the William and Katherine Devers Series

Preface

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Introduction: Dante and Classical Poetry

Vergil in theInferno

Lucan and Vergil: Judgment and Poetic Authority in Dis

Cato’s Grotto

Ovid and Vergil in Purgatory

Statius

Lust, Poetry, and the Earthly Paradise

Paradiso

Bibliography

Index of Passages Discussed

General Index

ix

xi

1

25

61

97

117

159

203

227

279

291

295

a b o u t t h e w i l l i a m a n d k a t h e r i n e d e v e r s s e r i e s i n d a n t e a n d m e d i e v a l i t a l i a n l i t e r a t u r e

The William and Katherine Devers Program in Dante Studies at the University of Notre Dame supports rare book acquisitions in the university’s John A. Zahm Dante collections, funds visiting professorships, and supports electronic and print publication of scholarly research in the field. In collaboration with the Medieval Institute at the university, the Devers program initiated a series dedicated to the publication of the most significant current scholarship in the field of Dante stud- ies. In 2011, the scope of the series was expanded to encompass thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Italian literature. In keeping with the spirit that inspired the creation of the Devers program, the series takes Dante and medieval Italian literature as focal points that draw to- gether the many disciplines and lines of inquiry that constitute a cultural tradition without fixed boundaries. Accordingly, the series hopes to illuminate this cultural tradition within contemporary critical debates in the humanities by reflecting both the highest quality of scholarly achievement and the greatest diversity of critical perspectives. The series publishes works from a wide variety of disciplinary viewpoints and in diverse scholarly genres, including critical studies, commentaries, editions, reception studies, translations, and conference proceedings of exceptional im- portance. The series enjoys the support of an international advisory board com- posed of distinguished scholars and is published regularly by the University of Notre Dame Press. The Dolphin and Anchor device that appears on publications of the Devers series was used by the great humanist, grammarian, editor, and ty- pographer Aldus Manutius (1449 –1515), in whose 1502 edition of Dante (second issue) and all subsequent editions it appeared. The device illustrates the ancient proverbFestina lente,“Hurry up slowly.”

Zygmunt G. Baran ´ ski, Theodore J. Cachey, Jr., and Christian Moevs,editors