Dante in Translation
- Free
- No certificate
Dante in Translation is Giuseppe Mazzotta's Fall 2008 course ITAL 310, recorded for Open Yale Courses as 24 lectures of about 75 minutes. After an introduction and a lecture on the Vita Nuova, the course reads the Divine Comedy in order, with seven lectures on Inferno, six on Purgatory and eight on Paradise, each covering a group of cantos, before a general review. The lectures set the poem in the political, philosophical and theological world of the late Middle Ages and return to themes such as ethics and aesthetics, love and knowledge, and exile and history. The syllabus names the translations used and a long list of secondary sources, none of which is required to follow the lectures.
Every session is offered as streaming or downloadable video, audio and a searchable transcript. Open Yale Courses is free and needs no registration; there is no certificate, credit or graded work. Mazzotta's later book based on the course is optional.
What you’ll learn
- Read the Vita Nuova as the poetic and political prelude to the Divine Comedy
- Follow the structure and major episodes of Inferno canto by canto
- Interpret the moral and theological design of Purgatory
- Trace the ascent through Paradise and its treatment of love and knowledge
- Place Dante's work in the intellectual and political context of the late Middle Ages
Who it’s for
Readers of the Divine Comedy in any English translation who want a canto-by-canto guide from a specialist; no Italian is needed.
Source: Yale Online (opens in a new tab) · Verified · Report a change
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