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Dante's Influence On The Divine Comedy

1565 Words7 Pages

Dante Alighieri is respected as one of the greatest poets today and through time. Born in Florence in 1265, Dante was exiled in 1302 due to political conflict. In his exile he wrote his epic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, completed just before his death in 1321 (Quinones, Dante). It has had profound influence throughout time, inspiring countless writers, artists, and sparking numerous debates throughout the years. Written at the beginning of the Renaissance, the impact of this incredible work is abundant and clear. Dante 's Divine Comedy had a profound influence on the science, vernacular and art of the Renaissance. The influence of The Divine Comedy was present in everyday Renaissance lifestyles. The Divine Comedy follows the journey of a …show more content…

Other than being prominent in Renaissance daily life, complex scientific ideas within The Divine Comedy captivated and changed the way scientists and mathematicians thought in the Renaissance. Dante incorporated new scientific ideas of the time and “popularized ideas on geometry and astronomy” (Schlager and Lauer, 326). He subtly infused cosmological ideas of Ptolemy and others (Schlager and Lauer, 326). In addition to drawing the attention of literary writers, Dante captivated a scientific audience by including complex science and math alongside meticulous writing. Scientific minds from the Renaissance drew from the complex themes. Ergo, scientific discoveries were promoted and influenced by the ideas of science in The Divine Comedy. Specifically, the dimensions of Hell were so complex because they must aligne with the details of Dante and Virgil 's journey, but at the same time must hold all the sinners. The arguments, which continued to the end of the 16th century, about the measurements of Dante 's Hell were a great source of fascination for such famous Renaissance men as Boccaccio and Galileo (Drechsler, 571). In trying to understand the intricate mathematics, The Divine Comedy influenced the way math and science was observed. The Divine Comedy sparked discussions about science that bore great thinkers, including the likes of Galileo, that were taught to think in new ways. Based on Dante’s work, Antonio Manetti, along with some others, came up the main view on the size of Hell. By doing scientific work on Dante 's dimensions of Hell, Manetti influenced artists and many others. In 1558, Galileo was invited to speak before the Florentine Academy. He delivered two long lectures about Dante 's Hell. These suggest that Galileo found this cartography scientific, and referenced his work in order to prove his arguments about the entrance to Hell and how much of the earth must be used to prevent Hell’s collapse (Kleiner, 2 - 3). Galileo found ways to match scientific

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