Dante in Translation - Video
By Giuseppe Mazzotta
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Description
(ITAL 310) The course is an introduction to Dante and his cultural milieu through a critical reading of the Divine Comedy and selected minor works (Vita nuova, Convivio, De vulgari eloquentia, Epistle to Cangrande). An analysis of Dante's autobiography, the Vita nuova establishes the poetic and political circumstances of the Comedy's composition. Readings of Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise seek to situate Dante's work within the intellectual and social context of the late Middle Ages, with special attention paid to political, philosophical and theological concerns. Topics in the Divine Comedy explored over the course of the semester include the relationship between ethics and aesthetics; love and knowledge; and exile and history. This course was recorded in Fall 2008.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Video24 - General Review | The last class of the semester consists of a brief recapitulation of topics in the Divine Comedy addressed throughout the course, followed by an extensive question and answer session with the students. The questions posed allow Professor Mazzotta to ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 2 | Video23 - Paradise XXX, XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII | Professor Mazzotta lectures on the final cantos of Paradise (XXX-XXXIII). The pilgrim's journey through the physical world comes to an end with his ascent into the Empyrean, a heaven of pure light beyond time and space. Beatrice welcomes Dante into ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 3 | Video22 - Paradise XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX | This lecture focuses on Paradise XXVII-XXIX. St. Peter's invective against the papacy from the Heaven of the Fixed Stars is juxtaposed with Dante's portrayal of its contemporary incumbent, Boniface VIII, in the corresponding canto of Inferno. Recalls .. | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 4 | Video21 - Paradise XXIV, XXV, XXVI | This lecture covers Paradise XXIV-XXVI. In the Heaven of the Fixed Stars, Dante is examined on the three theological virtues by the apostles associated with each: St. Peter with faith (Paradise XXIV), St. James with hope (Paradise XXV), and St. John ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 5 | Video20 - Paradise XVIII, XIX, XXI, XXII | In this lecture, Professor Mazzotta examines Paradise XVIII-XIX and XXI-XXII. In Paradise XVIII, Dante enters the Heaven of Jupiter, where the souls of righteous rulers assume the form of an eagle, the emblem of the Roman Empire. The Eagle's outcry ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 6 | Video19 - Paradise XV, XVI, XVII | This lecture focuses on the cantos of Cacciaguida (Paradise XV-XVII). The pilgrim's encounter with his great-great grandfather brings to the fore the relationship between history, self and exile. Through his ancestor's mythology of their native ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 7 | Video18 - Paradise XI, XII | Professor Mazzotta continues his discussion of the Heaven of the Sun (Paradise X-IV), where the earthly disputes between the Franciscan and Dominican orders give way to mutual praise. The tribute St. Thomas pays to the founder of the Franciscan order .. | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 8 | Video17 - Paradise IV, VI, X | This lecture deals with Paradise IV, VI and X. At the beginning of Paradise IV, the pilgrim raises two questions to which the remainder of the canto is devoted. The first concerns Piccarda (Paradise III) who was constrained to break her religious vows.. | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 9 | Video16 - Paradise I, II | Professor Mazzotta introduces students to Paradiso. The Ptolemaic structure of Dante's cosmos is described along with the arts and sciences associated with its spheres. Beatrice's role as teacher in Dante's cosmological journey is distinguished from... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 10 | Video15 - Purgatory XXX, XXXI, XXXIII | This lecture deals with Dante's representation of the Earthly Paradise at the summit of Mount Purgatory. The quest for freedom begun under the aegis of Cato in Purgatory I reaches its denouement at the threshold of Eden, where Virgil proclaims the ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 11 | Video13 - Purgatory XIX, XXI, XXII | This lecture deals primarily with Purgatory XIX, XXI and XXII. The ambiguity of the imagination discussed in the preceding lecture as the selfsame path to intellectual discovery and disengagement is explored in expressly poetic terms. While the ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 12 | Video14 - Purgatory XXIV, XXV, XXVI | Guest lecturer Professor David Lummus discusses Purgatory XXIV-XXVI. On the terraces of gluttony and lust, the pilgrim's encounters with masters of the Italian love lyric give rise to the Comedy's most sustained treatment of poetics. Through Dante's ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 13 | Video11 - Purgatory V, VI, IX, X | This lecture covers Purgatory V, VI, IX and X. The purgatorial theme of freedom introduced in the previous lecture is revisited in the context of Canto V, where Buonconte da Montefeltro's appearance among the last minute penitents is read as a ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 14 | Video12 - Purgatory X, XI, XII, XVI, XVII | In this lecture, Professor Mazzotta moves from the terrace of pride (Purgatory X-XII) to the terrace of wrath (Purgatory XVI-XVII). The relationship between art and pride, introduced in the previous lecture in the context of Canto X, is pursued along .. | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 15 | Video09 - Inferno XXX, XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII, XXXIV | The final cantos of Inferno are read with a view to the role of the tragic within Dante's Comedy. Using Dante's discussion of tragedy in the De vulgari eloquentia as a point of departure, Professor Mazzotta traces the disintegration of language that ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 16 | Video10 - Purgatory I, II | In this lecture, Professor Mazzotta introduces Purgatory and proceeds with a close reading of Cantos I and II. The topography of Mount Purgatory is described, and the moral system it structures is contrasted with that of Hell. Dante's paradoxical ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 17 | Video08 - Inferno XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII | Professor Mazzotta begins this lecture by recapitulating the ambivalent nature of Ulysses' sin and its relevance to Dante's poetic project. Inferno XXVII is then read in conjunction with the preceding canto. The antithetical relationship between ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 18 | Video06 - Inferno XII, XIII, XV, XVI | This lecture focuses on the middle zone of Inferno, the area of violence (Inferno XII-XVI). Introductory remarks are made on the concentration of hybrid creatures in this area of Hell and followed by a close reading of cantos XIII and XV. | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 19 | Video07 - Inferno XIX, XXI, XXV, XXVI | This lecture deals primarily with Cantos XIX and XXVI of Inferno. Simony, the sin punished in Inferno XIX, is situated historically to point out the contiguity of the sacred and the profane and its relevance to the prophetic voice Dante established in . | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 20 | Video05 - Inferno IX, X, XI | In this lecture, Professor Mazzotta discusses Inferno IX-XI. An impasse at the entrance to the City of Dis marks Virgil's first failure in his role as guide (Inferno IX). The invocation of Medusa by the harpies that descend while they wait for divine... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 21 | Video04 - Inferno V, VI, VII | This lecture examines Inferno IV -VII. Dante's Limbo, modeled on the classical locus amoenus, is identified as a place of repose and vulnerability. Here, in fact, among the poets of antiquity, the pilgrim falls prey to poetic hubris by joining in... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 22 | Video03 - Inferno I, II, III, IV | Professor Mazzotta introduces students to the Divine Comedy, focusing on the first four cantos of Inferno. Stylistic, thematic and formal features of the poem are discussed in the context of its original title, Comedy. The first canto is read to ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 23 | Video02 - Vita Nuova | This lecture is devoted to the Vita nuova, Dante's autobiographical account of his "double apprenticeship" in poetry and love. The poet's love for Beatrice is explored as the catalyst for his search for a new poetic voice. Medieval theories of love ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
| 24 | Video01 - Introduction | Professor Mazzotta introduces students to the general scheme and scope of the Divine Comedy and to the life of its author. Various genres to which the poem belongs (romance, epic, vision) are indicated, and special attention is given to its place ... | 10/27/2009 | Free | View in iTunes |
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Customer Reviews
Introduction
I was thoroughly captivated by the depth of knowledge promised by this book, which was so rivetingly portrayed by the professor. I was filled with excitement at reaching a point in my life where I am ready and eager to learn from wisdom that has stood for 700 years as one of humanity’s pinnacles. By the end of this introduction, my sense of reverie and gratitude for this accumulation and accessibility of human knowledge was so great, that I was yanked out of my state of mind when the first student question was when the first paper was due or something. The professor handled it marvelously, treating it as a reasonable question. It was as if a preacher, full of the Spirit, had finished an hour-long impassioned sermon, and the parishioners first question in response was “what time is the potluck?”
