English 214DM - Topics in Medieval Studies: 'Dante's Inferno Between Myth and History'

Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy is one of world literature's foundational works. In his 700-hundred years old masterpiece, Dante poses and confronts universal questions that are still at the core of our daily existence: God, love, ethics, gender relationships, politics, social harmony, literature, the afterlife, and the relations between human and nonhuman forms of life. In this course, we will read, analyze, discuss, and enjoy Dante's great poem by focusing on the first of its three parts, the Inferno. In particular, we will be covering Dante's take on mythology and history.