Troilus and Dante: The Infernal Centre

Storm, Melvin

doi:10.2307/3508382

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Hell effects a dismal justification which is the counter-image of the gracious justification of sinners by Christ; and hell's punishments are just because they are the "continuation, intensification, and definitive fixation" of the earthly lives of the damned. 35 33 Singleton,"Justification,[57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71] Hollander translates this as "fit punishment." For Dante, hell is not a simple matter of "mirror reciprocity," but the execution of a more discerning fit -a "bespoke punishment," we might say.…”

Section: Creation and Its Discontentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dante describes no "appalling experience," 58 gives no indication that he was in a trance, 59 or had fainted. 60 His address to the reader is a shrouded invitation to the impossible attempt of imagining sheer nothingness: 61 not corruption, privation, or imperfection, but nihil. This impossibility stands in contrast to the positive ineffability of Paradiso XXXIII, in which the poet is united to the fullness of existence.…”

Section: Degraded Existence Nonbeing Annihilationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

“I did not die, nor did I stay alive:” The Dark Grace of Nonexistence in <i>Inferno</i> XXXIV

Caponi¹

2015

QuadItal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the final canto of Inferno, Dante confronts Dis, “la creatura ch’ebbe il bel sembiante” (XXXIV.18). In response, the poet declares: “Io non mori’ e non rimasi vivo; / pensa oggimai per te, s’hai fior d’ingegno, / qual io divenni, d’uno e d’altro privo.” (XXXIV.22-27) Beneath this apparently innocuous proclamation is a metaphysical “event” unique among Western letters, as the poet arrogates godly power and bestows on the pilgrim the experience of “existence” beyond the divine will. By this gracious gift of non-existence, the Pilgrim surpasses the mere corruption of Satan and his kingdom, and enters into a state of uncreation. Evidence of this unparalleled passage is found in the pilgrim’s absence of fear during his remaining time in hell.

show abstract

Section: Creation and Its Discontentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Degraded Existence Nonbeing Annihilationmentioning

confidence: 99%