Take a powerful—and philosophical—journey through heaven, hell, and purgatory.
Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy is among the last great works of medieval Europe, and it translates the thought of the Middle Ages into an exciting narrative. Seven centuries later, it remains the most successful merger of theology and philosophy in epic poetry.
In The Spirituality of Dante’s Divine Comedy, you’ll gain a philosophical and literary understanding of Dante’s masterpiece. You’ll first and foremost study the book as a narrativization of the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. But beyond its Scholastic synthesis of faith and reason, the Divine Comedy is also a great story. Dante the pilgrim descends to the bottom of Hell, climbs to the top of Purgatory, and soars straight to God in this cosmic thriller.
You’ll devote five lectures to each of the three parts of the Divine Comedy: the Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso. With each section, you’ll learn how to understand Dante’s structural elements, and
Take a powerful—and philosophical—journey through heaven, hell, and purgatory.
Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy is among the last great works of medieval Europe, and it translates the thought of the Middle Ages into an exciting narrative. Seven centuries later, it remains the most successful merger of theology and philosophy in epic poetry.
In The Spirituality of Dante’s Divine Comedy, you’ll gain a philosophical and literary understanding of Dante’s masterpiece. You’ll first and foremost study the book as a narrativization of the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. But beyond its Scholastic synthesis of faith and reason, the Divine Comedy is also a great story. Dante the pilgrim descends to the bottom of Hell, climbs to the top of Purgatory, and soars straight to God in this cosmic thriller.
You’ll devote five lectures to each of the three parts of the Divine Comedy: the Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso. With each section, you’ll learn how to understand Dante’s structural elements, and you’ll engage in close readings and reflections. Literature expert Dr. Sebastian Mahfood is the Virgil for your odyssey, and he presents each lecture with wisdom and enthusiasm.
As you will come to understand, Dante’s knowledge of ancient philosophy and the Divine imbued him with the fullness of faith and reason. By walking with Dante, you’ll deepen your faith, knowledge of philosophy, and love of literature.
Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, O.P., Ph.D., is Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and Vice-President of External Affairs and Governmental Compliance at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut. He holds a doctorate in literature from Saint Louis University along with several master’s degrees in the fields of comparative literature, philosophy, theology, and educational technology. He is the author of Radical Eschatologies: Embracing the Eschaton in the Works of Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Nuruddin Farah, and Ayi Kwei Armah (St. Louis University, 2006) and the co-author (with Ronda Chervin) of Catholic Realism: A Framework for Refuting Atheism and Evangelizing the Atheists (En Route Books and Media, 2015). He is a lay Dominican of the Queen of the Holy Rosary Chapter in the Province of St. Albert the Great. Praise for Dr. Mahfood
“Sebastian Mahfood is an engaging, enthusiastic lecturer with a probing interest in everything from medieval literature and theology to post-modern Arab writings. He developed an online course on Dante’s Divine Comedy, which was enthusiastically received. I am happy to see that this course will now be available to the general public.” – Rev. Msgr. Michael John Witt, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
The Narrative Setting: Troughs of Allegory and Metaphor
The Ethical Setting: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
The Floor-Plan of Hell: The Disintegration of Community and the Stuntedness of Vice
The Lesson Plan of Hell: Contrapasso and Allegory
A Narrative Reading of the 9th Circle
The Narrative Setting: Cornices of Whips and Reins
The Background Story: La Vita Nuova
The Floor-Plan of Purgatory: The Rise of Community and the Growth in Virtue
Purgatory’s Tropology: The Hand-Off to Beatrice
A Narrative Reading of a Few Purgatorial Cantos
The Narrative Setting: Spheres of Grace
The Floor-Plan of Paradise: Casting Deep into the Net
Paradiso's Soteriology: Beatrice, the Screen Lady
A Narrative Reading of the Empyrean Cantos
A Review of Our Journey
1 review for The Spirituality of Dante’s Divine Comedy: An Audio Course
Rated 5 out of 5
Ry –
Very detailed and thoughtful. It gets to depths of Dante that other classes rarely do.
I had to take a lot of notes while listening to the lecture. I teach Dante myself, and I found the professors insights invaluable.
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Ry –
Very detailed and thoughtful. It gets to depths of Dante that other classes rarely do.
I had to take a lot of notes while listening to the lecture. I teach Dante myself, and I found the professors insights invaluable.