Dante's PARADISO July-August 2009

[Laurel]

Dante has completed his pilgrimage through Hell and Purgatory and is ready to ascend into the heavens for his trip through Paradise. Rather than our Copernian view of the Universe he follows, of course, the Ptolomeic view. This earth-centered model gives the outline for Paradiso. Here is that outline, with the approximate date that I will post each section:

July 1  First Heaven--Moon--Cantos 1-5

July 6  Second Heaven--Mercury--Cantos 5-7

July 10 Third Heaven--Venus--Cantos 8-9

July 14 Fourth Heaven--Sun--Cantos 10-13

July 18 Fifth Heaven--Mars--Cantos 14-17

July 22 Sixth Heaven--Jupiter--Cantos 18-20

July 27 Seventh Heaven--Saturn--Cantos 21-22

Aug. 3  Eighth Heaven--Fixed Stars--Cantos 23-26

Aug. 10 Ninth Heaven--Primum Mobile--Cantos 27-29

Aug. 14 Tenth Heaven--Empyrean--Cantos 30-33

This thread is now open for any introductory remarks you have, questions,  and helpful links you have found.

[rbehr]

I'm going to pass on a paraphrase of a comment from The Teaching Company in one of their first lectures on Paradiso:

"Dante may have passed through The Inferno and Purgatory, but we've just finished 67 Divine Comedy Canto's!"  

---

Laurel wrote:

Dante has completed his pilgrimage through Hell and Purgatory and is ready to ascend into the heavens for his trip through Paradise. Rather than our Copernian view of the Universe he follows, of course, the Ptolomeic view. This earth-centered model gives the outline for Paradiso. Here is that outline, with the approximate date that I will post each section:

July 1  First Heaven--Moon--Cantos 1-5

July 6  Second Heaven--Mercury--Cantos 5-7

July 10 Third Heaven--Venus--Cantos 8-9

July 14 Fourth Heaven--Sun--Cantos 10-13

July 18 Fifth Heaven--Mars--Cantos 14-17

July 22 Sixth Heaven--Jupiter--Cantos 18-20

July 27 Seventh Heaven--Saturn--Cantos 21-22

Aug. 3  Eighth Heaven--Fixed Stars--Cantos 23-26

Aug. 10 Ninth Heaven--Primum Mobile--Cantos 27-29

Aug. 14 Tenth Heaven--Empyrean--Cantos 30-33

This thread is now open for any introductory remarks you have, questions,  and helpful links you have found.

---

Message Edited by rbehr on 06-29-2009 09:22 PM

[Laurel]

And harrah for us! If we don't talk much, it's because we've been reading. As for humor--I keep smiling with Beatrice in the opening cantos of Paradiso as she tries to educate her dense male friend in the finer points of science, philosophy, and theology.

---

rbehr wrote:

I'm going to pass on a paraphrase of a comment from The Teaching Company in one of their first lectures on Paradiso:

"Dante may have passed through The Inferno and Purgatory, but we've just finished 67 Divine Comedy Canto's!"  

---

Laurel wrote:

Dante has completed his pilgrimage through Hell and Purgatory and is ready to ascend into the heavens for his trip through Paradise. Rather than our Copernian view of the Universe he follows, of course, the Ptolomeic view. This earth-centered model gives the outline for Paradiso. Here is that outline, with the approximate date that I will post each section:

July 1  First Heaven--Moon--Cantos 1-5

July 6  Second Heaven--Mercury--Cantos 5-7

July 10 Third Heaven--Venus--Cantos 8-9

July 14 Fourth Heaven--Sun--Cantos 10-13

July 18 Fifth Heaven--Mars--Cantos 14-17

July 22 Sixth Heaven--Jupiter--Cantos 18-20

July 27 Seventh Heaven--Saturn--Cantos 21-22

Aug. 3  Eighth Heaven--Fixed Stars--Cantos 23-26

Aug. 10 Ninth Heaven--Primum Mobile--Cantos 27-29

Aug. 14 Tenth Heaven--Empyrean--Cantos 30-33

This thread is now open for any introductory remarks you have, questions,  and helpful links you have found.

---

Message Edited by rbehr on 06-29-2009 09:22 PM

---

[Choisya]

I'm not doing much serious reading as my brain is addled by the heat wave over here - 97F yesterday!  I don''t do heat very well.   

[Laurel]

It's hard to imagine England getting that hot, Choisya. You need a holly at the shore.

---

Choisya wrote:
I'm not doing much serious reading as my brain is addled by the heat wave over here - 97F yesterday!  I don''t do heat very well.   

---

[bdNM]

I've heard some professors say that the Paradise is the best of the Comedy, and I hope it's true.  I found Inferno quite a lot of fun, but have to say that I found the Purgatory quite a slog.  I enjoyed Statius, and the ending where Dante discovers that, now that he has a new guide, Virgil is gone.  Here's hoping for more fun with the Paradise.  I am looking forward to seeing how my namesake, Bernard of Clairvaux, comes across.  As this site deals more with saints, and I have a fondness for saints' stories and saints' lives, I imagine I'll enjoy it more than the Purgatory, which seemed to me very static -- very much like the Frodo and Sam scenes in the last two books of Lord of the Rings -- the ring is heavier and heavier, and Frodo and Sam can only move a short distance every day -- if it hadn't been for the battle scenes with the rest of the Fellowship, I'm not sure I could have gotten through Tolkien's work.  At any rate, here's to happier days.

[Laurel]

As Beatrice says to Dante in one of the opening cantos, the only way you can go now is up.

---

bdNM wrote:
I've heard some professors say that the Paradise is the best of the Comedy, and I hope it's true.  I found Inferno quite a lot of fun, but have to say that I found the Purgatory quite a slog.  I enjoyed Statius, and the ending where Dante discovers that, now that he has a new guide, Virgil is gone.  Here's hoping for more fun with the Paradise.  I am looking forward to seeing how my namesake, Bernard of Clairvaux, comes across.  As this site deals more with saints, and I have a fondness for saints' stories and saints' lives, I imagine I'll enjoy it more than the Purgatory, which seemed to me very static -- very much like the Frodo and Sam scenes in the last two books of Lord of the Rings -- the ring is heavier and heavier, and Frodo and Sam can only move a short distance every day -- if it hadn't been for the battle scenes with the rest of the Fellowship, I'm not sure I could have gotten through Tolkien's work.  At any rate, here's to happier days.

---

[Choisya]

Its getting worse Laurel!   Expected to be in the 100s for the rest of this week It would indeed be nice to get to the sea but it would be a long, hot journey.  Meanwhile I dabble my toes in a children's paddling pool!  

---

Laurel wrote:
It's hard to imagine England getting that hot, Choisya. You need a holly at the shore.

---

Choisya wrote:
I'm not doing much serious reading as my brain is addled by the heat wave over here - 97F yesterday!  I don''t do heat very well.   

---

---

[Laurel]

I imagine it's almost enough to make one long for those incredible snowstorms of last winter.

---

Choisya wrote:

Its getting worse Laurel!   Expected to be in the 100s for the rest of this week It would indeed be nice to get to the sea but it would be a long, hot journey.  Meanwhile I dabble my toes in a children's paddling pool!  

---

Laurel wrote:
It's hard to imagine England getting that hot, Choisya. You need a holly at the shore.

---

Choisya wrote:
I'm not doing much serious reading as my brain is addled by the heat wave over here - 97F yesterday!  I don''t do heat very well.   

---

---

---

[rbehr]

Here is an outline of the Paradiso I found with cross reference to the Canto/line number.  I'm hoping this will help give me a "big picture" overview.  The Princeton site doesn't have Canto summaries for Paradiso - if someone finds another useful outline to help with the reading, please pass it on.

Message Edited by rbehr on 07-01-2009 10:06 PM

[Laurel]

That should be helpful, Rae. Thanks.

Not an outline, but here is an introductory essay.

---

rbehr wrote:

Here is an outline of the Paradiso I found with cross reference to the Canto/line number.  I'm hoping this will help give me a "big picture" overview.  The Princeton site doesn't have Canto summaries for Paradiso - if someone finds another useful outline to help with the reading, please pass it on.

Message Edited by rbehr on 07-01-2009 10:06 PM

---

[Laurel]

I just found Eliot Charles Norton's prose translation of Paradiso for reading on line. I like his footnotes and brief chapter outlines and the way he keeps the narrative going.

[rbehr]

I had dived right into the reading of Paradiso (Barnes and Noble Longfellow Translation) and hadn't looked at the Introduction.  It turns out it has good background on the Paradiso and includes good overviews of the canto's. 

I'm enjoying reading the Divine Comedy, but haven't read a book before that includes so many classisal and theological references.  I find it is very helpful to have outlines and overviews to give me perspective on the work, let me know where I'm going, and remind me of where I've been. 

Message Edited by rbehr on 07-03-2009 02:35 PM

[Peppermill]

 As I attempt to catch up with the rest of you after some family demands and as I recover from an injury that has been sapping my strength, I was deeply heartened by some passages I glimpsed from the links Laurel has given us.  In effect, they said encountering the Divine Comedy is like visiting a Cathedral -- there are all sorts of things to observe, but to attempt to observe them all simultaneously is only to be overwhelmed.

I am not certain to which aspects of the D.C. I am restricting myself, but I am trying to relax how much I attempt to absorb. 

[Laurel]

Relaxing about it is a good idea. Today as I was waiting for a bus I read backwards, going from the first canto of Paradiso to the first canto of Purgatorio and then Inferno (slow bus) and rejoiced to realize how much easier it was than the first time I read them, and how much I recognized without recoursing to footnotes. Little by little, it all comes together.

---

Peppermill wrote:

 As I attempt to catch up with the rest of you after some family demands and as I recover from an injury that has been sapping my strength, I was deeply heartened by some passages I glimpsed from the links Laurel has given us.  In effect, they said encountering the Divine Comedy is like visiting a Cathedral -- there are all sorts of things to observe, but to attempt to observe them all simultaneously is only to be overwhelmed.

I am not certain to which aspects of the D.C. I am restricting myself, but I am trying to relax how much I attempt to absorb. 

---

[bdNM]

Charles Eliot Norton was a professor at Harvard -- there are a series of public lectures delivered annually in his honor.  e.e. cummings delivered his 6 non-lectures there in the late 50s as part of this series, and Leonard Bernstein delivered 6 lectures (available on DVD or CD) on music called "The Unanswered Question."  Most libraries have at least some of the Norton lectures. 

[bdNM]

You can tell that Dante done went to college, that's for sure.  It is said that Dante had his own copy of the Aeneid (pretty pricey in his day -- maybe the same as buying a luxury car today) and that he knew the whole work by heart!  That's pretty impressive, though memory was much greater in Dante's day -- when not everyone has books, and where you only have a few books, you're likely to remember what books you read in much greater detail.

[Laurel]

I knew his name was very familiar. I'm enjoying his translation and notes.

---

bdNM wrote:
Charles Eliot Norton was a professor at Harvard -- there are a series of public lectures delivered annually in his honor.  e.e. cummings delivered his 6 non-lectures there in the late 50s as part of this series, and Leonard Bernstein delivered 6 lectures (available on DVD or CD) on music called "The Unanswered Question."  Most libraries have at least some of the Norton lectures. 

---

[Laurel]

The first time I read The Divine Comedy, I had not yet read The Aeneid. It's so much richer to me now that I've read Virgil.

---

bdNM wrote:
You can tell that Dante done went to college, that's for sure.  It is said that Dante had his own copy of the Aeneid (pretty pricey in his day -- maybe the same as buying a luxury car today) and that he knew the whole work by heart!  That's pretty impressive, though memory was much greater in Dante's day -- when not everyone has books, and where you only have a few books, you're likely to remember what books you read in much greater detail.

---

[Choisya]

Dorothy Sayers said this about Paradiso:

'People who tackle Dante in [a] superficial way seldom get beyond the picturesque squalors of the Inferno. This is as though we were to judge a great city after a few days spent underground among the cellars and sewers; it would not be surprising if we were to report only an impression of sordidness, suffocation, rats, fetor, and gloom. But the grim substructure is only there for the sake of the city whose walls and spires stand up and take the morning; it is for the vision of God in the Paradiso that all the rest of the allegory exists.'