PHIL5508 · Romance Languages and Literatures
Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences
Conducted in English. Elective for Italian major or minor. An introduction to and critical reading of the "Divine Comedy" (in English translation), one of the world's greatest epic poems, produced by "the chief imagination of Christendom" (Yeats). Dante's journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise will be analyzed at its multiple levels of interpretation: literal and allegorical, theological, philosophical, political, and literary. Compendium of an entire epoch of European civilization, the "Comedy" will also be interrogated for its responses to the fundamental questions of human existence: God, the Cosmos, the Self, Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, Suffering, and Happiness.
Course experience
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Organization
4.6 / 5
How well the course was organized
Challenge
4.6 / 5
How intellectually challenging students found it
Attendance
4.3 / 5
How necessary attendance was
Assignments
— / 5
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Weekly effort
—
hours per week
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Spring 2020
1 section