The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri

by Dante Alighieri, Ronald L. Martinez (Introduction), Robert Turner (Illustrator)

Overview

This first volume of Robert Durling's new translation of The Divine Comedy brings a new power and accuracy to the rendering of Dante's extraordinary vision of Hell, with all its terror, pathos, and humor. Remarkably true to both the letter and spirit of this central work of Western literature, Durling's is a prose translation (the first to appear in twenty-five years), and is thus free of the exigencies of meter and rhyme that hamper recent verse translations. As Durling notes, "the closely literal style is a conscious effort to convey in part the nature of Dante's Italian, notoriously craggy and difficult even for Italians." Rigorously accurate as to meaning, it is both clear and supple, while preserving to an unparalleled degree the order and emphases of Dante's complex syntax. The Durling-Martinez Inferno is also user-friendly. The Italian text, newly edited, is printed on each verso page; the English mirrors it in such a way that readers can easily find themselves in relation to the original terza rima. Designed with the first-time reader of Dante in mind, the volume includes comprehensive notes and textual commentary by Martinez and Durling: both are life-long students of Dante and other medieval writers (their Purgatorio and Paradiso will appear next year). Their introduction is a small masterpiece of its kind in presenting lucidly and concisely the historical and conceptual background of the poem. Sixteen short essays are provided that offer new inquiry into such topics as the autobiographical nature of the poem, Dante's views on homosexuality, and the recurrent, problematic body analogy (Hell has a structure parallel to that of the human body). The extensive notes, containing much new material, explain the historical, literary, and doctrinal references, present what is known about the damned souls Dante meets --from the lovers who spend eternity in the whirlwind of their passion, to Count Ugolino, who perpetually gnaws at his enemy's skull--disentangle the vexed party politics of Guelfs and Ghibellines, illuminate difficult and disputed passages, and shed light on some of Dante's unresolved conflicts. Robert Turner's illustrations include detailed maps of Italy and several of its regions, clearly labeled diagrams of the cosmos and the structure of Hell, and eight line drawings illustrating objects and places mentioned in the poem. With its exceptionally high standard of typography and design, the Durling-Martinez Inferno offers readers a solid cornerstone for any home library. It will set the standard for years to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199879823
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/06/1997
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	582,072
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Robert M. Durling is Professor Emeritus of Italian and English Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His translation of Petrarch's Lyric Poetry (1976) has been widely acclaimed. Ronald L. Martinez is Associate Professor of Italian at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He is the author of articles on Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, and Ariosto. Robert Turner has been a professional illustrator since 1979; he is employed as a graphic artist in archaeology at the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS Abbreviations, xv Introduction, 2 PARADISO CANTO 1 Notes to Canto 1 CANTO 2 Notes to Canto 2 CANTO 3 Notes to Canto 3 CANTO 4 Notes to Canto 4 CANTO 5 Notes to Canto 5 CANTO 6 Notes to Canto 6 CANTO 7 Notes to Canto 7 CANTO 8 Notes to Canto 8 CANTO 9 Notes to Canto 9 CANTO 10 Notes to Canto 10 CANTO 11 Notes to Canto 11 CANTO 12 Notes to Canto 12 CANTO 13 Notes to Canto 13 CANTO 14 Notes to Canto 14 CANTO 15 Notes to Canto 15 CANTO 16 Notes to Canto 16 CANTO 17 Notes to Canto 17 CANTO 18 Notes to Canto 18 CANTO 19 Notes to Canto 19 CANTO 20 Notes to Canto 20 CANTO 21 Notes to Canto 21 CANTO 22 Notes to Canto 22 CANTO 23 Notes to Canto 23 CANTO 24 Notes to Canto 24 CANTO 25 Notes to Canto 25 CANTO 26 Notes to Canto 26 CANTO 27 Notes to Canto 27 CANTO 28 Notes to Canto 28 CANTO 29 Notes to Canto 29 CANTO 30 Notes to Canto 30 CANTO 31 Notes to Canto 31 CANTO 32 Notes to Canto 32 CANTO 33 Notes to Canto 33 THE NICENE CREED BOETHIUS' O QUI PERPETUA MUNDUM RATIONE GUBERNAS Notes to "O qui perpetua' ADDITIONAL NOTES 1. The Figure of Beatrice (After Canto 2) 2. The Paradiso and the Monarchia 3.The Primacy of the Intellect, the Sun, and the Circling Theologians (After Canto 14) 4. Dante and the Liturgy (After Canto 15) 5. The Religious Orders in the Paradiso 6. The Threshold Cantos in the Comedy 7. The Fate of Phaethon in the Comedy 8. Circle-Cross-Eagle-Scales: Images in the Paradiso 9. The Final Image 10. The Neoplatonic Background 11. Dante and Neoplatonism 12. Dante's Astrology 13. The Heavens and the Sciences: Convivio 2 14. The Paradiso as Alpha and Omega Textual Variants Bibliography Index of Italian, Latin, and Other Foreign Words Discussed in the Notes Index of Passages Cited in the Notes Index of Proper Names in the Notes Index of Proper Names in the Text and Translation

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Durling's Inferno and Purgatorio

'This new edition of Inferno is distinctly user-friendly....Serious students-in or out of the classroom-who...examine the original poem alongside a readable and reliable prose translation will find this edition excellently suited to their needs.'-The Christian Science Monitor

'A useful volume for students and first-time visitors to Dante's cosmos.'-Publishers Weekly

'In this new translation, Durling tries to be as concrete as possible, producing a version that is more fluent and accurate than the versions of Mandelbaum and Musa.... Highly recommended.'-Library Journal

'Like the Inferno edition that preceded it, the Durling-Martinez Purgatorio, with its beautiful translation and superb apparatus of notes, is simply the best edition of Dante's second canticle in English. No other version offers anything close to what we find gathered here in one volume.'-Robert Harrison, Professor of Italian, Stanford University

"As Durling and Martinez complete their monumental three-volume presentation of Dante's masterpiece, we can sense their triumph and elation, despite their characteristic modesty. This, after all, is the volume with which they can demonstrate the fullness and consistency of Dante's great project, its final approach to what they describe in one footnote as 'a pitch of intensity unique in all literature.' The scholarship, as always, is graceful, comprehensive, and acute, and it surrounds a translation that is so carefully considered and fully realized as to be, at times, quite breathtaking." --David Young, translator of The Poetry of Petrarch

"Durling and Martinez deliver Paradiso in elegant English prose faithful to Dante's Italian. The general introduction and succinct notes to each canto enable an informed reading of a frequently daunting text, while the longer 'Additional Notes,' bibliography, and indices will more than satisfy the most exigent critic. Marvelous, in the richest medieval sense of the term." --Michael Wyatt, author of The Italian Encounter with Tudor England

"At the end of his poem Dante claims that his 'high imagining failed of power,' but Durling and Martinez have suffered no such fate in completing their translation of the Divine Comedy. Their Paradiso is a crowning achievement, a work of lucid prose and of impeccable accuracy. Readers will find themselves rewarded by the succinct, richly informative notes at the end of each canto and the extended essay-notes at the back of the volume. A splendid accomplishment." --Richard Lansing, editor of The Dante Encyclopedia

From the Publisher