To reach his goal, Dante passes through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.ĭante’s KATABASIS In the middle of our life's way I found myself in a wood so dark That I couldn't tell where the straight path lay.He finds Dante in the woods on the evening of Good Friday in the year 1300 and serves as a guide as Dante begins his religious pilgrimage to find God.The Roman poet Virgil searches for the lost Dante at the request of Beatrice (Dante’s teenage crush and all-around muse).Midway on his journey through life, Dante realizes he has taken the wrong path.Trying to achieve a “serene outlook on life” as Six-Fingered Jake would put it.Disgust with the corruption of the Church.Disgust with existing power structures in Italy.Commedia = vernacular language, not Latin.The “divine” part was a value judgment courtesy of his readers.Dante thought of his work as Commedia.He also chose to write his master work, The Comedy, in Italian. ETHICAL LEADERSHIP: Dante chose exile and an in absentia death sentence rather than compromise his principles.COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Dante was highly involved in political life, risking his life in military service and on political embassies.As an ambassador, he had to be very aware of each city-state’s particular culture CULTURAL COMPETENCE: Dante was highly educated in both Latin (the high language) and in Italian (the vernacular).Picked the emperor’s side over the Pope’s – oops.

Minor noble family, extremely well educated.Each city had factions favoring either emperor or Pope Dante Alighieri (1265-1321).Strong papal influence rivaled imperial authority.North Italian city-states largely independent.Dante’s background Italy in Dante’s time

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