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ITAL 310: Dante in Translation

Lecture 20 - Paradise XVIII, XIX, XXI, XXII. In this lecture, Professor Mazzotta examines Paradise XVIII-XIX and XXI-XXII. In Paradise XVIII, Dante enters the Heaven of Jupiter, where the souls of righteous rulers assume the form of an eagle, the emblem of the Roman Empire. The Eagle's outcry against the wickedness of Christian kings leads Dante to probe the boundaries of divine justice by looking beyond the confines of Christian Europe. By contrasting the political with the moral boundaries that distinguish one culture from another, Dante opens up the Christian economy of redemption to medieval notions of alterity. In Paradise XXI, Dante moves from the exemplars of the active life to the contemplative spirits of the Heaven of Saturn, Peter Damian and St. Benedict. The question of perspective through which the theme of justice was explored resurfaces to distinguish between the visionary claims of the contemplative and mystical traditions. As Dante ascends to the Heaven of the Fixed Stars, catching sight of the earth below (Paradise XXII), his own visionary claims are distinguished by an awareness of his place in history. (from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 20 - Paradise XVIII, XIX, XXI, XXII

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Continuity and Thematic Expansion in the Cantos
[00:10:35] 2. Space, Place and Justice
[00:26:49] 3. A Conversation between Philosophy and Theology
[00:42:49] 4. The Contemplatives
[01:02:30] 5. Question and Answer

References
Lecture 20 - Paradise XVIII, XIX, XXI, XXII
Instructor: Professor Giuseppe Mazzotta. Lecture 20 - Texts [PDF]. Visual Resources - Lecture 20 [HTML]. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

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Lecture 01 - Introduction
Lecture 02 - Vita Nuova
Lecture 03 - Inferno I, II, III, IV
Lecture 04 - Inferno V, VI, VII
Lecture 05 - Inferno IX, X, XI
Lecture 06 - Inferno XII, XIII, XV, XVI
Lecture 07 - Inferno XIX, XXI, XXV, XXVI
Lecture 08 - Inferno XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII
Lecture 09 - Inferno XXX, XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII, XXXIV
Lecture 10 - Purgatory I, II
Lecture 11 - Purgatory V, VI, IX, X
Lecture 12 - Purgatory X, XI, XII, XVI, XVII
Lecture 13 - Purgatory XIX, XXI, XXII
Lecture 14 - Purgatory XXIV, XXV, XXVI
Lecture 15 - Purgatory XXX, XXXI, XXXIII
Lecture 16 - Paradise I, II
Lecture 17 - Paradise IV, VI, X
Lecture 18 - Paradise XI, XII
Lecture 19 - Paradise XV, XVI, XVII
Lecture 20 - Paradise XVIII, XIX, XXI, XXII
Lecture 21 - Paradise XXIV, XXV, XXVI
Lecture 22 - Paradise XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX
Lecture 23 - Paradise XXX, XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII
Lecture 24 - General Review