Dante’s Divine Comedy is famously organized into three sections: hell (inferno), then purgatory, and finally paradise. The first section (hell) is generally considered the greatest of the three, and Robert Pinsky attempts to re-translate the verses in this edition. Dante intentionally wrote the Divine Comedy in the Italian of commoners (instead of the Latin of scholars) so that the masses could read it. Therefore, it is appropriate for Pinsky to translate the Inferno in a way that the average modern reader can understand. In my view, he is successful in this attempt.
The pilgrim/narrator, who is an everyman living on earth, is guided into hell by Virgil, who is considered a great pagan living in the outer circles of hell. The Inferno represents a dystopia that only gets worse as one descends into the center. Its story of vices, not virtues, vividly portray the tragedy of the human condition, filled with thieves, betrayers, lusters, and hypocrites. One’s condition while alive on earth is only amplified in the afterlife. Although wedded to the Christian tradition, this version of hell is most representative of the ancient Romans and Greeks.
Images like Brutus (who betrayed Julius Caesar) and Judas Iscariot (who betrayed Jesus Christ) sitting near the center of hell still fill the western psyche. Lucifer (Satan) sits at the center of hell, which lies at the center of earth. These images continue to fill popular culture and stem from Dante’s imagination more than Judeo-Christian Scriptures. The story of the Inferno is very dark and reminds the reader of darker parts of her/his own experiences on earth. Ironically, for Dante, hell is not a place of fire and brimstone but of self-absorption and never-ending sadness.
Many in the modern world will reject Dante’s conception of the universe, which is based on medieval adaptations of Greco-Roman philosophy. We are much more scientific and not as otherworldly. Our concept of virtues and vices likewise correspond with our modern consciousness. Judas Iscariot and Brutus are not our archenemies as much as Hitler and Stalin. To the modern ear, Dante’s world seems utterly foreign. Nonetheless, Dante’s dark imagery (from the 1300s) will remind the reader of human nature today. Dante’s conception of the afterlife starts in the present-life.
That’s why the modern reader should still attend to Dante, despite his medieval bearings. He understands human nature well. His poetic imagery is poignant and clairvoyant. He represents eras of human history that the literate public should not forget. Pinsky’s modern translation makes him once again accessible.
The Inferno of Dante: A New Verse Translation
By Robert Pinsky
Copyright (c) 1994
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN13 9780374524524
Page Count: 355
Genre: Classics, Poetry
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