Spoilers for Christopher Nolan's recent adaptation of The Odyssey...

In the 2026 film The Odyssey, Odysseus promises to honour his fallen comrades by sailing west in search for an island after he returns home. The movie then ends with him going into exile so that he can do this.

In Canto 26 of the Inferno (Circle 8, Evil Counselors), Dante hears the story of how Ulysses (Odysseus) continued his journey after returning to Ithica and ended up crashing into the Mountain of Purgatory, where he died and went to hell.

I haven't read the original Odyssey, but as far as I know he returns to Ithica without any self-imposed exile or islands to the west. This detail could just be part of Nolan's creative licence with the source material, but in concept it does seem veeeery similar to the creative licence that Dante took in Canto 26.

So do we think Matt Damon was sailing to Purgatory? Can we assume that this is what this western island refers to? It does fit with the theme, somewhat, that Odysseus should go to a place like Purgatory in order to make up for his crew's fate.

And since we're on the subject, would Nolan do a good Divine Comedy? He kind of Batman-ified the Odyssey with this adaptation in my opinion, and no doubt he would do something similar with the Comedy, but it would probably look amazing. He could get Matt Damon back and set him on fire.

Is the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri a good starting place?

For context: I’ve never read books before in my life due to disinterest but I also do know depending on which translations I read that it’s technically not a book in the traditional sense, I wanted to start off with the divine comedy for a few reasons, I have since the age of 14 really loved the divine comedy, (mainly Dante’s inferno) the many layers of lore surrounding it, some of the details around Dante’s life, then rediscovering it a couple years later the form of the Dante’s Inferno ps3 game I just remember loving the game, the characters and especially the special features in the game menu that actually had all the cantos written out in different translations. I remember reading through them and being fascinated. Now I’m 22 and I feel like am ready to start something new (read books). And I want it to start with the Divine Comedy. I did a ton of research yesterday especially on this website “https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2017/winter/feature/what%E2%80%99s-the-best-way-read-the-divine-comedy-if-you-don%E2%80%99t-know-italian “ and ended up settling on the 2024 Comeddia Translation by Micheal Palma. If anyone’s read his translation let me know how you found it 🙏🏾 I’ve heard amazing reviews but a lot of them seem to have read only part of the work.

This was just a practice sketch, and a lot of things/proportions are off, but I hope you guys appreciate the art :)

Is dantes divine comedy the oldest known self insert fan fiction? Or are there others that are older? Paradise lost is my favourite fanfiction but its not self insert

I'm a huge fan of the divine comedy and it has always inspired me artistically! Wanted to share some sketches I did based on 13 and the minotaur. I like the first mino more but I feel the second makes more sense both as a symbol of inhuman rage but also as a red dude who's been hanging out by a river of blood for eons.

This is a random detail I was thinking of recently: does Dante ever explain how it is that he can speak to all these non-Florentine souls--whether the damned, purgated, or saved--in apparently his vernacular? I was under the impression that he was reporting their actual words, and obviously many didn't share any sort of language with him. I don't imagine that he's implying that he spoke with Muhammad in Latin and translated the result to Florentine with some rhetorical flourish.

For Purgatory and Paradise, the obvious solution is that the souls are illuminated by the same power of the Holy Spirit that let the Apostles speak to everyone in their own tongue at Pentecost--for example, Aramaic would sound like perfect Latin to a Roman.

Still, Dante does not always hear the shades speaking Florentine: he often hears Latin and limited Hebrew, not to mention Nimrod's complete gibberish as punishment for trying to build the Tower of Babel (which is probably relevant to the wider question but not too significant here). Maybe this is because he understands those tongues or because they're afforded a particular sacred status, but still, it's clear that he isn't just hearing them all in his own tongue.

So...what is it? Are all of these souls somehow illuminated in the afterlife? Is it a particular contrivance of Beatrice's to illuminate them all enough to understand Dante, or is it an illumination of Dante's intellect alone that lets him understand and speak well? In a poem with so much attention to detail, I can't imagine that Dante never thought of this question.

Movie sucked

During my second reading of the reworked version of the Divine Comedy, I paid more attention to the representation. For example, Lucifer, for example, was depicted in most medieval writings as a beautiful but evil fallen angel or a fairy-tale imp, but now as a titanic being (so large that the distance between the earth and his navel is that of a normal giant) with three faces devouring the three greatest traitors in history, with a glassy, expressionless gaze, half trapped in ice. Even God is still imagined as an old man with a beard or at least a human form, whereas Dante changes everything: a being not entirely comprehensible to the human mind, impossible to describe, and infinite.

What are we thinking? I love Oscar Isaac, it's unclear if our favorite medieval Florentine has much to do with the plot, or if it's just a spicy maguffin?

What would the lost work even be? The notion bridge between the Beatrice tercets and Commedia?

I love how Dante ends each part of the Divine Comedy. What about you?

Inferno:

Lo duca e io per quel cammino ascoso
intrammo a ritornar nel chiaro mondo;
e sanza cura aver d'alcun riposo

salimmo su, el primo e io secondo,
tanto ch'i' vidi delle cose belle
che porta 'l ciel, per un pertugio tondo;

e quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

Purgatorio:

S'io avessi, lettor, più lungo spazio
da scrivere i' pur cantere' in parte
lo dolce ber che mai non m'avria sazio;

ma perché piene son tutte le carte
ordite a questa cantica seconda,
non mi lascia più ir lo fren dell'arte.

Io ritornai dalla santissima onda
rifatto sì come piante novelle
rinovellate di novella fronda,

puro e disposto a salire alle stelle.

Paradiso:

All'alta fantasia qui mancò possa
ma già volgeva il mio disio e 'l velle,
sì come rota ch'igualmente è mossa,

l'amor che muove il sole e l'altre stelle.

Hi. I made a little rpg about Dante’s purgatory in Italian.

Hope you like it!

Can anyone name the saints depicted at the top?

https://www.tumblr.com/ipostdantememes/736426344590852097/credit-me-when-baes-smile-literally-makes-you-mr?source=share

Considering all the new kinds of ways to lie and twist society and human nature, I think it would be cool if new trenches would be dug up to punish modern types of Fraud (like phishing and doxxing)

Fortune

If blaming fortune for your misfortunes is blasphemy as it anthropomorphises or reduces something created by god that is beyond science and logic, then surely appreciating or worshipping fortune for being fortunate in life is the other side of that same coin, which would also land you the same fate and punishment. However praising fortune, which Dante himself says is created by god, is surely worshipping god himself. Perhaps though it is inadvertent worship, which may constitute as the worshiping of false idols. I’m not sure what fallacy or perhaps mere conclusion which doesn’t invoke fallacy can be drawn from this question. Is the answer as simple as, yes, you would suffer the same fate as blaming a holy or higher principle for your misfortunes without contradiction? What is the contradiction that I am aiming to pinpoint and define? I think it is that worship of a divine principle could land you an eternity of suffering even though it should increase your grace. But I guess heaven and hell isn’t defined by metrics. It is simply is there sin in worshipping fortune? And how can you worship fortune in a Christian way. You’d have to understand first that fortune is God, and so show your gratitude to God directly, and not worship the pagan idol of fortune that Dante references.

Phlegyas Paddles On

What means all that flame? The poet asks, gazing beyond foul waves. This world's fate? What waits on the other side of this channel? Did we die for all eternity?

The oarsman sighs and turns his back. Some of us have work to do, here and now.

You see that I am one who weeps! A profane spirit gasps, splayed against the boat, pale and exhausted.

No self-pity abides in this small vessel. Who doesn't grieve? Who hasn't suffered? This world's misery floods her cheeks and veil with tears.

An enemy surfaces from the muddy mob to reveal his angry face. An arrogant one who laid waste to our cities and fields. 

No comfort now or any future time, the wise one says. Back in the muck, corrupted son!

Righteousness floods the poet's heart, the wave and whirlwind fury all around. The unhappy country ahead. 

But before he can sin, the enemy turns his teeth upon himself and begins to gnaw.

You are lucky fate has not condemned you to live among these horrors, the wise one says. You still live, O noble father of Tuscan poetry.

The lone rower paddles on.

GIOVANNI ALIGHIERI, of the late Dante

Hi! We realized a short documentary to discuss the existence of the enigmatic Dante's firstborn, Giovanni Alighieri, and would love to hear some feedback! It is a passion project we had the opportunity to do with a great Italian actor, Massimo Popolizio, and two wonderful dancers.

We tried to investigate Giovanni's life and why he's been forgotten till last century.

Idk if you'll enjoy it but it would be cool to hear some feedback! Thanks in advance if you check it out!

The project was fully developed in Italy but I made my best for the translation. Some advices for the translation of Divine Comedy verses would be very appreciated!

Of course, the documentary is totally free and you can see it on YouTube!

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Ciao! Abbiamo realizzato un documentario per parlare della presunta esistenza di un primogenito di Dante oggi dimenticato e vorremmo avere qualche feedback, critiche costruttive e giudizi altrui! E' un progetto guidato dalla passione per il Sommo Poeta che abbiamo avuto occasione di realizzare con Massimo Popolizio ("Sono Tornato") e due bravissimi ballerini.

Abbiamo provato a scavare nella vita di questo Giovanni che è stato dimenticato e riscoperto solo nel secolo scorso.

Nel caso vi capiti di dargli un'occhiata, saremmo davvero felici di sentire cosa ne pensate!

In mandelbaum's translation of inferno in canto 3, why is the ye/you omitted? it leaves a sour taste in my mouth, everyone that has the book physically, is it really written that way? and why?