Exploring the role of the poet in Renaissance epic literature, this work delves into the intricate relationship between poetry and the cultural context of the Renaissance. It examines how poets shaped their identities and the significance of their craft within the broader literary tradition. The analysis highlights key figures and their contributions, offering insights into the themes and stylistic elements that define the epic genre during this transformative period in history.
Here is the second of three volumes of a new edition of Dantes' masterpiece, The Divine Comedy. Continuing the story of the poet's journey through the medieval Other World under the guidance of the Roman poet Virgil, Purgatorio culminates in the regaining of the Garden of Eden and the reunion there with the poet's long-lost love Beatrice. This edition presents the Italian text and, on facing pages, a new prose translation. Taking recent critical editions into account. Durling's translation, like that of the Inferno, is unprecedented in its accuracy, eloquence, and closeness to Dante's syntax. Martinez' and Durling's notes are designed for the first-time reader of the poem but include a wealth of new material unavailable elsewhere. Fifteen short essays explore special topics and controversial issues, including Dante's debts to Virgil and Ovid, his radical political views, his original conceptions of homosexuality, of moral growth, and of eschatology. Robert Turner's illustrations include maps, diagrams of Purgatory and the cosmos, and line drawings of objects and places mentioned in the poem.
