PRIMER: DANTE as Mentor

In all the literature of Christendom there is arguably no equal to the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. Dante completed the final cantos of the Paradiso on his deathbed in 1321, and from the time of its first publication until today its appeal has never faded. It is estimated that 1,100 painters and sculptors have depicted scenes from the poem. The first of the pictures were miniatures in manuscripts, soon followed by frescoes in churches.¹Jean-Pierre Barricelli, ‘Dante in the Arts: A Survey’, Dante Studies No. 114 (1996), pp. 79-93 Each passing year brings more articles and books written about the Commedia and now commentaries on blogs. There is a reason for this – Dante speaks to the human condition everywhere and at all times. This is a work of intellectual complexity and high artistry that unites theology and philosophy with poetical images of startling horror, but also beauty, and which is also the greatest apologetical work ever written in any language. The Divine Comedy is esteemed amongst the greatest works of all Western