Dante Today

Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture

“More Than Midway Through,” People of Praise Blogpost

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“‘Midway on our life’s journey, I found myself In dark woods, the right road lost.‘

“So begins Dante’s Inferno. When I read these opening lines last year with the Trinity senior girls, I asked them if they ever had experienced what Dante was talking about. They certainly weren’t midway through life’s journey, at least by my reckoning. But I, reading these lines, knew immediately what Dante was talking about: that terrible feeling of waking up one morning halfway through your life and finding yourself lost in the dark. Perhaps you know, too.

“Dante begins by trying to climb out of the woods and up a hill he sees before him, but his way is barred by wild beasts. He discovers that, in order to get out of the woods and back to the light, he must first descend into hell, seemingly the wrong direction. When he despairs of ever being able to make this journey into the fiery pit, he finds he has been sent a guide, the poet Virgil. He does not have to travel through the inferno alone.

“In 1985, I asked for help from a sister in the community because I was in the dark woods of my life. I entered into what may be the longest-running ‘temporary’ pastoral relationship in the community. I don’t think we’re keeping records of such things, but from 1985-1997 this sister talked with me weekly, sometimes daily, sometimes more than once a day, to help me with a difficult situation. She was willing to descend with me into the pit, holding my hand, so I did not have to journey alone into the dark.”   —Marge Connolly, “More Than Midway Through,” People of Praise, December 18, 2018 (retrieved March 20, 2024)

“5 Things To Know About Schiaparelli’s Dante-Inspired SS23 Couture Show,” Vogue Article

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“From divisive foam animal heads to Daniel Roseberry’s meditation on Dante’s Inferno, British Vogue’s fashion critic Anders Christian Madsen shares five things to know about Schiaparelli’s spring/summer 2023 couture show, which opened Couture Fashion Week this season.

[. . .]

“In his self-penned show notes, Roseberry cited Dante’s Inferno as the inspiration behind the collection, likening its protagonist’s uncertain journey into hell to the doubt that falls upon a designer like himself when he sits down to design. ‘This collection is my homage to doubt,’ he wrote. ‘I wanted to step away from techniques I was comfortable with and understood, to choose instead that dark wood where everything is scary but new.’ The feeling of the inferno appeared more as a spiritual reference than a direct one, unless your idea of hell is being trapped inside a massive faux taxidermy wolf, Midsommar style. (Naomi Campbell, who was given the honour, seemed typically unfazed.) Along with the lion and the snow leopard, it represented the animals Dante equates to lust, pride and avarice. A reference to the friendly giants he encounters in hell, a hammered brass and patina handmade giant’s head hit the runway with equal theatrical effect.

[. . .]
“Roseberry’s show notes finished on a sentimental key: ‘Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso,’ he wrote, referring to the three books that make up The Divine Comedy. ‘One cannot exist without the others. It is a reminder that there is no such thing as heaven without hell; there is no joy without sorrow; there is no ecstasy of creation without the torture of doubt. My prayer for myself is that I remember that always – that, on my most difficult days, when inspiration just won’t come, I remember that no ascension to heaven is possible without first a trip to the fires, and the fear that comes with it. Let me embrace it always.’ As a wise lion once said: Hakuna matata.”    –Anders Christian Madsen, “5 Things to Know About Schiaparelli’s Dante-Inspired SS23 Couture Show”, Vogue, January 23, 2023
For more on the show (and the controversies it stirred), see the New York Times‘ coverage here and here.
Contributed by Caleb Taylor (Florida State University ’26) and others. Thanks to all who sent links!

Edward Hirsch, Big Think Interview (2010)

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edward-hirsch

“There’s been no poet, no great poet in the history of poetry who hasn’t also been a great reader of poetry. This is sometimes distressing to my students when I tell them this. Now, I do say, ‘It’s possible. You might be the first. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but the odds are very much against you.’ All great poets have been great readers and the way to learn your craft in poetry is by reading other poetry and by letting it guide you.

“A great model for this is the way that Dante calls on Virgil at the beginning of The Inferno, The Divine Comedy, to help guide him through the underworld. And, in a way, that’s also a recognition that Dante needs Virgil and that the Inferno needs the Aeneid and that the epic needs a model and that for Dante to write this great poem he needs someone to come before him and he turns to Virgil’s text, especially book six where Aeneas goes down into the underworld. And for me, that’s a model of the poet’s relationship to previous poetry, to another poetry as calling out for guidance.”   –Edward Hirsch, Interview in Big Think (2010)

Edward Hirsch is the current president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Watch his full interview for Big Think here.

Dante’s Compass and the Mid-Life Course Correction

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nature-background-hand-holding-a-compas-text-quoting-dante

“Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest of dark
For the straightforward pathway had been lost” (–Dante)

“You had a plan. You’ve been moving down the path toward your goals, investing all the while. And then, somewhere along the way, something changed. You found the path was no longer the one you wanted to be on so now you’re navigating a mid-life course correction. This could be making a career change, getting divorce papers, selling/buying a business, or pursuing a passion. The good news is, studies show adults making a mid-life career change can be very successful and report making the move made them happier. Before you make the big leap, let’s go through some of the steps and questions anyone embarking on a major life change might consider to ensure a smooth transition to the next chapter of their life.”  –Karyn Damschen, “Steps to a Successful Mid-Life Course Correction,” Retirement Evolutions (Retrieved on October 19, 2022)

Adults reaching the midway point of their lives look to Dante for guidance to avoid navigating themselves into their own dark wood.

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Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.

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