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CC BY-ND 4.0

Part of the book: Dante and Epicurus

George Corbett

Italian Perspectives 25

Legenda

MedievalItalianTheologyPhilosophyPoetryopen

Abstract.  This chapter considers Inferno X as the horizon between the temporal and the spiritual hemispheres of man's existence. It also considers the political dimension of the canto, and analyses Dante Alighieri's interpolation of some overarching structural and thematic devices into Inferno X. The chapter highlights the spiritual dimension of the canto. It explores Dante's emphasis on the Resurrection of the Body in response to the Epicurean heresy in Inferno X, and the Scriptural precedent in St Paul Nixona's dialogue with the Epicureans in Athens. The chapter examines the thematic connections between Inferno X, Purgatorio X, and Paradiso X and how this vertical axis of reference serves to underline the spiritual dimension of the Epicurean canto. The temporal hemisphere is the only hemisphere that exists for the Epicurean. The spiritual hemisphere is, for the Christian, the ultimate destination of each immortal soul.

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