Danteworlds: A Reader's Guide to the Inferno

by Guy P. Raffa

One of the greatest works of world literature, Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy has, despite its enormous popularity and importance, often stymied readers with its multitudinous characters, references, and themes. But until now, students of the Inferno have lacked a suitable resource to guide their reading.Welcome to Danteworlds, the first substantial guide to the Inferno in English. Guy P. Raffa takes readers on a geographic journey through Dante’s underworld circle by circle—from the Dark Wood down to the ninth circle of Hell—in much the same way Dante and Virgil proceed in their infernal descent. Each chapter—or “region”—of the book begins with a summary of the action, followed by detailed entries, significant verses, and useful study questions. The entries, based on a close examination of the poet’s biblical, classical, and medieval sources, help locate the characters and creatures Dante encounters and assist in decoding the poem’s vast array of references to religion, philosophy, history, politics, and other works of literature.Written by an established Dante scholar and tested in the fire of extensive classroom experience, Danteworlds will be heralded by readers at all levels of expertise, from students and general readers to teachers and scholars.

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 15, 2007

Reviews

[Riku Sayuj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raffa’s Pitch

The Pitch goes like this:

The valuable notes provided with translations are generally limited (due to lack of space) to brief presentations of background information and concise explanations of difficult passages.

Danteworlds takes a different approach. The project grew out of a desire to meet two basic challenges facing college students who read and discuss the Divine Comedy, in most cases for the first time, in the Dante course Raffa teaches one or more times each year: first, to become adequately familiar with the multitude of characters, creatures, events, and ideas—drawn from ancient to medieval sources—that figure prominently in the poem; second, to become adept at recalling who and what appear where by creating and retaining a mental map of Dante’s postmortem worlds.

Danteworlds therefore provides entries on major figures and issues arranged so as to help you connect your textual journey through the poem with Dante’s physical journey through the realms of the afterlife. This arrangement allows you to proceed geographically as well as textually, not only canto by canto but also—as Dante and his guides do—region by region through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.

Sounds like a good deal? Yeah. And makes good sense too.

However, the best part is that on reading this after already taking the aid of Hollander’s excellent commentary, bulk of it, except the listings, feels redundant.

That is how good Hollander’s footnotes were. However, if you are reading for School, Danteworlds is probably more useful. So again, my vote is for the Hollander translation, if you are looking for a good place to start with Dante.

[Ashley Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great guide for educators and first-time readers of Dante. Simple and helpful. Although Raffa has authored companions for each part of the Commedia, my library only has the companion to Inferno available.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me start by saying that I could not have read Dante's Inferno without Raffa's guide. I followed the reading of each secion with its corresponding part in Danteworlds, and at times it seemed as if the clouds parted and a light shined on me. Alighieri name drops like a middle school girl trying to get in with the cheerleaders, and that makes it a bit difficult for someone who is living 700 years after the fact.



Raffa is easy to read, easy to carry around, and easy to digest -- all things that you need when reading a guide to an epic work. Most importantly, it cleared up a lot of the gunk that Alighieri and Longfellow (the translation that I read of The Inferno) created in being overly poetic.



That said, I have to also give props to Robert M. Durling's modern translation of the work -- After reading Raffa, I went on to read the same sections of the Inferno using Durling's translation, and that was much clearer (and better annotated) than Longfellow's translation.

[Mj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raffa was my Virgil in getting me through The Inferno. I could not have read that poem without this book and its invaluable explanations. However, if you are picking this book up you might as well just go to The Complete Danteworlds now and have all three parts of The Divine Comedy in one place.

[Eli Hinze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking for a comprehensive, easy to read & understand guide to Dante's Inferno? Look no further. Hands down the best accompaniment text I've ever read, - for ANY book. Informative, well laid out, and more.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid and accessible introductory accompaniment on the pilgrim journey through the Commedia. Offers cantos in bunches, provides brief summary, and introduces particular characters or ideas in more detail. I would have liked wider detail and more depth to notes.

[Laurel Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives just enough information and then some.