The Divine Comedy was a key element to the development
of European literature. By writing the epic style poem in the
vernacular, he enabled all people of general literacy (ie, the
commoner) with the liberty to read his work of art. This was
such a landmark event because scholars of the past had always
written in Latin including two of the most influential people in
his life, the epic poets Virgil and Homer. Latin was the language
of the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church therefore no one
ever thought Dante’s use of the vernacular was capable of such
poetic expression. From a mere literal perspective, The Divine
Comedy can then be viewed as a pioneer in the defiance of
Catholicism.
Through the mere title “The Divine Comedy”, one can further
unearth many significannot
aspects of the poem. A true comedy
refers to two classical modes of composition. The tragedy was
the first of these styles where the plot flowed from a high and
pleasant......
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