In this course, Kenyon College professor Dr. Timothy B. Shutt examines Dante's greatest work, the Divine comedy, both in terms of its autobiographical elements and its allegorical meaning for the human race.

"A new volume in the Lives of Great Religious Books series, this book explores the creation and cultural afterlives of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy"-- Provided by publisher.

Malcolm Hossick uncovers the background history from which Dante came and the way in which he helped to establish a new view of the world where individuals mattered more than rulers. Without the changes begun in Dante's time, it is difficult to see how the democratic system which is now spreading across human society would have become so well-established. In Dante's visit to the underworld, he sees that humanity is as capable of behaving badly as...