Dante in Translation
Yale professor Giuseppe Mazzotta leads a full-semester reading of Dante's Divine Comedy alongside minor works including the Vita nuova, Convivio, De vulgari eloquentia, and the Epistle to Cangrande. Lectures open with Dante's autobiographical Vita nuova to establish the poetic and political circumstances behind the Comedy, then move through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, situating each in the intellectual and social context of the late Middle Ages. Recurring topics include the relationship between ethics and aesthetics, love and knowledge, and exile and history. Recorded from an on-campus Yale College course (ITAL 310) held twice weekly for 75 minutes, the Open Yale Courses recording includes the full set of video lectures under a Creative Commons license, free to watch with no certificate offered. Suited to students wanting a sustained, scholarly walk through Dante's major and minor works.