The Dante Page

Columbia University's Department of Italian: The Digital Dante

This site is a very educational site, which is devoted to Dante and his works.  It not only contains links to all of his works, but it has links for artwork and student work relating to Dante.  The site is "decorated" with quotes from Inferno.  I would recommend this site for anyone who is trying to learn more about Dante.

--Wade Waybrant

UTexas: UTopia (ITS): Dante's Inferno

Each of the circles of Hell is described on this site.  It gives alot of information.  It shows who and what appear where in the circles. It describes the sins that caused the people to be there, like gluttony or greed.  Another interesting thing the site has is a place where you can listen to audio in Italian.  It has alot of information that can be used to help understand Dante's work.

--April Gaitan

UTexas: UTopia (ITS): Dante's Inferno: The Dark Wood

This website was really cool. It described the symbols of the three beasts used by the author as a way to show the shadowy atmosphere of the opening scene. The site also sheds light on what it meant when the author claims to have lost the 'straight way'. In medieval thought, this indicated alienation from God. 2 corinth 12:2 in the Bible talked about Paul's claim to have been transported to the third heavens. The author of this poem uses Paul as an example of one who has been able to make it through journeys like what he was making. Aeneas, the second person the author mentions as an overcomer, visits the under world in the book 6 of virgils Aeneid.

--Abena Scherer

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Dante Alighieri

This website talks about his life. It also talks about three of his works. One of the works is the Divine Comedy. In addition the site has an earlier poems of his.

--Rebecca Jackey

Angelfire: Dante's Divine Comedy

This website includes a summary of each of the three levels, and also a summary about the symbolism of the number three and it's part in the work. Also, it has drawings of what Dante envisioned the levels of inferno to look like, along with purgatory and heaven. Links to the original (translated) work are also included.

--Phyllis Morgan

This website includes maps of hell, heaven, and purgatory. It gives some of the small stories from his Divine Comedy. It gives two summaries, one short and one complete. It also includes a list of characters in each circle. The maps really help to understand where the story is taking place and the full summary puts the story into words that are understandable.

--Ashley Cook

I really liked this site because it had several nice illustrations of the levels of Hell and Heaven.  I had never seen such maps, so they have brought me to a whole new level of interest.  I did not really grasp a hold of the concept of the different Inferno (Hell) circles or what they meant until I viewed this website.  This website lists the Hell’s circles in order and gives a brief description of each.  For example: circle four is entitled “Hoarders and Spend thrifts.” This page who is a spend thrifts, and who is a Avaricious, and then further points out that these are the level of people located in this circle.  This page also explains that Dante relates this to Canto VII: as “Sins of the Wolf.” 

            I like how this website gives a brief summary of the whole story, and then lists some links to find out more information related to the Divine Comedy.  The links are rather humorous as well.  If you choose “shat part of Hell would you get sent today?” then it lists seven deadly sins for you to choose from and for added humor, at the bottom of the page it informs you to choose a sin that describes you, or if you are unsure you are given an option to click on “Limbo” and wait in limbo in the waiting room, so that the author of this website “can condemn you where you belong.” I believe that this is a blast: what creativity!

             I give this website a high rating because it is equipped with all of the tools I need to help me construct a magnificent picture of this Comedy in my mind.  I also need to comment on the black background, fire graphics, and small red devil at the top of main page because it really set my mood for this site: it sucked my soul in, like a vacuum when I first looked at it.

--Katie Goppert

            This is an interesting little site with lots of useful information. The layout is fairly simple and easy to follow, although the graphics could use a little work. The website offers a “play by play” of each circle of hell, summarizing the purpose of the circle and naming several individuals who dwell there.  The site’s most useful feature, however, is that is sports links to other sites on Dante, including a Dante discussion forum, a character analysis page, an explanation of contrapasso in the inferno with examples, a website in which you can actually read the inferno in several different languages, as well as several other useful links. Some of the more entertaining links include a quiz to determine which circle of hell you’d be in and an essay link about parallels between Dante’s Inferno and Gilligan’s Island (go figure). All in all, this is a neat site with lots of fun info. A word of warning for those who are easily offended by coarse language however: “Abandon all hope all ye who enter here”. The webmaster is a little too fond of “colorful metaphors” and the some of the sites she links to seem to have the same tendency.

--Megan Hoak

Awerty Notes: The Divine Comedy

This website provides an in-depth summary of The Divine Comedy along with a commentary on the work.

--Jenny High

 

eNotes: Dante's Inferno

This website gives you some background about Dante and a short summary of the story.  This website also tells you what kind of people are in the different circles and rings of hell and is very easy to understand. 
 
--Heather Burgner
 

This is a great site to help with reading the Inferno.  It includes a biography of Dante, a list of characters, and in depth coverage of poem.  This includes, what Dante's hell was, possible themes, historical background, and much more.

 
--Sarah Furr
 

This is an excellent site which offers a summary of the Divine Comedy. It also offers an estimated reading time for the Inferno, for those who like to procrastinate:) The site also offers a biography on Dante Alighieri, and explanation of Dante's hell as well as a list of characters, historical background, and a summary and analysis! The site also allows you to take quizzes on the text as a way of studying or preparing for an exam. In addition, there is a link to pictures of various scenes and pictures from the test. The last element of the site that I liked was that it offered suggestions for essay topics. I found this site to be extremely helpful and user friendly!

--Megan Welch
 

Wikipedia: Dante Alighieri

This website is awesome!  It discusses the history of Dante.  It explains the structure of the story, and who dwells in each of the circles and ditches.  It also discusses the thematic elements along with giving some criticism.  There is a character analysis on each character, describing their relationship with Dante, and their influence on his work.  The information that they provide is very interesting.  There is also a section of links.  This is one of my favorite websites yet.
 --Ashley Thompson

Cliff Notes: Divine Comedy: Inferno

The best website I could find on Dante's Divine Comedy was Cliffsnotes! The first section of the site talks about background and structure of the poem. There are maps depicting  the inferno and purgatory. Then there are summaries and brief commentaries on each of the Cantos. I thought that was the neatest thing. It helps for comprehension.  There's an "identify the quote" section. I think I'm going to need that for the next exam :). Finally the website offers a character analysis on Dante and Virgil and two critical essays. I think the essays are a good way to begin analyzing the comedy. They get the ball rolling.

--Tania Rodriguez

SparkNotes: English: Poetry: Inferno

SparkNotes did a great job on the explanation of Dante's themes, motifs and symbols. This the site explains as the way of the author showing the perfection of God's Justice. The geographical structure of hell as described by the author also shows the degree of sins each soul that inhabited that location had committed. It seemed one was punished to a degree according to the amount of sins committed.

--Abena Scherer

Elf: Divine Comedy Research Edition

This is a great site it offered 27 full length editions of the Divine Comedy in different translations. Also translations from different people like Henry Longfellow.
There were also graphics and maps done by famous artist for example Dali.
But in all honesty if you want the book explained to you Sparknotes.com is the best site the only bad thing about this site is that it leaves out little details.

--Damian Rumbough

This website has several translations of Dante's Inferno, and I found that it was very interesting, because of all the different languages that it offers.

--Mallory O'Neill

SUNY: Stonybrook: Italian Studies: Dante's Divine Comedy (trans. James Finn Cotter)

this site breaks the story down piece by piece and phrases it in a way that's easier to comprehend. it also puts in foot notes about certain lines of it.

--Steve Townsend

University of Virginia: IATH: The World of Dante (editor Deborah Parker)

The web site I found has maps and summaries of The Inferno from the Divine Comedy by Dante.  It has an overview of the story and discusses the importance of the main characters and Dante’s interaction with them.  There is a picture of Dante on the main page and there are several links to other sites on the page.

--Terry Foster

Novel Guide: Novel Analysis: Inferno

This site is very helpful in aiding in the understanding of Dante's work 'The Inferno'. The site includes sections regarding plot analysis, character analysis, metaphor analysis and theme analysis. The novel analysis gives a canto by canto brief analysis. These analysis cover the main points and events in each particular cantos. The character analysis give an overview of the major characters. The metaphor analysis goes into different metaphors used throughout the poem, including: numerology, the punishments of sins, and repentance of sins. The theme analysis gives an overview of the themes of the poem, including physical and political perspectives of the poem. This site also includes the top ten quotes and biographical information on Dante and the times in which he lived.
 
 
-Stan Shelnutt

The Great Dante: Dante Alighieri on the Web (ed. Carlo Alberto Furia)

This is a nice web site with different parts that include his life, his time, his works and miscellaneous things about him. Then there are a glossary which is helpful and some interesting links.
--aurélien serrault

last udpated 12/05