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This lecture continues the discussion of Dante’s use of earlier literature. We continue the discussion of Virgil’s Aeneid, emphasizing both the political and personal concerns of Virgil that become the concerns of Dante. The next work we discuss is Augustine’s spiritual autobiography, the Confessions, which provides for Dante the model of a first-person narrator and, like Dante’s poem, attempts to synthesize the biblical and the classical traditions. Finally, we take a look at Dante’s own earlier writings, from which he also draws in the Commedia. In particular, we examine how he makes use of his own earlier poetic, political, and philosophical writings.
