The Banquet

Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.0

Word count: 457K words
Chapters: 46

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Banquet (Il Convito) by Dante AlighieriAuthor: Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jul 9, 2004

Editor's review

The Banquet (Il Convito) is a philosophical commentary written by Dante in the Italian vernacular, using poems as starting points to unfold the knowledge and thought behind them layer by layer. It offers a view of the author of the Divine Comedy moving between poetry and speculation, and provides an entry point for understanding the cultural context of late medieval Italy. This edition is Project Gutenberg's public-domain English eBook, easy to search and compare, and suitable as extended reading within Dante's oeuvre. It is best read as a text of self-commentary: read the quoted poem first, then the explanation, and notice how he turns personal emotional experience into universal philosophical discussion. For readers used to narrative literature, the argumentative structure requires some patience; but for those who want to understand the underpinnings of Dante's thought, this slow progression is all the more rewarding.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who have read the Divine Comedy and want to understand the underpinnings of Dante's philosophy
Undergraduate and graduate students studying Dante and medieval Italian literature
Advanced readers who enjoy hybrid texts of poetry and philosophical commentary
Readers who need a public-domain English electronic text for comparative study

Not a good fit for

Readers who only want plot-driven stories and lack patience for argumentative texts
Readers who have not yet encountered Dante and hope to start with light introductory reading
General readers who need modern translations with notes and detailed scholarly introductions

Reading tips

Read the opening poem of each section first, then the explanation, to set poetry and thought in contrast.
Read alongside biographical and medieval philosophical background materials to lower the threshold of understanding.
Read one section at a time, and after finishing, retell its argumentative thread in your own words.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What is the relationship between this book and the Divine Comedy?

The Banquet is a philosophical commentary written by Dante in the Italian vernacular and belongs, like the Divine Comedy, to his intellectual system. It is not primarily narrative but uses poems as preludes for discussions of knowledge, and can be seen as a supplementary text for understanding Dante's intellectual background.

Is the public-domain English eBook suitable for direct reading?

It suits readers with some English reading ability who are familiar with the basics of Dante. Public-domain eBooks usually lack modern scholarly introductions and detailed notes, so allusions and philosophical concepts require independent verification; using relevant background materials alongside is recommended.

Which works should one read before this book?

It is best to have a basic understanding of the Divine Comedy, or at least to have read Dante's lyric poetry. This makes it easier to understand why he uses poems as preludes for philosophical discussion and to appreciate the tension between poetry and speculation.

Comments

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About the author

Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321 Author

Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) is one of the most important poets in the history of Italian literature, renowned for the Divine Comedy. The library holds 61 of his works, including multiple editions and translations of the Divine Comedy, such as Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Publicly available information about the details of his life is limited, so no speculation is offered here. His writing is distinguished by a grand narrative structure and a profound symbolic system, often presenting a first-person journey through the three realms and weaving medieval theology, philosophy, and political thought into verse. His language is concise and rich in imagery, and his works have had a far-reaching influence on later European literature, widely regarded as foundational to Italian literary language.