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Chapter 10: Door to a New Renaissance.The Revelator set before mankind a vision. He perceived the spirit saying unto mankind: "Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it."*(Revelation 3:8) Dante Alighieri may have said the same thing. The many literary works that he had created became one of the pillars upon which the Golden Renaissance unfolded that eventually rescued mankind from the darkest of the dark ages. What Dante had accomplished, therefore, may still guide humanity today? Dante, himself, did not see the great collapse in which a large portion of the European population got wiped out as the result of the 'global' financial and economic disintegration in 1345, and the Black Death plaques that followed two years later. Dante had lived in the period leading up the chaotic economic disintegration. In fact, he lived at the very heart of the empire that was creating the conditions for this historic holocaust. In a real sense, he saw it coming. He understood the processes and their inevitable conclusion, and was, according to the nature of his work, searching for some means for dealing with them. In the process of his work, he created a new language that united a nation that had never seen itself as a nation before. And, he did more. His greatest work, the "Commedia" or "Divine Comedy" has contributed much to enable humanity to examine its axioms for truth. In a sense, one gets the impression that he examined his own axioms that he lived by. The "Commedia" is considered a historic masterpiece of literary achievement, but more important than its literary contribution is its terrible demand that the work places on the reader to explore his own honesty. The work is made up of three parts which comprise the journey of a Pilgrim who seeks a place in the light. Dante describes himself as the Pilgrim. This is his journey: "I woke to find myself in a dark wood..." he writes. With this, he leaves the world of "our life" behind. "Terrified at being alone in so dismal a valley, he wonders until he comes upon a hill bathed in sunlight, and his fear begins to leave him. But when he starts to climb the hill his path is blocked by three fierce beasts.... They fill him with fear and drive him back down to the sunless wood. At that moment the figure of a man appears before him; it is the shade of Virgil, and the Pilgrim begs for help."*(Dante, The Commedia, part 1 Inferno, Canto 1:2 and prologue to Canto I) Virgil represents the quality of reason and understanding that distinguishes man from any other species on the planet. Virgil (70-19 B.C.) is his link to the great renaissance of the Greek Classical period. He was the greatest Roman poet, educated at Cremona, Milan, and Rome, where his studies surely included all the great Roman and Greek authors. It is believed that Virgil tasted the bitter power of Roman imperialism as his own farm fell victim to the confiscation of lands for the settlement of the veteran soldiers after the battle of Philippi. Thus he has had experience with hell, and with the process with resurrecting himself from it. It is logical and natural, therefore, that Virgil becomes Dante's guide through the "Inferno" and up the slopes of "Purgatory." The Pilgrim asks 'Virgil' for advice on how to get out of the dark valley and into the sunshine that he had beheld. Virgil informs him that his only option is to descend into Hell. Dante must have understood that man must first descend into humility before he can hope to climb the mountain of salvation. Virgil agrees to guide him. Virgil explains that their path would lead them through the center of the earth, through Hell, and then all the way up the slopes of Mt. Purgatory. There, at the peak, a new guide (Beatrice, Dante's beloved Beatrice, or divine revelation), a guide more worthy than he, would guide him on to Paradise. The Pilgrim agrees to the journey. Thus, they enter the vestibule that leads to Hell itself. || - page index - || - chapter index - || - Exit - ||
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