Dante's Inferno: Moral Lessons from Hell

1          Introduction

2          How Honor Degenerates into Infamy: Piero della Vigna (1190-1249)

2.1 The Ecstasy of Glory and the Horror of Improbity

2.2 The Narrative in Inferno

2.3 Sidebar on Posthumous Benefit

2.4 Divergent Interpretations of the Narrative

2.5 The Evidence

2.6 A Second Version of Esoteric Interpretation

2.7 An Outlier Version of Esoteric Interpretation

3          The Malevolent Residue of Excessive Loyalty: Piero, Esoterica, and Suicide

3.1 A Closer Examination of the Second Version of Esoteric Interpretation

3.2 Why Compose Esoterically?

4          How to Earn Immortality: Brunetto Latini (1220-1294)

4.1 The Pain of Exile and Making Oneself Eternal

4.2 The Narrative in Inferno

4.3 Divergent Interpretations of the Narrative

4.4 The Evidence

4.5 Was Brunetto Latini a Sexual Sodomist?

4.6 Brunetto Latini and BL

4.7 The Roman Roots and the Quest for Posthumous Glory

4.8 Has Dante Bum-Rapped Brunetto Latini?

5          The Glories and Iniquities of Heroism, Patriotism, and Paternal Love: Farinata degli Uberti (1212-1264) and Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti (c. 1220-c.1280)

5.1 Partisan Patriotism Leavened by Hedonism

5.2 The Narrative in Inferno

5.3 Interpreting the Narrative: The Propinquity of Good and Evil

6          How Prodigious Talent Can be Squandered: Guido da Montefeltro (1223-1298)

6.1 Pugnacious Imperial Tactician and Franciscan Mountebank

6.2 The Narrative in Inferno

6.3 Interpreting the Narrative: Guido's Final Scam?

7          Envy, Arrogance, Pride, and Human Flourishing

7.1 Envy: An Analysis

7.2 The Ubiquity of Envy

7.3 Corollary on Well-Being

7.4 Envy in the Commedia

7.5 Pride: An Analysis

7.6Arrogance in the Commedia