This course continues the “Great Conversation” of the Western tradition by focusing on the medieval synthesis of the classical and the Christian visions expressed by Dante in the Divine Comedy and Milton in Paradise Lost. Both Dante and Milton use the epic form to express comedy and tragedy, respectively. We will give particular attention to the tripartite realm of the comedic imagination from Aristophanes (Frogs, Peace, Birds) to Dante (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso). We will consider whether Socrates’ skepticism that the same poet could write both tragedy and comedy was sufficiently answered by Shakespeare, who deployed the same matter (a storm and the love of a dispossessed father for his daughter) to form the tragedy King Lear and the comedy The Tempest.
- Teacher: Josh Bruce
- Teacher: Rebecca Manor