Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) stopped seeing himself as a figure of tragedy and saw his life as a comedy. He wandered in exile for nearly 20 years. Under desperate conditions, homeless, anonymous, he wrote his masterpiece, "The Divine Comedy."
Of the "Comedy's" 14,000 lines, the most unnerving are the 143 that comprise "Inferno 26": the circle of liars, thieves and consultants.
In this circle, Dante encounters the hero Ulysses. His soul, no longer hidden by his mortal body, is not a pretty sight. He had been a deceiver, a trickster who won the battle for Troy by creating the Trojan Horse, promising gifts of peace and then murdering the Trojans he deceived. Ulysses burned with brilliantly clever ideas in life; in hell, he simply burns. This leader, this enflamer of men, is now encased in fire.
For a terrifying moment, Dante sees himself in Ulysses. Dante, too, revels in the art of persuasion. Is his own journey to Paradise another mad pursuit, his own cleverness a form of deception? Dante reasons that to Ulysses, virtue and knowledge were the same thing. But Dante concludes that they are not. To use superior wisdom in deceiving others is spiritual theft. Leaders must use skill and cleverness not for personal gain but to promote honor, to create a just state.
Personal happiness is not possible in a divided state. And ambition without virtue is madness. This realization makes "Inferno 26" the turning point of "The Divine Comedy" and conveys how Dante's entire masterpiece may be read at a deep level---allowing readers to discover that they, too, may find the ascending path to a happy ending.
Source: Dante's Self-Help Book by Harriet Rubin, author of "Dante in Love" (Simon & Schuster) in The New York Times, July 28, 2007