Paradisio Terms - Paradisio Terms Sophia Park 1 Glory(1 Dante begins Paradisio speaking of divine glory that moves all things this glory moves Dante

Paradisio Terms – Sophia Park 1. Glory – (1) – Dante begins Paradisio speaking of divine glory that moves all things; this glory moves Dante through spheres of Heaven to a vision of Itself; will be shown in the last line of the poem to be a “love that moves the sun and the other stars”; central theme: God’s glory is reflected in varying degrees throughout the universe, even in angels and saints; he has visited the Empyrean, the heaven that receives the most of God’s life 2. inequality/diversity/difference – (1) – God’s glory is reflected in varying degrees throughout the universe; all things have order among themselves and thereby reflect God, who wishes intelligent creatures to rejoice in that reflection 3. motive force in the universe – (1) – a natural instinct moves all creatures toward their proper goal; in creating intelligent creatures, God shoots them toward himself, like an archer (with a boomerang for arrow); only in Empyrean will they find their joyful target and ultimate repose; by seeking false pleasures, intelligent creatures can be diverted to unnatural targets; since Dante’s sinful hindrances are removed, Dante should naturally move 4. trasumanar – (1) – transgression: going beyond the human: a problem for language; If this paradise is beyond the human; beyond temporal experience, beyond words, beyond memory, beyond images, how can a poem tell us about it? transhumanized; Dante looks at Beatrice and feels himself being transhumanized; rising above his human condition: refer to Glaucus 5. Glaucus – (1) – legendary fisherman; after eating an herb that sent his fish leaping back into the sea, plunged into the sea himself and became a sea god; referred to how Dante feels being transhumanized; i.e. rising above his human condition ; example of ineffability 6. Marsyas – (1) – Apollo, playing his lyre, defeated the flute-playing Marsyas and punishes the satyr’s presumption by having him flayed; Dante portrays the satyr’s torture as a violent but uplifting possession of the poet by the deity 7. problem of representation – (2) – a series of substitutes: treasure in my mind, a shadow stamped in my mind; the activities of the physical world are a mirror of the spiritual world; spiritual world derives from the Divine Energy centered in the Empyrean and radiating down to the Earth through interlocking spheres; great chain begins with Primum Mobiles, “first movable,” also known as Crystalline, transparent and invisible; this heaven, ninth from Earth, receives energy from God undifferentiated; energy transmitted to eighth heaven, fixed stars/constellations, take qualitative difference; differentiation continues through other seven heavens (5 planets, plus Sun and Moon); all exert influences; also God’s problem: God expresses himself through his creatures: all things whatsoever have order among themselves, footprint of the eternal worth; Dante represents his experience in heaven: treasure, shadow  example, NOT the experience itself 8.