ctaylor

"A great flame follows a little spark" (The Divine Comedy).  Dante finds himself in the dark woods of error.  He tries to make his way out to the mountain of joy, when he is confronted by three wild beasts.  An action of his, the one that caused him to be in the dark woods was a spark that exploded into a flame, his onerous journey through hell.  The first souls that Dante sees being tormented are the souls of people that eschewed any and every path, good or evil.  These people, even though they committed no evil in their lives, they did no good either, living only for themselves and are punished to an eternal torment of being chased by a swarm of wasps and hornets, which make them bleed.  They had a little spark, being amoral, and the denouement was a great flame of eternal torment to be brought upon them.  The first circle of hell that Dante encounters if filled with "virtuous pagans."  They were born before Christianity, which was their spark.  When they were born, their life was an imprecation.  They could not be redeemed because Christ had not been born yet, so they are not tormented, but instead are engulfed in the pain of having no hope. 

Dante Alighieri

Youth- Dante’s mother died when he was young.  He took interest in vernacular lyrics and wrote La Vita Nuova.

Middle- The Guelfs were defeated by the Beneventos.  Then the Beneventos defeated the Guelfs.  Then the Guelfs divided into the Blacks and Whites because they were uncontested for so many years.  Dante was a Black and the Blacks were defeated by the Whites, and he was sent into exile.

Elderly- Dante studied at Paris.  He wrote The Comedy  and The Inferno.  Dante died after 19 years of exile.