Two gifted teachers share the fruit of two lifetimes’ worth of historical and literary expertise in this rewarding introduction to one of the greatest poems ever written. You will explore invaluable background information on Dante’s life, why he wrote the Divine Comedy, how to approach English editions, and many of the poem’s characters and episodes.
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This course examines all 13 books, or chapters, of this masterpiece that inspired Dante and Martin Luther and encouraged Christianity to accept the thinking of Plato. It provides the background needed to understand the Confessions as Augustine intended and analyzes his account—told in stories that are as powerful as any in world literature—of the events leading to his Christian conversion.
Explore how some of the most influential masterpieces of literature became part of the elite catalog of books known as the Western literary canon. In The Western Literary Canon in Context, you journey from the ancient world to the 20th century and investigate the literary and historical significance of works including the Odyssey, Beowulf, Moby-Dick, War and Peace, and Ulysses. Award-winning Professor John M. Bowers reveals to you the amazing dialogue that occurs among authors, civilizations, generations, genres, and literary styles in the Western canon. Above all, this insightful course will reshape your thoughts on the development of Western literature.
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