Dante turning from the she-wolf

The image I chose is by Gustave Doré titled, “Dante turning from the she-wolf.” I found it  by using the databases in the resources tab, and after some browsing for images that pertained to the parts of the canto that stuck out to me the most, I chose this one which is located in the World of Dante (University of Virginia) tab. The image is of Dante after he speaks with the Virgil, being guided away by them as he turns away from the she-wolf that he feared so heavily.

This image stuck out to me over the others because as I was reading, I was copying down certain lines that suck out to me. For example: “you must hold to another path, if you wish to escape this savage place.” This can be interpreted in many ways such as that of a life lesson that every single person experiences. That is, the choice to willingly go down a different path and experience happiness in your own path. Previously, the leader that approaches Dante asks him, “Why do you not climb the delightful mountain that is origin and cause of all joy? (76)” Essentially asking him what we should all ask ourselves, should we, and how do we choose happiness?

The final lines in canto 1 are what I think this picture is depicting, (which is literally the title of the image) Dante turning away from the she-wolf and choosing another path. My favorite lines in canto 1 are as follows: “and you will see those who are content in the fire, because they hope to come, whenever it may be, to the blessed people (118) “Poet, I beg you that by God whom you did not know, so that I may flee this evil and worse, that you lead me where you have just now said, so that i may see the gates of Saint Peter and those whom you call so woebegone (130-136).” I really enjoyed this and feel that there is a metaphor or allegory in this entire epic pertaining to very natural and typical feelings that human beings experience daily throughout their entire life’s journey.

This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.