Dante’s use of the Arthurian legend
By the
late 13th century the Arthurian legend and its stories were so
well-known throughout Europe that Dante could use them for one of the most
famous episodes of his Divina Commedia: that
of the tragic love and death of Paolo and Francesca (Inferno, Canto V). Dante
placed the two lovers from Rimini in the ring (girone) of the lustful (lussuriosi).
Virgil, who is Dante’s guide through Hell and Purgatory, first points out to
Dante some of the famous figures in the ground of the lustful: some of them
come from classical history and literature
- Helen of Troy, Dido, Cleopatra; others – such as Tristan – come straight
from the Arthurian legend.
Tristan,
one of the bravest knights of the Round Table, is there because of his
adulterous love for Isolde, wife to King Mark of Cornwall – who was Tristan’s
uncle and who finally killed him.
