How The Divine Comedy drew on 1 Maccabees
A documented line of influence: Dante Alighieri demonstrably engaged Unknown’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
1 Maccabees
Unknown · c. 100 BCE
BibleThe influenced
The Divine Comedy
Dante Alighieri · 1320
MedievalRelevance
5/10
On The Divine Comedy’s page
- One of the bright souls in Dante's Heaven of Mars, "il gran Maccabeo" of Paradiso XVIII, steps straight out of 1 Maccabees
- He is Judas Maccabeus, the rebel leader who fought to reclaim the Temple — Dante ranks him with Joshua, Charlemagne, and Roland as a warrior of faith
- Knowing his story gives the brief flare of his name its full charge
On 1 Maccabees’s page
- Judas Maccabeus, the warrior-hero of 1 Maccabees, climbs all the way to Dante's heaven
- In Paradiso XVIII he shines as "il gran Maccabeo" in the Sphere of Mars, among the warriors of faith — Joshua, Charlemagne, Roland, Godfrey
- Dante took the figure straight from the Maccabees narrative and set him in eternal light