Dante's Universe

Since my explanation of Dante's universe was probably rather confusing today, I have found some charts that might make things clearer. These explain better how Dante is able to hold to the geocentric view and yet have God at the center.



This one helps you see more in detail where the heavenly spheres (planets) fit in




and this one helps place everything together (Hell, Earth, Purgatory, and Paradise). Here you can see that it all follows the basic Aristotilian model, while, in the Empyrean, you see the focus leading to a single point. This image is what I was trying to show you today in class with Dore's etching as well as my sub-standard drawing on the board, as I just couldn't quite figure out how to explain this visually today. This model could also be used to express what Grosseteste says concerning Light as corporality itself from which all other corporal forms (here the planets) come. I'll have handouts of these in class on Thursday as well, but I wanted to clear up any confusion as soon as possible.