The Divine Comedy Adapted for Technology

Links:

Guiseppe Mazzotta's Lectures

iDante for the iPad

The Inferno iPhone Game

The culture today is much different than the culture of Dante’s time.  Because tablet computers, smart phones, and iPods have become very popular in the last few years, classical stories have been adapted for this technology.  There are numerous eBook versions of The Divine Comedy that we can download instead of buying the physical book.  There are also audiobooks that we can listen to instead of actually reading the story.  On iTunes, I found a series of free lectures, which can either be watched or listened to, by a professor from Yale University, Giuseppe Mazzotta.  These lectures discuss The Divine Comedy and Dante’s other books and are a good resource for a student studying The Divine Comedy.  The Divine Comedy has also inspired computer games for iPads and iPhones.

Anyone who likes The Divine Comedy and the iPad will love this app.  It is called iDante for the iPad.  This app was designed in order to give readers a more in-depth understanding of The Divine Comedy.  iDante for the iPad includes the un-abridged version of The Divine Comedy, in both Italian and English, combined with more than 500 pictures (including Dore’s prints).  iDante for the iPad is not just an illustrated eBook.  It is almost like a game.  The most important places that Dante visits in The Divine Comedy can be explored by the reader by turning the picture 360°.  There are 3D diagrams illustrating Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven so the reader can get a better idea of their designs. 

Scene from iDante for the iPad:

 

I also found a game for iPhones called The Inferno, based on The Divine Comedy.  In this game, Dante needs to successfully make his way through 121 levels.  However, the goal of the game is very different than the goal of Dante’s journey in The Divine Comedy.  In The Divine Comedy, Dante is making his way through Hell and Purgatory in order to get to Beatrice, who is Heaven, and, more importantly, in order to learn to reject sin.  In The Inferno the game, Dante is making his way through Hell in order to save Beatrice from being sent to Hell for committing adultery with Dante.  Another difference between the game and the original story is that in the game, Dante actually meets Medusa.  In the poem, on the other hand, Medusa is only mentioned.  In Canto IX, the Furies wish that Medusa would come and turn Dante into stone.

Scene from The Inferno:

It is truly amazing how culture and technology have developed since Dante’s time and how The Divine Comedy has changed with this development.  The two apps that I mentioned look like a lot of fun.  The first one will help a student in understanding the The Divine Comedy, while the second app is a fun game to play while taking a break from studying The Divine Comedy!