From: Patsloane-AT-aol.com
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 1997 08:09:26 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: PLC: Dante's possible sources


What about Maimonides (Rambam), whose work influenced Thomas Aquinas?  He was
the chief rabbi of Cairo, and personal physician to Saladin (who Dante
mentions).

pat sloane

======================================================
> Subj:	 Re: PLC: Dante's possible sources
>  Date:	97-11-23 02:45:20 EST
>  From:	downingg-AT-is2.nyu.edu (Gregory {Greg} Downing)
>  Sender:	owner-phillitcrit-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU
>  Reply-to:	phillitcrit-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU
>  To:	phillitcrit-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU
>  
>  At 10:55 PM 11/21/97 -0800, you wrote:
>  >        By the way, there's been interesting research done on Dante's
>  >sources. At one time the Spaniard Miguel Asin Palacios got in a fair
amount
>  >of controversy by suggesting Islamic sources for the Comedia; see his _La
>  >escatologia musulmana en la divina comedia_, cuarta edicion, Madrid:
Libros
>  >Hiperion, 1984 (1st ed. 1919). I don't know what modern-day Dante
scholars
>  >think of Asin Palacios; a good person to ask would be the learned Otfried
>  >Lieberknecht, over on Medtext-l.
>  >
>  >
>  >Michael Chase (goya-AT-uvic.ca)
>  >
>  
>  The book's also been printed for the nonhispanophone in an English
>  translation, in at least two editions if I can recall. Some elements
seemed
>  possibly arguable to me, others rather tenuous. But I'd like to hear a
real
>  expert's opinion if you can obtain one. There were also lots of
>  journey-to-the-underworld or visions-of-heaven documents, ancient/pagan
and
>  medieval, some of which Dante definitely knew, others of which maybe knew
or
>  maybe didn't (but even if not, they still make germane cultural and
literary
>  parallels-with-differences -- as would also be the case with Asin Palacios
>  if he's full of it on the Dante/Islam nexus).
>  
>  Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing-AT-nyu.edu or downingg-AT-is2.nyu.edu
>  



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