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italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies Dear italian-studies colleagues, I am teaching Dante’s *Inferno*, in English translation, to students of religion and theology at the University of Bristol. One of my students is interested in Dante’s notion of judgement, and has asked a question I can not answer very well; perhaps you may help me. Is there any scholarship (preferably) in English that discusses the way Dante uses the terms ‘giudizio’ and ‘sentenza’ in the Inferno? Does, for example, the use of ‘giudizio’ in 5.13-15 (Sempre dinanzi a lui ne stanno molte: / vanno a vicenda ciascuna al giudizio, / dicono e odono e poi son giù volte. mean something distinct from the use of ‘sentenza’ in 6.104 (per ch'io dissi: «Maestro, esti tormenti / crescerann' ei dopo la gran sentenza, / o fier minori, o saran sì cocenti?»)? The discussions of these passages in the Enciclopedia dantesca’s articles on ‘giudizio’ and ‘sentenza’ seem to present the terms as synonymous, but the student suspects — as do I — that Dante intends some difference here. The student thinks that ‘sentenza’ may be more linked to the future Last Judgement, whereas Minos’s ‘giudizio’ is ongoing, and that this might explain Dante’s decision to use these specific terms in these contexts. On the other hand, perhaps Dante chooses to use ‘giudizio’ in 5.14 — the only time the term is used in the entire Commedia — to equate more strongly the judgement of Minos with that of God in the Final Judgement. Thank you for your thoughts. Best wishes, George -- George FERZOCO [log in to unmask] ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: subscribe italian-studies YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe italian-studies to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/italian-studies