“Midway in the journey of our life I came to myself in a dark wood, for the straight way was lost.” With this beginning, Dante invites us to join him on his journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.

At once an epic poem, a reflection on divine justice, and an investigation of the human good, Dante’s masterpiece encourages us to reflect how we too might be journeying within a “dark wood,” and how we might find the road up and out into the light.

Image: Federico Zuccaro, Canto III, Divine Comedy

Prof. Utter on Auden's The Shield of Achilles

Faculty

Christopher Utter

Christopher Utter is a professorial lecturer in the Department of Government in the School of Public Affairs at American University. He has taught courses in the history of political philosophy, classical political philosophy, American political thought, American politics, and public affairs. His research focuses mainly on classical political philosophy with a particular interest in the problem of theory and practice in Plato and Aristotle.

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