As part of Humanities Week, Prof. Alfie will give a public talk entitled "A Divine Dilemma: Dante's Representation of the Jews."
In March 2013 the Italian Human Rights Group Gherush92 called for Dante’s Comedy to be banned from the schools because, they argued, Dante was anti-Semitic. This may be an unfair judgment processed through a modern day logic. For medieval Christians, the presence of Jewish communities within Christendom provoked contradictory reactions: Jewish holy books were also Christian holy books, and their rites were sanctioned by the God of Israel; at the same time, the Jewish people rejected Christ as the Messiah, and did not follow the New Law. Prof. Alfie explore Dante’s paradoxical views about Jewish people of medieval Europe.
The talk will be free and open to the public.
