Since antiquity the living have attempted to describe the world of the dead. However, only at the beginning of the Christian Era did the Afterlife become endowed with an accurate and organized architecture and ethical life. Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, and then Islamic traditions contain most of these new literary motives and theological ideas. The course aims to trace and describe the development of the concept of the Afterlife from the classical tradition in Antiquity till Dante’s Divine Comedy. In particular, it shall analyse and compare two of the best examples of otherworldly journeys: that of the Persian Wīrāz (9^th century) and that of Dante (14^th century).

This course will be given in English.