Verso il ‘Paradiso’: gli oggetti nelle similitudini dantesche

Dante’s similes could be considered one of the possible keys to a reading of the Comedy. The purpose of this contribution is to consider the similes that bear on everyday objects and events and that are introduced to help readers imagine a world they cannot experience. I discuss passages referring to science, handcrafts, navigation, art, architecture, cities and food: each of these types concerns certain objects. I intend to show that the different frequency of certain objects as the poem progresses from Inferno to Paradiso is related to Dante’s concepts of comic and tragic poetry, and to the notion that some human activities can make man worthy of approaching God.