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Dante's Divine Comedy Trivia Quiz

Multiple choice trivia about arguably the best poem ever written. Dante e' in gamba!

A multiple-choice quiz by maggie99. Estimated time: 3 mins.

Author
maggie99

Time
3 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
22,584

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
1776

Last 3 plays: Guest 51 (9/10), Guest 69 (0/10), Guest 93 (8/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. The city from which Dante was exiled when he wrote the Divine Comedy and on which his text makes many comments was: Hint

Milan

Rome

Florence

Bologna

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Question 2 of 10

2. Who is Dante's guide through Hell and Purgatory? Hint

Virgil

Homer

St. Augustine

Adam

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Question 3 of 10

3. What woman occupies Dante's mind more than anyone else? Hint

Mary

Beatrice

Lucy

Pamela Anderson

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Question 4 of 10

4. How old was Dante when he met this special lady? Hint

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. What are the physical settings of Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso? Hint

Battlefield, Mess Hall, University

Dungeon, Forest, Cloud

Pit, Mountain, Universe

Underwater, Marsh, Field

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Question 6 of 10

6. How many circles of Hell are there? Hint

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Question 7 of 10

7. How many rivers are named in Hell? Hint

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Question 8 of 10

8. What ISN'T God in the Divine Comedy? Hint

a man sitting on the moon

surrounding a sphere

the center of a sphere

source of light

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Question 9 of 10

9. Whom does Dante NOT meet in the Divine Comedy? Hint

Minos

God

Beatrice

his mother

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Question 10 of 10

10. Where and when (approximately) did Dante live? Hint

Italy, 1300

France, 1000

Spain, 1500

Japan, 2500

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Most Recent Scores

Apr 16 2024 : Guest 51: 9/10
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Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The city from which Dante was exiled when he wrote the Divine Comedy and on which his text makes many comments was:

Answer: Florence

Florence is like a 'sick woman that can find no rest on her bed of down but with turning seeks to ease her pain.' Purgatorio VI 149-151.

2. Who is Dante's guide through Hell and Purgatory?

Answer: Virgil

Virgil does not bring Dante all the way to Paradise because he was a Pagan and a permanent resident of Limbo.

3. What woman occupies Dante's mind more than anyone else?

Answer: Beatrice

4. How old was Dante when he met this special lady?

Answer: 9

Yes, at the tender age of nine Dante saw Beatrice, also nine, on the street. She was was wearing a red coat, and he was instantly enamoured. They never talked, although when Dante was eighteen (nine times two!) she passed him on the street and said 'excuse me.' That was enough that he needed to go home and lie down for awhile. Sadly, Beatrice and Dante each married someone else, and Beatrice died at twenty five. Dante was crushed.

5. What are the physical settings of Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso?

Answer: Pit, Mountain, Universe

First Dante descends into the pit of Hell, then he climbs the mountain of Purgatory, then he travels away from the earth into the universe.

6. How many circles of Hell are there?

Answer: 9

Number nine pops up again! In order of least offense to greatest: 1. Limbo- virtuous Pagans. 2. Lascivious. 3. Gluttons. 4. Avaricious and Spendthrifts. 5. Wrathful. 6. Heretics. 7. Violent. 8. Fraudulent. 9. Treacherous.

7. How many rivers are named in Hell?

Answer: 4

In order as Dante sees them: 1. Acheron (root word 'ache'): all souls cross it on the way into Hell. 2. Styx: the wrathful souls are submerged in it and are beating eachother up. 3. Phlegethon: the river of blood in which those violent against others are boiling. 4. Cocytus: the iced lake of the treacherous with Lucifer frozen in the middle.

There is a fifth river, Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, but Dante doesn't give its name.

8. What ISN'T God in the Divine Comedy?

Answer: a man sitting on the moon

The idea of God as the center AND that which surrounds a sphere is one of the coolest paradoxes of Paradiso. In Dante's rendition, God is the most distant shell that surrounds the geocentric universe. But once Dante travels almost to that point, he converges from an outside sphere to God at the very center of that sphere. For anyone mathematically inclined, check out Riemann's idea of a hypersphere.

9. Whom does Dante NOT meet in the Divine Comedy?

Answer: his mother

He gets a blissful and transcedental moment with God, Beatrice meets him in Purgatory and takes him almost all the way to God, Minos is the judge of the condemned souls in the second circle of Hell.

10. Where and when (approximately) did Dante live?

Answer: Italy, 1300

Come on, he's Italian. That's not too hard.

Source: Author maggie99

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bullymom before going online.
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