Ben far AND SAlVATION. A FEW THOUGHTS

Abstract

The   article   presents   a   linguistic   analysis   of   the   phrase “ben   far”  in   the context of Dante’s “The Divine Comedy”. The author argues that Dante’s benefaction lies in political and civic activities. The role of social benefaction is shown   to   be   the   way   to  salvation. Brunetto’s   idea   about   the   deficiency   of  verbal benefaction compared to civil blessings is refuted. The author instead suggests   the   concept   of   poetic   benefaction that functions   in “The Divine Comedy” as a Christian instruction.