On March 25, Professor Paul Gwynne was honored with an invitation to deliver a lecture in the esteemed Lectura Dantis Metelliana series at Cava de’ Tirreni. This long-running academic initiative, hosted by the University of Salerno, brings together leading Dante scholars to explore and interpret aspects of The Divine Comedy within broader literary and cultural frameworks.
Professor Gwynne’s lecture, delivered in Italian and titled “Ripercorrere il Cammino: La Commedia nella Carliade di Ugolino Verino,” offered an examination of how Dante’s monumental work echoes through the humanist epic Carlias, written by the Florentine poet Ugolino Verino (1438–1510).
In his richly detailed presentation, Professor Gwynne explored how Verino reimagines Dante’s vision to shape a Christian hero in the figure of Charlemagne. The historical figure who had conquered the infidel throughout his territories and whose coronation in Rome on Christmas Day in 800 re-established the Western Roman Empire, is here remade into the hero of a Christian epic whose deeds excel those of Achilles, Odysseus and Aeneas. The poem is divided in two parts: the first six books recount Charlemagne’s mythical exploits in the Holy Land; while in the last books Charlemagne expels the Goths from Italy. Verino’s epic includes all the classical tropes: he begins in medias res; there are banquets, journeys, storms at sea, great battles and councils of war.
The lecture focused in particular on the epic’s katabasis—a descent into the underworld—where Charlemagne mirrors Dante’s own journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. In a striking literary homage, Verino’s hero traverses the three realms of the afterlife, culminating in a celestial audience with the Virgin Mary. Her blessing not only sanctifies his crusade but situates the emperor’s legacy within a Christian eschatology, one cheered on by angelic hosts.
Professor Gwynne’s scholarship bridges classical tradition and Renaissance innovation, and his contribution to the Lectura Dantis Metelliana reflects his continued commitment to making the study of humanist literature both accessible and globally relevant. As a noted expert in Renaissance Latin, Gwynne brings a rare fluency in both language and historical nuance to his research and public lectures. His work at AUR continues to position the university as a hub of international humanities scholarship at the heart of Rome.
The lecture is available to view online via YouTube.