Dante and Friendship
International Summer School of the Deutsche Dante-Gesellschaft
Wielandgut Oßmannstedt, Germany
25-29 June 2025
What is a friend? What is friendship? These questions have mattered to humans since ancient times. “Nobody would choose a life without friends,” writes Aristotle in the Ethics, and Cicero advises his readers in the Laelius to “prefer friendship to all things else within human attainment.” For Dante and his contemporaries, these classical notions of friendship played an active part in the transformation of Greek philia and Roman amicitia into the amistà that defined the evolving communal landscape of northern and central Italy.
In Dante’s works, the notion of friendship appears in various and surprising contexts, some theoretical, others poetic. In the Convivio, friendship is described as the bond that binds Dante to his native volgare, the language of his poetry. In the second canto of the Commedia, Beatrice famously calls on the Roman poet Virgil to rescue her friend Dante (“l’amico mio”, Inf. II, 61) from the dark forest, emphasizing the special nature of their friendship. As the wanderer crosses the three realms of the Christian afterworld, he encounters both friends he has already met and new friends he makes on a journey that leads to the reconciliation with God.
Through a series of lectures and common readings, this five-day summer school will discuss the theme of friendship in Dante’s works from a variety of perspectives, ranging from the classical and medieval philosophical tradition to contemporary cultures of friendship in Dante’s Italy. We will also consider the reception of Dante’s works and the implications of his ‘poetics of friendship’ for the writing and reading of literature. Join us for a short week of reading and discovering Dante. The seminar will also provide an opportunity to discuss the participants’ ongoing research projects in Dante studies or in related fields.
The Summer School hosted by the Deutsche Dante-Gesellschaft seeks to promote exchange between giovani dantisti around the world and those who are interested in developing a better understanding of one of the great authors of world literature.
Speakers
Elizabeth Coggeshall, Florida State University
Sonia Gentili, Sapienza Università di Roma
Daragh O’Connell, University College Cork
Matthias Perkams, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Matthias Roick, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
Organization
Karl Philipp Ellerbrock, Universität Konstanz
Franziska Meier, Universität Göttingen
Andrea Renker, Universität Graz
Venue
Located between Weimar and Jena, Wielandgut Oßmannstedt is surrounded by a park and features shared accommodation as well as a modern seminar room. For details see www.weimar-jena-akademie.de.
Programme
| Wednesday 25 June 2025 | |
| Afternoon | Arrival of participants |
| 7 pm | Lectura Dantis |
| 8 pm | Reception |
Thursday 26 June 2025 | |
| 10 am | Matthias Perkams, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena Philosophical theories of friendship in Aristotle, Cicero and Thomas Aquinas |
| 11 am | Joined reading Convivio |
| 1 pm | Lunch |
| 3 pm | Sonia Gentili, Sapienza Università di Roma Ulysses and Diomedes (Dante, Inf. XVI): friendship as an intellectual empowerment |
| 4 pm | Joined reading Inferno |
| 6 pm | Dinner |
Friday 27 June 2025 | |
| 10 am | Joined reading Purgatorio |
| 1 pm | Lunch |
| 3 pm | Guided tour Duchess Anna Amalia Bibliothek Weimar |
| 6 pm | Elizabeth Coggeshall, Florida State University On amistà: The Practice of Friendship in Dante’s Commedia |
Saturday 28 June 2025 | |
| 10 am | Joined reading Paradiso |
| 1 pm | Lunch |
| 3 pm | Daragh O’Connell, University College Cork Dante and Joyce: the Poetics of Literary Friendship |
| 6 pm | Dinner |
Sunday 29 June 2025 | |
| 10 am | Project presentations Chair: Andrea Renker, Universität Graz |
| 1 pm | Lunch |
| Departure of participants |
Registration
The participation fee is 100 € and covers accommodation as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Wielandgut for the duration of the Summer School. The registration form should be completed by 15 February 2025. Please send any queries regarding the Summer School via e-mail to summerschool@dante-gesellschaft.de.