The Convivio is a philosophical essay composed in the years between 1304 and 1307 (after Dante’s exile). Some parts are in poetry and some others in prose and it’s written in Italian language. It’s formed by four parts (four treatises) and is unfinished.

The title means "banquet": in fact, in the first book, Dante metaphorically represents this work as a banquet made of wisdom, where the parts in poetry represent the courses and the ones in prose are the bread. The guests to this banquet are all the ones who are eager for knowledge but are too busy doing politics to study. That’s why Dante has written the Convivio in Italian, so that everybody can understand it (at those times, the essays were usually written in Latin language).
(See also the Cicero and Dante page for info about Cicero’s influence on Dante’s Convivio).

In the second book, Dante explains that, just after Beatrice’s death, he has begun studying deeply philosophy and loving this subject. So, he personifies the philosophy in a gentle woman, who he imagines to love.

In the third book he carefully describes this woman, again using Stilnovo criteria. He also defines philosophy as a loving use of wisdom (book III, XII, 12).

In the fourth book, he first defines nobility as something you don’t inherit but you must gain from God, acting well and being pure. Then, he anticipates some political ideas, which will be then improved in the Monarchia.

Dante wrote the Convivio in order to defend his reputation, gotten worst after the exile, and to show his cultural value. Many philosophical and political ideas showed in it will be later used in other works, mainly in the Divina Commedia.

To get a full, free copy of the Convivio, go to the Texts Download area.