Context: Convivio ( The Banquet ) is a work written by Dante Alighieri roughly between 1304 and 1307 . This unfinished work of Dante consists of four trattati , or `` books '' : a prefatory one , plus three books that each include a canzone ( long lyrical poem ) and a prose allegorical interpretation or commentary of the poem that goes off in multiple thematic directions . The Convivio is a major stage of development for Dante , very different from the visionary world of the Vita nuova ( although like the earlier work it too is a medium for the author 's evolving sense of artistic vocation and philosophical - spiritual quest ) . This difference is reflected in how the two works use the prosimetrum format : in the Vita Nova there is a complex interrelation and intertwining between the prose and the poetry , while in the Convivio large blocks of prose have an autonomous existence apart from the poems ; the content of the poetry is not amplified or edited in the prose so much as commented upon prosaically , to serve as points of departure for the various subjects that the Convivio discusses . Dante himself tells us that the prose of the Convivio is `` temperate and virile , '' in contrast to the `` fervid and passionate '' prose of the Vita Nova ; and that while the approach to this in the work of his youth was `` like dreaming '' the Convivio approaches it subjects soberly and wide awake , often modeling its style on Scholastic authors . The Convivio is a kind of vernacular encyclopedia of the knowledge of Dante 's time ; it touches on many areas of learning , not only philosophy but also politics , linguistics , science , and history . The treatise begins with the prefatory book , or proem , which explains why a book like the Convivio is needed and why Dante is writing it in the vernacular instead of Latin . It is one of Dante 's early defenses of the vernacular , expressed in greater detail in his ( slightly earlier ) linguistic treatise De vulgari eloquentia ( On Eloquence in the Vernacular ) . Books 2 and 3 form a unit , both focusing on Dante 's new love after the death of Beatrice -- his love for Lady Philosophy , `` the most beautiful and dignified daughter of the Emperor of the universe , '' as he calls her . Book 2 discusses allegory and Lady Philosophy ( in connection with the canzone Voi che '' ntendendo il terzo ciel movete ( You who move the third heaven with an act of the intellect ) , which opens the book ) , and also brings such subjects as astronomy , angelology , and the soul 's immortality . Book 3 is a hymn of praise for philosophy , launched by an allegorical interpretation of Dante 's great canzone Amor che ne la mente mi ragiona ( Love , who speaks to me in my mind ) . In this book , Dante asserts that true philosophy can not arise from any ulterior motives , such as prestige or money -- it is only possible when the seeker has a love of wisdom for its own sake . Book 4 is by far the longest of the Convivio , and is noticeably distinct from the two books that precede it . The subject of book 4 is the nature of nobility . It opens with the longest canzone of the Convivio , Le dolci rime damor ( Those sweet poems of love ) , which is explicitly about gentilezza or nobility , as well as a condemnation of avarice , asserting that reason and the spirit of acquisition are mutually incompatible . The first half of book 4 's thirty chapters are dedicated to debunking the false idea of nobility as an inherited trait , one restricted to the aristocracy , while the final fifteen chapters delineate what true nobility consists of -- the perfection of a thing according to its nature -- and how nobility manifests in people at various stages of life . The Convivio , in its autobiographical passages and in the trajectories of its lines of thought , gives us a rich portrait of Dante himself , of great importance for an understanding of his work as a whole , especially the Divine Comedy ., World literature is sometimes used to refer to the sum total of the worlds national literatures, but usually it refers to the circulation of works into the wider world beyond their country of origin. Often used in the past primarily for masterpieces of Western European literature, world literature today is increasingly seen in global context. Readers today have access to an unprecedented range of works from around the world in excellent translations, and since the mid-1990s a lively debate has grown up concerning both the aesthetic and the political values and limitations of an emphasis on global processes over national traditions., Italian (or "lingua italiana" ) is a Romance language. It is the second-closest to Latin in terms of vocabulary after Sardinian. Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City and western Istria (in Slovenia and Croatia). It used to have official status in Albania, Malta and Monaco, where it is still widely spoken, as well as in former Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa regions where it plays a significant role in various sectors. Italian is spoken by small minorities in places such as France (especially in Corsica), Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages. Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world., The Divine Comedy is a poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed 1320, a year before his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It helped establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written, as the standardized Italian language. It is divided into three parts: "Inferno", "Purgatorio", and "Paradiso"., The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history generally comprising the 14th and 15th centuries (c. 13011500). The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern era (and, in much of Europe, the Renaissance)., Durante degli Alighieri, simply called Dante (, ; c. 1265  1321), was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages. His "Divine Comedy", originally called ' (modern Italian: "Commedia") and later christened ' by Boccaccio, is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature., Subject: convivio, Relation: instance_of, Options: (A) afterlife (B) church (C) city (D) comedy (E) country (F) death (G) emphasis (H) history (I) italy (J) language (K) literary work (L) literature (M) period (N) range (O) romance (P) status (Q) three (R) work (S) year
Output: literary work