There are moments in the Purgatorio and Paradiso when Dante perfectly expresses both a modern and medieval understanding of “transhuman.” Two of the major transportation scenes are especially noticeable in this light: when Lucia swoops Dante to Purgatory proper (Purg. 9) and when Beatrice beams Dante to Paradise level one (Par. 1). At these moments, these women illustrate a blend of attributes: humane and inhumane, human and animal, and human and god-like or supernatural, thereby existing in the space between human and beyond. Their actions surrounding these transportations empower descriptions of what we think it means to be human or beyond-the-human, transhuman; indeed, the etymology of “transhuman” traces directly to Dante’s creation of the term, “Trasumanar’ combining Tras [passing] with Umano [human]+ ar [verbing human] (Oxford Dictionary; Barolini, Digital Dante; Par. 1.70). To reach an understanding of what is the essence of a human, Dante must move, pass, and beam past the point of human. By expressing the outer limits, the women who transport Dante stretch the boundaries of human. The counterpoint to these two women of transport is the new star of the current television series, Supernatural, the angel Castiel. He beams down and flips Dantean transport (Christian Angels already lack corporeality and humanity), and his conveyance of Dean Winchester out of Hell initiates a Trasumanar and Trasangel [passing beyond angel] dialectic. All of these transporters (Lucia, Beatrice, Castiel) ultimately expand what trasumanar, “human,” and “passing human” really mean in both Dante’s Commedia and current terminology.
About the presenterDena Hughes Arguelles
Dena Arguelles, MA is a full-time lecturer at Kean University. For the past decade, she has taught Composition, Literature, Great Books, and Interdisciplinary Courses such as Creating AnOther: The Construction of Monsters.