ABSTRACT
Metaphorically, translatio refers to the rendering of a text from one language to another, but this was not the only term used to indicate the multifaceted idea of "translation". Dante is well aware of the meaning and value of translation for his own literary enterprise, and, in many ways, he is the consummate translator of the Middle Ages. In his "translation" of the Book of the Universe, whose author is God, Dante achieves his greatest and most sublime goal. Dante translates works of art and musical expressions into his poetic fabric making it appeal to our senses, both visual and aural. Significantly, in the Bible the local accent serves to differentiate Peter's speech from that of the others, while in the Comedy Dante's Tuscan speech ironically aligns him with Farinata. The same phenomenon occurs more generally with all the texts in the classical and medieval literary traditions incorporated in the Comedy.
