Tag: Dante's the Inferno

100 Days of Dante: Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy – Inferno: Canto 12

· Leave a comment ·

I’m probably slowing down a lot from now on. I’ve gotten a lot busier, but I’m committed to trying to finish the Divine Comedy. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, so even if it takes a long time, I’ll get through the 100 Days of Dante, which is helping me understand a lot about the Divine Comedy while reading it. 

Questions for Reflection

Dante meets many mythical creatures in the rings of the Violent. Interestingly, they are all hybrid creatures: half human, half beast. In canto 12 we meet the Minotaur and the centaurs, for example. What does this fusion of human and beast reveal about Dante’s theology of violence? How does he depict violence as undoing the human person and the possibility of human flourishing?

The fusion of human and beast reveal about Dante’s theology of violence against neighbors is that it’s the animalistic part of a human that drives them to harm others to such a violent degree. Many tyrants, murderers, and plunderers are found within this first ring in the seventh circle, which is the violent sins of people who committed violent crimes against their neighbors. As Jesus said, “‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt. 22:36-40). One of Christ’s teachings is to love your neighbor as yourself, which the ones found in this first ring of the seventh circle does not adhere to. Dante sees the ones who sin here as so violent, it’s not accounted for as an act of wrath, but a condemnation of the person that they are. Beastlike, but human, only seeking violence against others and gains for themselves. His depiction of violence as the undoing of the human person and the possibility of human flourishing is like the stream of blood in this canto. The more violent the act against another and their possessions, the more they’re covered in blood to a point we don’t see much of them. It’s the filling of space and so it overcomes the humanity in the person as they suffer in the boiling blood. 

How might the hybrid creatures in these circles be ironic or perverse images or invocations of Christ?

I didn’t think that the hybrid creatures in these circles were ironic or perverse images of Christ, but according to Barolini in regard to the invocations of Christ:

Perhaps having learned from the experience of watching the angel open the gate of Dis, Virgilio taunts the Minotaur by reminding him of Theseus (“the duke of Athens” of verse 17). Theseus is, as Virgilio states, the Greek hero who was able to defeat the Minotaur on Crete: “Forse / tu credi che qui sia ’l duca d’Atene, / che sù nel mondo la morte ti porse?” (Perhaps / you think this is the Duke of Athens here, / who, in the world above, brought you your death [Inf. 12.16-18]). Similarly, in Inferno 9, the Furies are still haunted by the “assault” of Theseus on Hades (Inf. 9.54), and the angel taunts the infernal throng with the memory of Hercules, who once defeated Cerberus (Inf. 9.97-99). Theseus and Hercules are classical forerunners of Christ, early harrowers of Hell whose actions symbolize infernal defeat.

Barolini, Teodolinda (Inferno 12: Cupidigia/Tirannia).

So, Christ, the Son, is a figure that overcomes his obstacles by the power of Him, God, the Father. This follows the idea that by overcoming the obstacles, it shows that he has defeated his foes. Theseus and Hercules invoked as early forms of a figure of Christ who overcomes obstacles set by divine beings. Theseus overcomes the furies and Hercules overcomes the challenges set to him by the gods. Ultimately, as Barolini says, their actions symbolize infernal defeat, so that Dante is making a comparison that Theseus is sort of that Christ figure in verse 17. 

Commenting on the earthquake that shook hell at Christ’s resurrection, Virgil ascribes it to the theory of Empedocles that the world goes through endless cycles of the concord and chaos of its various elements. In Virgil’s explanation, the event of Christ’s resurrection was when the world “felt love” (12.42) before cycling back into dissolution and discord. Why is this not an adequate account of the nature of the world and of history for Dante’s Christian imagination? And yet, is there anything in this account that anticipates the Christian truth of the world?

According to Dr. Tony Osbourne on the imagery of the earthquake: “Dante compares Hell’s rubble to the devastation he saw in northern Italy after an earthquake hit Trent in the Adige river…. erosion and broken cliffs evoke the rubble of civilization toppled by inner rot. The erosion of morality and righteousness in using outer destruction to reflect the inner states of violence Dante’s images humanize the world and enlarge our perspectives.” While Virgil is wrong scientifically to attribute the earthquake to Empedocles’s idea that the world goes through endless cycles of the concord and chaos of its various elements as we learn in science that earthquakes are generated due to the movement of the tectonic plates rather than chaos and concord, the earthquake symbolized the degeneration of the human condition in these peoples trapped in this ring of the seventh circle of violence. The earthquake’s devastation in northern Italy could be considered punishment for the degeneration of humanity. I believe that many Italians find themselves in Hell, certainly some that Dante has recognized despite them originally being unrecognizable, due to Florence being in Tuscany which is a part of northern Italy. Also, the coming of Christ was foretold by the earthquake by attributing the ‘love’ from the earthquake to right before Christ showed up in hell. 

What contrapasso must the violent against others suffer? Why are the centaurs the ones who hunt violent souls like mounted cavalry on the shore of the river of blood?

The contrapasso the violent against others suffer is that they’re in a “stream of blood, where those / who injure others violently, boil. / O blind cupidity and insane anger, / which goad us on so much in our short life, / then steep us in such grief eternally.” (Lines 47-51). The centaurs who hunt violent souls like mounted cavalry on the shores of the river of blood happen because “as, in the world above, they [centaurs] used to hunt” (line 57). Dante utilizes a classical being, in this case centaurs as another half-beast, half-human being, that has a role in Hell. In the centaurs’ case, they hunt violent souls because like when they were alive on Earth, they hunted others. 

Why does Dante depict centaurs like Chiron and Nessus the way he does? Does he mean for them to be more rational and humane than the humans being punished in this circle?

Chiron is described as “mighty…tutor of Achilles” (line 71) and Nessus is described as the one “who died because of lovely Deianira / and of himself wrought vengeance for himself” (lines 68-69). Dante the Poet means for them to be more rational and humane than the humans being punished in this circle because they’re not the ones boiling in the stream of blood. If they were meant to be like the humans being punished, they would also be suffering in the boiling blood, and Nessus wouldn’t be used as a guide for Dante and Virgil. Since Dante the Poet depicts them as more rational and humane, it leads to Nessus becoming a guide for the two traveling in the area. Dante’s inability to fly like a spirit is against him going forward, but they fixed the problem by utilizing a being that can get across the stream.  

How does Dante the poet draw attention to the human body throughout this canto and why is that an important focus for the themes of this infernal ring?

Dante the Poet draws attention to the human body throughout this canto by Dante’s ability to move rocks as seen by Chiron who asks: “Have you noticed / how he who walks behind moves what he touches? / Dead souls are not accustomed to do that” (lines 80-82) and cannot fly like spirits can (line 96). This is an important focus for the themes of this infernal ring because it reveals that Dante the Pilgrim has restrictions due to him being alive. Once more, Dante and Virgil have a problem due to Dante being alive, but in this, it’s an inability to do certain things to move ahead rather than having others try to stop them from moving on. Dante the Pilgrim can move things as he walks by so others know he is alive. Dante the Pilgrim cannot fly like spirits can so they need a guide to be able to carry Dante over the stream of blood: “By the power that permits my steps / to journey on so wild a path, give us / one of your band, to serve as our companion; / and let him show us where to ford the ditch, / and let him bear this man upon his back, / for he’s no spirit who can fly through air.” (Lines 91-96). Dante the Poet drawing attention to the human body in this canto is a stark reminder of how human Dante the Pilgrim is. 

Notes:

Alighieri, Dante; Mandelbaum, Allen. “The Inferno.” The Divine Comedy. Everyman’s Library. 1 Aug. 1995. Book.

Barolini, Teodolinda. “Inferno 12: Cupidigia/Tirannia.” Commento Baroliniano, Digital Dante. New York, NY: Columbia University Libraries, 2018, 22 Sept. 2023. <https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/inferno/inferno-12/>

BibleGate. Matthew 22:36-40. New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America, 2021, 26 Sept. 2023

Osborne, Tony. “Inferno, Canto 12 with Dr. Tony Osborne”. Gonzaga University. Uploaded to YouTube by Baylor HonorsCollege. 3 Oct. 2021, 26 Sept. 2023. <Inferno, Canto 12 with Dr. Tony Osborne – YouTube>

100 Days of Dante: Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy: The Inferno – Canto 11

· Leave a comment ·

I apologize for the wait. I had some things going on this past week, but hopefully I’ll be able to catch up soon!

Questions for Reflection

In this canto we pause in the journey to listen to Virgil as he describes the moral landscape of hell. What are some surprising details about its arrangement? Why do you think Dante the Poet has designed his Inferno in such a way?

I was surprised about how violence is a lesser sin than fraud, but as Virgil explains why fraud is a higher sin, I began to understand more. I think Dante the Poet has designed his Inferno this way because other people would be surprised at how Dante the Poet designed hell, and he needed to explain a little on why hell is the way it is. Why are there an upper and lower levels of hell? Why are they arranged the way it is? I think Dante the Poet tried to get ahead of these questions the further into hell he brings us as it’s his design of hell that we’re reading about. The Bible doesn’t elaborate on the design of hell besides on things like the lake of fire where everyone who hasn’t gone to Heaven will burn. The Divine Comedy is a look into how a human views Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. It’s specifically a view from Dante the Poet who takes us readers on a journey via the point of view of Dante the Pilgrim and we readers along with Dante the Pilgrim are meant to explore Dante the Poet’s Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven and learn about the three spheres where one can go after they’ve died (although we are all not dead yet!). Moreover, there are Christian sects now that don’t believe in Purgatory – only a Heaven and a Hell. 

Why are sins of Fraud considered morally worse than those of incontinence and of violence? In what ways does Dante’s arrangement challenge some of our contemporary moral assumptions? Are there aspects of Dante’s moral vision that we should reclaim?

The sins of Fraud is considered morally worse than those of incontinence and violence because fraud is a sin that is specifically human and deliberate. As Virgil says: “fraud. Is man’s peculiar vice; / God finds it more displeasing – and therefore / the fraudulent are lower, suffering more” (Lines 25-27). As Dr. Howell notes in her video: “As Virgil explains, since fraud’s a sin peculiar to mankind, God hates it more and so the fraudulent sink further down assailed by greater pain. Fraud is uniquely human for it entails deception. For fraud to occur, you have to first know truth. It is the only way to defy or distort truth thus sins of fraud entail not only a disordering of passions but also of the intellect. The intellect is one of the highest gifts given to humankind. Like violence, there are degrees of fraud: fraud against nature, fraud against our neighbors, fraud against our families….the darkest sin of all awaits us at the center of Hell, fraud against God.” To commit fraud is to do deliberately and to distort the truth. It’s entirely a human choice whether to commit fraud or not. In addition, Dante has nearly half of hell dedicated to those who commit fraud (Barolini). His arrangements of hell challenge some of our contemporary moral assumptions but at the same time, there are similarities found in today’s society that match Dante’s moral vision. Dante is highly against usury, which makes money off of investments where there is no direct labor involved and one still earns money. We see this in today’s society where poor people are angry at those who invest in the stock market, especially if it’s someone who’s a billionaire.  

What are the three types of violence that Virgil discusses (11.31ff) and how are they different from the vice of wrath in circle 5? Is this a credible account of violence as forms of malice?

The three types of violence is: “to God and to one’s self and to one’s neighbor — / I mean, to them or what is theirs – one can / do violence” (lines 31-33). So violence can be done to one’s neighbor, one’s self, and to God which includes violence to the person but also violence to one’s things/property. These types of violence that Virgil discusses are different from the vice of wrath because it is very specific to doing violence to God, self, and neighbor than a general wrath against all others. I think both violence and wrath are forms of malice, but the types of violence is much more specific and thus harmful so the malice is greater especially as there’s a taste of betrayal when committing violence against God, self, and neighbor, and we know that betrayal is the worst of the sins one can commit. 

The pilgrim inquires the most about the sin of usury (or loaning money at exploitatively high interest rates). Dante’s concern is related to Florence’s reputation as a major banking center in the Italian peninsula. How is usury an act of violence against God and nature (11.94-111)? What moral challenge does this message pose to us who live and work in our global economy?

Dr. Howell explains it thoroughly: “Usury…is the making of money off of money; typically through the charging of interest as one lends money.” Virgil describes “usury in the following way: from intellect divine and from its art and in your physics. If you gloss it well, you’ll find not many pages from the start that your art strives to follow as it may nature. You are the pupil, she the teacher, so we might say that human industry is the grandchild of God. From these two things, remember the first part of Genesis: man must derive his life and his advance. So in other words, usury is a rejection of creativity. The usurers does not reap the fruits of his own labor as God commands in Genesis 2 rather usurers take the sweat of other people’s work using money itself to make more money; an unnatural kind of fecundity where money begets money. Usury is a rejection of humankind’s participation and the handiwork of God’s creativity on Earth. It is to deprive God of in Virgil’s words God’s grandchildren.”

According to her, the usurers do not reap the fruits of his own labor as God commands in Genesis 2 and that usurers take the sweat of other people’s work using money itself to make more money. This is extremely important in today’s global economy as there’s a dichotomy between those who are able to put away money into the stock market to make money using their money and those who are unable to do so. One of the ways in America to get richer is to put away money into a 401k or a Roth IRA in order to save for your retirement. The money invested in those things are used to try to make money in the stock market. While you won’t get rich overnight, if you diligently are able to save for 30-40 years, it’ll be easy to be a millionaire by retirement age should the stock market continue to function as it has for the last 70 years. However, making money off the stock market is using money itself to make more money. Landowners also do this – should you be renting; landlords are making money off of you paying your rent to them. Many people who do not own land or even have a house are resentful towards those who are able to do so, especially if they inherited money or land as many things are too expensive in this day and are to have it all. So, when someone makes money off of money rather than having labored, a resentment builds against those who don’t work for a living. Eventually, as Dr. Howell states: “Usury is a rejection of humankind’s participation and the handiwork of God’s creativity on Earth.” Therefore, by not laboring for your own work, you are going against what God has set for men to do. It’s fairly interesting as Jewish folks weren’t held to this same restriction when money lending to non-Jews (although they were restricted when doing business with other Jewish folks), which is why many work in banking and money lending as they were forced into those roles by Christians who deemed those jobs as socially inferior, which caused people to hate Jewish folks even more and led to more antisemitism. 

Work Citation

Alighieri, Dante; Mandelbaum, Allen. “The Inferno.” The Divine Comedy. Everyman’s Library. 1 Aug. 1995. Book.

Barolini, Teodolinda. “Inferno 11: Aristotle, Non-Christian Authority of a Christian Hell.” Commento Baroliniano, Digital Dante. New York, NY: Columbia University Libraries, 2018. 17 Sept. 2023.  https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/inferno/inferno-11/

“Inferno, Canto 11 with Dr. Jenny Howell.” Baylor University. Uploaded by Baylor University on Youtube. 17 Sept. 2023

100 Days of Dante: Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy – Inferno: Canto 10

· Leave a comment ·

Hi everyone! I’m late with this post as I was struggling with the reflection questions (still am!) but I did my best. Enjoy! 

Questions for Reflection

The sixth circle of hell is dedicated to the punishment of Heresy, a vice of the intellect and the will: it is obstinacy in error. There Dante meets the souls of the Epicurean philosophers who live eternally in burning tombs for having denied the immortality of the soul. Why would this intellectual vice be the first (even foundational) sin for the city of Dis?

The sin of heresy was strong around the time of Dante as religion had a stronghold on the populace, so if you didn’t go along with religion, in particular, Christianity, you’re going to the first circle of the lower circles of hell. It’s a vice of the intellect and the will because those in particular tended to be secular compared with those with lesser education. For example, in the modern world such as in the US, those who had a high school diploma or less believed in God with absolute certainty at 66% compared to those with post-graduate degree at 52% while only 6% of those with a high school diploma or less didn’t believe in God compared to 15% of those with a postgraduate degree (Educational Distribution). The more education one got, the more uncertain of God they became. This intellectual vice would be the first and even foundational sin for the city of Dis because it is the beginning of the lower circle of hell, which shows that it’s a sin that weighs heavily upon one’s soul, and the fallen angels reflect the idea of rebelling against God by two ways to do so: by one’s intellect and will. The heavenly messenger was the one that needed to open the gates of the city of Dis, so the beginning of the lower levels of hell have more of a Christian touch to it. While those like Epicurus and his followers are found in the circle of heresy as people from classical times, the beings of hell that guarded the city of Dis were fallen angels. The fallen angels that accompanied Lucifer in the battle against Heaven and were tossed down set up the foundation of evil, and that rebellion against God can be seen reflected in the heresy of not believing in him or thinking like Epicurus that the goal of human life is pleasure, so like the fallen angels who rebelled, they did so upon their pleasure and not on the word of God. 

To look upon some found in the circle of Heresy, there are Epicurus and his followers and other people like the two Florentines Farinata degli Uberti and Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti along with the mention of Frederick II and Cardinal. Epicurus believed that the “supreme goal of human life is pleasure. The word ‘Epicurean’ described those who lived only for the pleasures of this life, as if there were no afterlife, thus effectively denying the doctrine that the human soul is immortal. For Dante, this heresy, which would deprive the Comedy of its entire foundation, was the most foolish and damnable of all, as it contradicted the teachings of the Bible, the Greek and Roman philosophers, and the world’s other religions of the Jews, Muslims, and Tartars [Convivio]. Eternal imprisonment in tombs is a particularly suitable punishment for those who believed that life ended with the earth and burial of the body (line 15).” (565). The lack of believing that the human soul is immortal only to end up imprisoned in tombs is a suitable punishment for those in the sixth circle. If they don’t believe in the afterlife, their human soul which in the Divine Comedy is immortal, remains in the sepulcher that they were buried in when they died on earth.

How, by way of contrast with the damned we encounter in this canto, does believing in the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body grant the human person an eternal dignity that can and should be reflected in our shared life together?

Believing in the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body grants the human believer an eternal dignity as a believer of those things and of God leads them to eternal life after the resurrection done so by God. There will be no sadness, no punishment, no death – only joy and happiness thanks to God who we’d worship for eternity. This is in contrast to those in the circle of heresy where they’re forced to be in tombs as their punishment, and they do not enjoy life presently compared to those who were saved and resurrected by God. They’re forced to remain in sepulchers although they can rise up from it when encountering people like Dante, which is extremely rare, but otherwise, it’s like remaining in eternal sleep in a box. They lived out their present lives on earth, but in the afterlife, it’s almost like they cease to exist besides remembering the past and knowing there is nothing for them after the final end of days and subsequent resurrection. Beyond that, as Barolini notes: “the contrapasso for heresy – burial within tombs in the city of Dis – is a troping of death itself, suggesting that somehow these souls are “more dead” than the other dead souls (Barolini)”. There will be no eternal dignity for them. They’re to suffer in the sepulchers until their second death.

For Dante, sin involves some kind of distortion, disordering, or misapplication of love. The loves of the damned are often good things, but good things that have been bent out of shape and have become disproportionate to justice, often squeezing God out of the picture. How does Farinata’s patriotism and Cavalcante’s filial love, together with their heretical beliefs, contribute to their damnation? If the soul dies with the body, what does that mean for political and familial relationships?

Love can be a good thing, but there is too much of a good thing. We see this in the circle of Lust, where Franchesca and Paolo’s love gets distorted into incestrous lust. So, in this case, Farinata’s patriotism together with his heretical beliefs contribute to his damnation because it is too much. Same with Calvalcante’s filial love as it is filled with pride for his son, a pride so strong that he believed his son to make it to Heaven rather than be in hell, so much pride that together with his heretical beliefs, contribute to his damnation. If the soul dies with the body, it means that for political and familial relationships that the soul will remember the past, but are unable to create present and near future memories. They’re trapped into the past until their destruction by being thrown into the lake of fire, which is foretold in Revelation 20. 

The damned can know the past and the future but they don’t know the present. According to Mary Carruthers, the souls in Inferno cannot form new memories because they are deprived of their (physical) bodies; the damned are stuck in their “recollected pasts.” How do we see this phenomenon at play in Dante’s meeting with Farinata and Cavalcante?

Mary Carruthers’s theory of the souls in Inferno cannot form new memories because they are deprived of their (physical) bodies with the damned stuck in their “recollected pasts” is on target specifically for the sixth circle of hell: heresy. For Farinata when he is in conversation with Dante, Dante observes about how the damned as stuck knowing the past and far future: “It seems, if I hear right, that you can see / beforehand that which time is carrying, / but you’re denied the sight of present things (lines 97-99)”. This matches with Carruthers’s theory that the souls stuck in Inferno cannot form new memories. Then Farinata replies to Dante: 

We see, even as men who are farsighted, / those things,” he said, “that are remote from us / the Highest Lord allots us that much light. / But when events draw near or are, our minds / are useless; were we not informed by others, / So you can understand how our awareness / will die completely at the moment when / the portal of the future has been shut. (Lines 100-108).

Here, we are to understand that what Dante observes is true, with the caveat that the souls stuck in the circle of heresy understand that they can only recollect the past with no ability to form the present, but they know the ultimate future, which their awareness will die completely at the second death where the unbelievers will be thrown into the lake of fire. In addition, for Cavalcante, we see this phenomenon at play due to him being unable to know whether his son lives or not. He has to rely on Dante for information about Guido, who was Dante’s friend in his earthly life. 

What does the inability to form new memories in hell mean for the possibility of interpersonal relationships among the damned and what does this mean for what we should expect for the social life of the city of Dis?

The inability to form new memories in hell means the possibility of interpersonal relationships among the damned is that the damned can no longer form any relationship with anyone new. They’re left as souls with a past, but no present or future except in eternal death. There is no concept for them to grasp during the present time, that while Farinata and Calvacante were able to talk with Dante, that is exceptional and not the norm. Therefore, we should expect that there’s not much of a social life in the city of Dis unless it’s between the fallen angels rather than human souls. Whether this is the case or not, we shall see in the upcoming cantos.  

Work Citations:

Alighieri, Dante; Mandelbaum, Allen. “The Inferno.” The Divine Comedy. Everyman’s Library. 1 Aug. 1995. Book.

Barolini, Teodolinda. “Inferno 10: Love in Hell.” Commento Baroliniano, Digital Dante. New York, NY: Columbia University Libraries, 2018, 14 Sept. 2023. Web. <https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/inferno/inferno-10/&gt;.

“Education distribution.” Religious Landscape Study. Pew Research Center. 13 Sept. 2023. Web. <https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/educational-distribution/>.

100 Days of Dante: Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy: Inferno – Canto 9

· Leave a comment ·

The questions asked for reflection are more open ended, especially the first question. Let me know what you think!

Questions for Reflection

Is Dante’s ranking of the moral seriousness of sins in Hell viable for us today?

When ranking the 8 circles of hell, Dante’s ranking goes from least to worst: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery. We’ve gone through the four upper levels of hell – considered lesser sins compared to the bottom four levels of hell, which are seen as worse than the upper four. Dante’s ranking of the moral seriousness of sins in Hell is somewhat viable for us today with some fine tuning.

From what may belong in the upper levels of hell today: Lust, depending on where you’re living, is the least bad of the sins. In today’s world, more people are alright with some promiscuity, especially in 1st world countries. There are celebrity sex icons like Marilyn Monroe, Lucy Liu, Angelina Jolie, Grace Kelly, and more. Heresy is probably a lot lower on the list as many people are turning away from religion or at least organized religion, so it’s not as damning as it used to be. In some areas for sure, but it’s no longer pretty much everywhere, so heresy would now be found in the four upper levels of hell. I think more people would rank Greed and Violence worse than it is. Many people today rail against capitalism, which they see as greedy and that it brings upon lust, gluttony, and more importantly, violence. With capitalism, many products and services are consumed by consumers, and people live in excess with these products and services, which can lead to people consuming more and more. The appetite for more leads to gluttony, and people are incontinent – lacking restraint.

Moreover, for sins of the lower levels of hell: I think people would rank fraud – depending on the situation – as worse or less. There are people who are okay with defrauding the government because they see it as an entitlement as long as it’s helping non-wealthy individuals. If businesses are willing to commit fraud to steal money from its workers, there are workers who then don’t feel bad defrauding others because it’s being done to them. When Covid-19 happened and loans were given out to businesses, people committed fraud in order to gain money for themselves. If the fraud helps wealthy individuals or corporations, it’s seen as one of the worst sins today. Of course, there are those who think fraud of any kind no matter for who or what is a terrible thing to do. Ultimately, I think violence would be the worst of sins today as there aren’t much violence in developed countries today, so when there is violence, it’s mostly a shock. While violence has seemed to gone down overall especially in developed countries – there are currently no world wars, on an individual and grand scale, violence harms the person it is done to in many ways. PTSD became an official diagnosis for the people who has experienced trauma, which was first thought of as a diagnosis after World War Two and the Vietnam War in 1980. In addition, betrayal for treachery has always been seen as something terrible. That tracks in being one of the worst sins. There are not a lot of things worse than when a loved one betrays you and hurts you. It’s possibly up and up with violence.

What distinguishes upper hell from lower hell? Why would Dante depict lower hell (Dis) as a walled city? Does this reveal anything about its spiritual nature?

Upper hell is different from lower hell in that the upper levels are seen as lesser sins while the lower hell are the worst sins. Dante depicts lower hell (Dis) as a walled city like a terrible parody of Heaven, which is also seen as a holy city. In Revelation 21:10-14, when describing the vision of the New Jerusalem, it says: “And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names that are the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites: on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (NRSVUE). So Heaven and Hell are both seen having a walled city. This reveals that Dante is imagining hell as the opposite of Heaven, but utilizing an imagery that also could indicate that Hell truly is made out of love from God despite that the entirety of Hell is to punish sinners. As Professor Oakland states in his video on canto 9 of the Inferno: “Remember back to that first gate at the beginning of this Inferno journey? There we learned from the inscription over the gate that Hell was created not only by the justice and power of God but also by God’s intellect and love. We can’t understand Dante’s vision without contemplating this startling insight that Hell is an expression of God’s love.” (Oakland). God loves all his creatures even those he punishes like a parent punishing their children for their disobedience, except taken a lot further than parents do.

While Dante and Virgil wait for deliverance at the gate under the threat of Medusa’s approach, Virgil covers Dante’s eyes so that he will not be turned to stone when Medusa arrives. The Poet invokes us as readers to see the allegory behind this gesture yet offers us little interpretative help. What do you think is happening here? Is Dante a new Odysseus with the sirens who must be restrained because he cannot control himself? Are there some horrors that will destroy us to see, yet we find that we can’t look away?

The covering the eyes and not looking back reminded me more of Orpheus trying to rescue his wife Eurydice from the underworld, as the story goes that Hades said that Orpheus would be able to save Eurydice as long as he didn’t turn around and look upon his wife, but at the last moment he turned back when having been warned not to, and so he was unable to save his wife in the end and she was sent back to be trapped in the underworld forever. So, Dante had to cover his eyes and turn around and was warned not to turn around by Virgil who also covered his eyes as extra protection. Medusa was a tool to be used in a way that like Orpheus who was warned not to turn around and lose what he valued – his wife – Dante was not to turn around or lose his life and remain trapped in Hell for forever. Virgil took that extra protection to make sure that didn’t happen.

Medusa as a threat against Dante by the Furies is to keep him in hell with the idea of the Furies wanting to destroy him like they feel they should’ve with Theseus. As a live human being, Dante is being guided through hell, but doesn’t belong in it, so Medusa having the power to turn him to stone by looking upon him is a threat that should he not follow directions (and do as Virgil says), he may be invoking a sense of self-doom upon himself. It’s up to Virgil to explain Medusa’s threat to Dante and do his best to prevent him from turning to stone forever as Virgil believes in Medusa dooming Dante should Dante gaze upon her head. It’s not necessarily that Dante is a new Odysseus with the sirens who must be restrained because he cannot control himself, but it appears that it was meant for Dante’s extra protection for Virgil to help cover Dante’s eyes as a precaution just in case. Virgil neutralized the threat of Dante looking at Medusa as a means of him being Dante’s guide so as to show Dante he knows what he’s doing, he’s offering the extra protection to the one he has agreed to guide through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise on behalf of Beatrice.

Who delivers Dante and Virgil from their predicament and what does this show us as readers about the relationship between heaven and hell?

An angel from Heaven comes down to help Dante and Virgil from their predicament. The way the angel is described: “I knew well he was Heaven’s messenger, / and I turned toward my master; and he made / a sign that I be still and bow before him. / How full of high disdain he seemed to me! / He came up to the gate, and with a wand, / he opened it, for there was no resistance. / At that he turned and took the filthy road, / and did not speak to us, but had the look / of one who is obsessed by other cares / than those that press and gnaw at those before him; / and we moved forward, on into the city, / in safety, having heard his holy words.” (Lines 85-90, 100-105). Virgil signaling for Dante to be still and bow to the angel is to show reverence to the Heavenly messenger unlike the beings of hell where Dante was praised for being righteously angry. Even if the angel is not God, Dante is to bow in reverence for that is the respect to be given to a heavenly being. There is no such respect given to the beings of hell because they deserve none. Dante is not to feel compassionate towards them like with Francesca and Paolo in the circle of Lust, but more righteously angry as with Argenti in the circle of wrath. Moreover, the disdain and condescending attitude of the angel indicates how much the beings of hell disgust him, and that the angel seems to dislike being where he was and who he was forced to share company with because the beings of the city of Dis are disobeying. As the angel was a messenger of Heaven, the gate to the walled city of Dis opened with a wave of his wand because the beings of hell cannot directly disobey a holy being like an angel who is there to do God’s work. This reveals that Heavenly beings ultimately have more power than the beings of hell to the point that the beings of hell would flee out of the heavenly messenger’s way like a frog leaping away from its enemy the serpent that would want to eat it as is captured in lines 76-78 before Dante is able to spot the angel coming to them. Dante and Virgil had a hard time gaining access to the city of Dis as one is a living human being and the other is a soul from the first circle of Hell that was asked by a heavenly being (Beatrice), but is not one himself, so both were more powerless in the face of the beings of hell unlike the heavenly messenger.

Work Citations:

Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy: Inferno; Purgatorio; Paradiso (A. Mandelbaum, Trans., P. Armour &; E. Montale.). Everyman’s Library. 1995.

“Inferno Canto 9 with Dr. Leonard Oakland.” Youtube, uploaded by 100daysofdante, 26 Sept. 2021, 11 Sept. 2023. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQT8UmhsiEU&t=504s>

Revelation 21:10-14. New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 2021. 11 Sept. 2023. Web. <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2021&version=NRSVUE&gt;.

100 Days of Dante: Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy – Inferno: Canto 8

· Leave a comment ·

Questions for Reflection

How does Argenti try to evoke Dante’s pity by describing himself as “the one who weeps”? Why is Dante’s harsh outburst against Argenti praiseworthy?

Crying tends to be an action that evokes a sense of pity towards the one who is crying. So Argenti tries to evoke pity by saying he’s the one that weeps as Dante engages with him. Saying he’s the one that weeps after being asked who he was “who have become so ugly” (line 35) can also indicate that Argenti is trying to say that he’s ugly because he’s weeping so much so. One should pity him for being unrecognizable due to his weeping. However, Dante ends up recognizing him after that, which causes his attitude to become almost wrathful against the sinner, which is viewed as praiseworthy by Virgil. 

Virgil shoves Argenti away from the boat when Argenti has his hands outstretched towards the boat. From there, Dante takes pleasure in Argenti’s suffering. “And I: “O master, I am very eager / to see that spirit soused within!” ….”Soon after I had heard these words, I saw / the muddy sinners so dismember him / that even now I raise and thank God for it.” (Lines 52-54, 58-60). Dante’s harsh outburst against Argenti is praiseworthy because it’s like he’s utilizing the feelings of righteous anger to incite divine punishment towards Argenti who is suffering in the circle of wrath in hell for a reason. Dante is feeling a righteous anger towards Argenti by thanking God who is the one having sent Argenti to hell to be punished vs the wrathful type of anger that Argenti displays “the Florentine, gone wild with spleen, / began to turn his teeth against himself.” (Lines 62-63). Dante had a harder time in earlier cantos when it came to divine punishment – Dante had felt pity towards Francesca and Paulo for their vice of sin, but when it came to Argenti, there was no pity to be found. Dante delights in Argenti’s divine punishment so now he is emulating a righteous anger that is praiseworthy as he’s now falling more into line with God’s view that sinners shouldn’t be pitied but mercilessly, divinely punished.

Why would Virgil invoke Luke 11:27’s description of Christ in praise of Dante’s vengeful attitude toward Argenti?

First, let’s look at Luke 11:27-28, which is what is being referenced: “While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” (NRSVUE). The woman worships Jesus, but Jesus replies to her that the blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it, which is what Dante does in this canto. According to Peter Armour’s notes: “blessed is she words in praise of Christ, the son of Mary [Luke], here confirming the righteousness of Dante’s anger against the sinner” (562). So, Dante’s righteous anger is shown as the right course of action as he’s satisfied with the punishment the sinners are shown to be going through. Contrast this with how he had sympathized with Francesca and Paulo in Canto 5. With Argenti, there is no sympathizing to be had, and Dante, in fact, takes a sense of delight in how Argenti is tormented that when he heard Argenti’s wailing Dante “lean[ed] forward, all intent to see” (line 66). Dante is no longer pitying sinners, instead, he is feeling the righteous anger meant to be directed at those who sin and will not repent for their sins.

Dante invokes us the readers in 8.94. Why does he intentionally bring us into the narrative at this point?

One reason Dante may intentionally bring the readers into the narrative is because he is sharing with the audience his dismay as Virgil is focused on going to have a secret talk with the fallen angels and demons, so Dante is cut off from the conversation. However, Dante does eventually try to address his concerns to Virgil who then tells him: “Forget your fear, no one. Can hinder / our passage; One so great has granted it” (lines 104-105). Moreover, if we look back at a few earlier lines in the canto: “My guide preceded me into the boat. / Once he was in, he had me follow him:  / there seemed to be no weight until I boarded” (lines 25-27).  This reminds the reader that Dante is a living human being like us and unlike Virgil and other passengers who ride the boats over the rivers in hell. Combining this moment with when Dante addresses the readers reveals the idea that like Dante, we are being kept out of the secret talks that beings who are dead or belong in the realm of hell are conversing with one another.

How does Virgil fail as Dante’s guide at the end of the canto? What might this tell us about Virgil’s limitations as a teacher and of the limitations of pagan wisdom?

Virgil fails as Dante’s guide at the end of the canto because he is unable to get passage for the both of them through the city of Dis. This tells us that while their journey is sanctified by God, there are beings who will resist Virgil when he tries to lead Dante through hell. Virgil is no Christ; he is still of pagan wisdom so there are still limitations to him. So there will come a being: “who will unlock this realm for us” (line 130). Dante and Virgil are thus currently at a standstill before the city of Dis until a being comes along with more authorial holy power than Virgil has who will force the fallen to let the two of them through the city of Dis. Earlier beings shown to have blocked Dante’s journey was of the pagan kind; this time, it’s fallen angels who are creatures of the Abrahamic religions, so while Virgil was able to gain access when facing classical beings, he’s having a much harder time with beings who are from Abrahamic religions of which Virgil hasn’t been granted mercy by God to go to Paradise so his pagan power is more limited when faced with the fallen angels who inhabit Dis.  

A sense of suspense is at hand as we, the readers, along with Dante and Virgil await the being who can help them. However, we do know that Dante’s journey through hell has already been approved to happen by God’s will so we know Dante will make it through all of hell. But as of Canto 8 of the Inferno, Dante is beginning to have more problems making it through hell as earlier cantos had Virgil being able to gain the two of them access through their journey through hell.  

Citation

Alighieri, Dante; Mandelbaum, Allen. “The Inferno.” The Divine Comedy. Everyman’s Library. 1 Aug. 1995. Book.

Luke 11:27-28. New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 2021. 8 Sept. 2023. Web. <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2011%3A27-28&version=NRSVUE>.

100 Days of Dante: Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy – Inferno: Canto 7

· Leave a comment ·

So, I did end up utilizing Allen Mandelbaum’s translation of the Inferno. So far, I think I might prefer it over Hollander. Some of the supplements I used was 100 Days of Dante’s videos (and where I get these questions for reflections from!) and Colombia University’s Digital Dante to help answer some of the questions, citations are added at the end of the post. I’m hoping to keep up with reading the cantos 3x/week! Please let me know what you all think!

Read more: 100 Days of Dante: Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy – Inferno: Canto 7

Questions for Reflection

Why would Dante the poet start this canto with Pluto inscrutable gibberish?

Dante the poet starts the canto with the words: “Pape Satan, Pape Satan aleppe!”/ so Plutus, with his grating voice, began”. While critics have never conclusively had an idea on what the first line of canto 7 means, you could infer that Plutus is admiring Satan and worshiping him – invoking him like many epic poets utilized the muses. It’s like Plutus is saying that Satan is the first pope of God, or at least one that ends up in hell that Plutus is willing to worship. For example, “Pape Satan, Pape Satan” is two repetition, and it’s striking because it has you pay attention to those two words. “Pape” could possibly mean “father” like in papa, papi, or “pape” as in “pope” in French can mean pope according to Cambridge Dictionary. “Aleppe” could be a reference to “aleph” the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Plutus is putting Satan first and invocating him in a way that servants of the Lord invoke Him to help them. As we later learn in the canto, there are a decent number of popes who ended up in the circle of greed that Plutus leads the punishment of due to avariciousness. Plutus, being a classical god of the dead and wealth, would be seen as bearing the sin of avariciousness as do many people.

Why do you think the circle of the avaricious (greedy) has the most sinners in it? How might this be connected to the she-wolf of canto 1.94-102?

At the beginning of the lecture, Dr. Easterling mentions that “Incontinence literally means not contained or not constrained and it refers to people who practice no restraint; who live lives of greed, avarice, lust, and other sins of excessive human appetite.” As she continues through the lecture, she mentions that the she-wolf “whose frightening ravenousness may symbolize such incontinence”, and incontinence can lead to greedy/avariciousness. Many people are naturally greedy – they want more and more. Many temper it down, but some do not, and so those who give into their greed end up in hell in the circle of greed here in Dante’s Inferno. There is always something that a person wants, something that they have an appetite for. As Dr. Easterling remarks, having an appetite is part of being a human, and “thus sinful excesses of such appetites are also natural though also damnable.” It’s easy to give into avariciousness and with an appetite being naturally human, it would lead to many sinners of avaricious so the circle of greed would have a lot of sinners in it.

Why would Dante include two sins—hoarding and squandering—in this ring? How are they both forms of the sin of greed? Why does Dante the poet deny us as readers knowledge of their individual identities?

First, let’s look at what hoarding and squandering mean. Hoarding, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, means, “the compulsion to continually accumulate a variety of items that are often considered useless or worthless by others accompanied by an inability to discard the items without great distress” and squandering means “to spend extravagantly or foolishly; to lose (something, such as an advantage or opportunity) through negligence or inaction”. Hoarding is a form of greed because one cannot part with what they’re keeping and continually adds to whatever they’re keeping otherwise, they face a great deal of distress. Squandering is a form of greed by spending frivolously or losing an opportunity through negligence. It’s a case of misers and prodigals as Barolini notes: “In Inferno 7, Dante treats both kinds of excess in wealth management and both are sins: holding onto wealth too much (avarice) and holding onto wealth too little (prodigality) are equally sinful. Both forms of excess constitute a lack of misura, a lack of moderation or continence.”

Dante denies the reader knowledge of their individual identities because they’re so full of greed, he cannot recognize them without the help of Virgil, who only points out some of the inhabitants of this circle.

Notice the inclusion of Lady Fortuna in line 62-96. Who is she and how does she govern human lives and experiences? What should our relationship as humans be to her rule? How does she contrast with Pluto?

Dante the pilgrim questions who Lady Fortuna is: “What’s she, who clutches so all the world’s goods?” (line 69), and Virgil replies: “He [GOD] ordained a general minister and guide / to shift, from time to time, those empty goods / from nation unto nation, clan to clan, / in ways that human reason can’t prevent” (lines 77-79). Lady Fortuna is a result of God’s will to administer goods to his creations. Originally a classical goddess, Lady Fortuna’s blindness led credibility to showing that fortune is blind and that good and bad things can happen randomly as she is personified as a being of luck and fortune.

As humans, we cannot go against Lady Fortuna due to her being a result of God’s will, which is clarified when Virgil continues: “Your knowledge cannot stand against her force; / for she foresees and judges and maintains / her kingdom as the other gods do theirs. / The changes that she brings are without respite: / it is necessity that makes her swift; / and for this reason, men change state so often. / She is the one so frequently maligned / even by those who should give praise to her— / they blame her wrongfully with words of scorn. / But she is blessed and does not hear these things; / for with the other primal beings, happy, / she turns her sphere and glories in her bliss.” (lines 85-96). Lady Fortuna will do as she foresees and judges, and as humans, we are simply to accept it even if we blame her for our misfortunes.

Lady Fortuna contrasts with Plutus in that Fortuna is a result of God and is a primal being happy by God’s side. Plutus, on the other hand, worships Satan and thus is a being of hell rather than paradise like Lady Fortuna. Dante remakes a classical goddess into a worshipper of God but keeps a classical god as a worshipper of the devil.

What are the two different forms of wrath that Dante introduces in lines 109-126 and what do they reveal about the nature of unholy anger?

The two different forms of wrath that Dante introduces are the “muddied people in that slime, / all naked and their faces furious” who are now “bitter in the blackened mud” so upon the dry shore though in mud/slime, and the other form is indicated when Virgil points out that there are people in the swamp that “underneath the water there are souls / who sigh and make this plain of water bubble, / as your eye, looking anywhere, can tell.” (Lines 110-111, 118-120, 124). Sinners of the first form of wrath attacked each other and tore at one another as a matter of rabid wrath meanwhile anger has defeated the ones in the water so they can only hymn and not say full words as melancholy. These reveal that wrath is divided into two forms – one that is violent in punishment, and one that is suffering but non-violent against one another. Regardless of how violent the sinners of wrath commit, as long as they remain unrepentant of the wrath in them, they’ll forever suffer in their misery.

Citation:

Barolini, Teodolinda. “Inferno 7: Aristotle and Wealth, with a Note on Cecco d’Ascoli.” Commento Baroliniano, Digital Dante. New York, NY: Columbia University Libraries, 2018. <https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/inferno/inferno-7/>

“Inferno Canto 7 with Dr. Heather Easterling.” Youtube, uploaded by 100daysofdante, 6 Sept. 2023. <https://100daysofdante.com/canto-videos-listing.&gt;

100 Days of Dante: Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy – Inferno: Canto 6

· Leave a comment ·

I’m finally back! There was a lot of things that happened in the past two years including many family members and friends passing. So now that the 100 Days of Dante is starting again, I find it appropriate that it’s something I want to tackle after everything that I’ve gone through in recent years. Hope you all enjoy!

I’m still using the Hollander translation of Dante’s Inferno, but thinking of changing to Allen Mandelbaum as I recently found my hardcover edition of Mandelbaum’s The Divine Comedy. So will probably switch either after this Canto or after I’m finished the next two Cantos for this week.

(more…)

100 Days of Dante: Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy – Inferno: Canto 4

· Leave a comment ·

Hey everyone,

I’ll be slowing down a little on Dante’s Inferno, but I’m still reading. I might skip a response here and there though. I ended up injuring my finger (accident while cutting vegetables) so I’m taking it easy with the typing as much as possible. I’ve been a little preoccupied with things so I’ve just slowed down reading in general though. However, here is the next response for the reflection questions! Luckily, I had some parts of the response typed out before my little accident.

The resources that I’ve been using to help supplement my reading (and which translation I’m using!) I’ve been using: 100 Days of Dante, Topography of Dante’s Inferno, and Hollander’s translation. Check them out!

(more…)

100 Days of Dante: Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy – Inferno: Canto 3

· Leave a comment ·

Here are my answers to 100 Days of Dante’s canto 3’s reflection questions! While I do post the reflection questions, I do encourage you to visit the 100 Days of Dante website where you’ll have access to resources by Baylor University. They also offer a translation of The Divine Comedy. I’m using my own copy – the Hollander translation.

(more…)