So
Dante meets this guy named virgil who warns him about things he will encounter
on his journey. Virgil will be his guide on his tour through hell.
The
gate to hell had a bunch of confusing phrases above it. Virgil said when Dante
didn’t understand the gate that, “Here, all uncertainty must be left behind; all cowardice
must be dead. We have come to the place where I told you that you would see the
sad people who have lost the good of the intellect.” I liked William Blake’s
illustration; I have studied some of his works before.
The
first circle is the heathens. These are the people who were good people but
never got baptized. Virgil says that he belongs to this circle because he lived
before Jesus and didn’t know how to properly worship God. Then he talked about
how Jesus had come and saved some of the people long ago.
Homer
was in this part of hell. It was a nicer part reserved for those who helped the
art of science. As far as heroes go he saw Caesar and Brutus to name a few.
Then in another part of hell he saw Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and several
other philosophers.
This
is where hell starts to get a little bit more intense. Cleopatra was in this
ring of hell. I believe many of these people in this circle were killed with
love as the cause. Dante fainted at the end of this circle.
This
is the third circle of hell. This circle is all stormy and rainy. Cerberus is a
grotesque monster. They then find Plutus who is the god of wealth and he is in
the fourth circle. Even priests and popes were in this circle of hell because
wealth had overcome them.
There
is a quick story about Fortune and how she controls everything. Then they moved
on to the fifth circle of hell. There were a lot of angry people in this story.
They
enter deep hell where fire burns from within the people there. It’s the
farthest place from heaven and sounds awful. Even Dante seems fearful of
passing through.
Virgil
has Dante close his eyes for a while because if he were to see one thing, he
would be stuck there. I think it was Medusa that he couldn’t see. Then a
messenger from heaven came and it seemed as if he was saying that all they
would need to do is accept God in order to leave hell. They then went into the
sixth circle where ther heretics are.
The
Minotaur was crazy scary and chased them into the seventh circle of hell. Then
there was a river of blood where those who were violent to others were boiled.
Then one of the men in this circle started to escort them around to keep them
safe.
Then
they started going through where the tyrants, murderers, and warriors were.
Then they moved into the second ring of this circle where those who committed
suicide were. Then the third ring was those who were violent towards God.
More
fire in this area. There is a burning river. I did not like this section of the
story. I thought it was boring and rather uneventful. It was more informational
than anything.
So
the rode Geryon’s back down to the eighth circle of hell. It was a scary ride
down but very quick and efficient.
There
were pimps and seducers followed by flatterers. Dante was scared yet again,
mostly by the demons in the flatterers chasm.
Now they
were escorted by the demons to where the hypocrites were. There they saw
Caiaphas stretch out and crucified on the cross.
This
was a confusing story. There was a story within this section and it was an unfortunate
one that took place on a ship. They then went on to the ninth chasm. The story
the immediately skips the tenth. This is all starting to drag on a little too
much.
Dante
comments on the fact that he is glad that nature stopped creating such giants.
The giant was named nimrod, this must have been where the nickname came from.
The giants are chained yet Dante expresses how he has never feared death this
much. The two then continue on into the ninth circle of hell.
So
this was an odd tale. I didn’t like it nor did I follow it very well. It was
hard to understand. I thought it was gross he was eating and gnawing at the
person next to him.
So
Satan had three faces on his head and six eyes that continuously wept. Was he
sad because he was stuck in hell and would never be forgiven by God? Or that he
could be forgiven but doesn’t have the guts to ask for forgiveness? Then Judus,
Brutus and Cassius were there with him. He was chewing on each of these sinners
in each of his mouths. So now Dante has seen all of hell. When he descends back
to earth it is Easter morning. Interesting. I was hoping the chapter on Satan
would be longer.
No comments:
Post a Comment