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Entry # 7

Quote: “Life begins on the other side of despair” –Jean-Paul Sartre

(found @ brainyquote.com)

This quote is very meaningful to the end of The Inferno, because it is the part of the book where Dante leaves Hell. After reaching the very center of Hell, where Satan is located, Virgil and Dante climb up out of it. Dante is climbing back towards God. He is now able to follow God again and continue to live in the True Way. “He first, I second, without thought of rest we climbed the dark until we reached the point where a round opening brought in sight the blest and beauteous shining of the Heavenly cars. And we walked out once more beneath the stars,” (pg. 287, lines 139-143).

           

In The Inferno, Dante is telling the story of how he found his way back to God. “Death could scarce be more bitter than that place! But since it came to good, I will recount all that I found revealed there by God’s grace,” (pg. 28, lines 7-9). At the beginning of Dante’s story, The Inferno, Dante is lost: he has fallen away from the straight path. It’s as though his life has been put on hold. Once he realizes this, he tries to climb towards God, but is held up by three beasts. Virgil comes to Dante and tells him that he must travel through Hell to be able to join the True Way again. Dante agrees to this perilous journey.

 

Now that Dante has crossed through Hell, he can begin his life again, the way he wants to, which is under God. It’s as though he has been reborn because of this journey. The time before Dante traveled through Hell was his despair, because he was lost. Hell was also part of the despair that he had to go through in order to begin his life again, although, Dante doesn’t think of the journey through Hell like that. As said in the second quote, Dante feels that his traveling through Hell was done by God’s grace, (“I found revealed there by God’s grace”). The despair, to Dante, was the time when he was lost; when he was separated from God. Now that he has traveled through Hell, he has overcome his despair, and his life can begin again. This “rebirth” has given him a chance to turn his life around and once again follow God.

 

Entry #6 "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (The Lord's Prayer)

Temptation has been around since the dawn of time. The story of Adam and Eve is an example of temptation, when God tells them not to eat the apple from the tree. The snake temps Eve, telling her that it's alright, and she listens to him instead of God, and so Adam and Eve are punished. Temptation is present in The Inferno, in many areas. Some of the sinners were probably tempted into performing the sins that they did. One of these sinners was Guido Da Montefeltro in Canto 27.

Montefeltro was tempted into sinning by Boniface VIII. Montefeltro was a monk who was summoned by Boniface VIII. When he arrived, Boniface asked him how to destroy Penestrino, “‘...and now teach me how to smash Penestrino to the ground.’” (pg. 230). Boniface is asking him to help him destroy Penestrino: he’s asking Montefeltro to sin. Boniface then adds that he is able to open and close the gates to Heaven, ensuring Montefeltro that he will get into Heaven even if he does this. (It turns out that Boniface inherited the Great Keys to the Gates of Heaven from Celestine after he persuaded Celestine to give them up. Another instance of temptation.) Montefeltro agrees to this because he understands that he has a place in Heaven, since he’s struck a deal with Boniface. “His weighty arguments led me to fear silence was worse than sin. Therefore, I said: ‘Holy Father, since you clean me here of the guilt into which I fall, let it be done: long promise and short observance is the road that leads to the sure triumph of your throne.’” (pg. 230). Unfortunatly for Montefeltro, Boniface’s part wasn’t carried through, and he (Montefeltro) was sent to Hell.

On the other side, Boniface is the tempter. He persuaded Montefeltro into sinning. In this canto, Boniface is one of the evil counselers. He asked Montefeltro to help him do this, and he is benefitting from it. He's using Montefeltro, knowing that since he is a monk, he'll agree to this if he is promised to get into Heaven. Boniface knows that this is Montefeltro's weakness, and he's taking advantage of it to get what he wants.

This quote connects with this Canto because of the temptation from one person to another. Temptation was the reason the Montefeltro was sent to Hell. He was tempted to do this sinful act, and now he must pay in Hell. Temptation is everywhere in this world, which is why it is in the Lord’s Prayer. It is asking the Lord to keep us on the straight road: to continue following him, unlike the sinner’s here in Hell who strayed towards evil.

Entry #5 "Consider your origin; you were not born to live like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge."

In Cantos 21-25, Virgil and "I" visit Bolgias five through seven. Here they come across the grafters, the hypocrites, and the thieves. The quotes relates to these cantos because the sinners they meet were "brutes" in their lives. They conned, lied, cheated, and stole. They didn't live their lives with virtue and knowledge as this quote says humans should.

The first group, the grafters, were con artists. They lived in secrecy, and dealt behind others backs; they cheated and lied. And they got away with it. " 'Then I became a domestic in the service of good King Thibault. There I began to graft, and I account for it in this hot crevice,' " (Canto 22, lines 52-54). They lived their life without integrity. They lived without caring that this was wrong. Because of this, they will pay in Hell.

The second group were the hypocrites. They were imposters. One definition of hypocrite is someone who professes beliefs and opinions that they don't actually have. They lied to everyone around them, and they lied to God. " 'That one nailed across the road counselled the Pharisees that it was fitting one man be tortured for the public good,' " (Canto 23, lines 112-114). They were talking about Caiaphas, who told the Pharisees to crucify Jesus. Now, because of this, he must pay as well.

The third group were the thieves. They committed crimes against others in secrecy. They only thought of possessions in life, as well as they only thought of themselves. " 'I am put down so low because it was I who stole the treasure from the Sacristy, for which others once were blamed,' " (Canto 24, lines 137-139). This was Vanni Fucci, he committed this act, and others were to blame. He got away with this thievery, but now he, as well as the others, must pay in Hell.

These three groups are not only considered "brutes" because they committed their acts. They are brutes because they chose to commit the acts. They didn't have to lie or cheat or steal. They chose to live without the "virtue and knowledge" that humans should live with.

Entry #4 "There is no greater sorrow than to be mindful of the happy time in misery."

Virgil and "I" come to the waterfall that falls down into the Eighth Circle. Three souls come to them, after recognizing Dante from his dress (which is patent to them as Florentine dress). Without being laconic, they are introduced by one of the souls. " 'This peeled and naked soul who runs before me around this wheel, was higher than you think there in the world, in honor and degree. Guido Guerra was the name he bore, the good Gualdrada's grandson. In his life he won the great fame in counsel and in war. The other who behind me treads this sand was Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, whose good counsels the world would have done well to understand. And I who share their torment, in my life was Jacopo Rusticucci; above all I owe my sorrows to a savage wife' " (Canto 6, lines 37-45). Here, Jacopo is telling of how he and the others adroit people in their lives. They are remembering their good lives in this time of misery.

Jacopo soons beings to ferret the present state of Florence. Dante tells them and they are saddened. But why would you want to hear about how your old home is doing when you are being punished in Hell? To me it is hard to ask of how someone or something is doing when you cannot be there with them or it. To know that you can’t be there makes it worse. It would be hard to hear that Florence is in great shape, and know that you can’t be there.

It would be hard to hear about your family that may still be living. You would remember your family and friends and it would probably be upsetting to remember them, and to know that you would never see them again. It would also be hard to remember the scenery, and to remember your old home. It would be hard to remember anything that made your home special.

In this scene, the three souls are remembering who they were in their lives and now they want to know how their old home is doing. But remembering your home and your life would be upsetting while you are being punished in Hell. It’s this type of situation where people are fatuous and realize what they had after it’s gone.

Entry #3 “O human race born to fly upward, wherefore at a little wind dost thou fall.”

Upon entering the Second Round of the Seventh Circle, Virgil and “I” reach The Wood of the Suicides. The souls here are those who took their own lives.

This quote relates to canto 13 because it discusses the souls who committed suicide. To me, this quote is saying that humans are born to “fly upward” and be strong, but we can waver very easily with just a small amount of turbulence. We can fall away from our stable lives with the smallest amount of wind; we are sensitive beings.

One person that Virgil and “I” meet with (we learn his name in the notes) is Pier delle Vigne. He was the minister to Emperor Frederick II. He tells his story, and we learn that he was very dear to Frederick. That is until a few people came along and took his reputation. They set others against him, including Frederick. To end this pain he took his own life. This man’s story is an example of the quote. He was a strong person, but then those people went against him and he fell out of place. To end the pain he was going through, he ended his life.

In this quote (and this example), Dante tells us how sensitive human beings are, and with just one push in the wrong direction we can fall far from where we want to be. He says that we are "born to fly upward": we are meant to dream big, and "soar" for our goals. Though we are able to do this, we are also very fragile. We can be hurt very easily, especially with words. There's a saying that "sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me", but they do hurt. They hurt us inside, and if we hear these words too often, we begin to believe them, and that can cause us to stray from where we want to be.

Entry # 2

"A fair request should be followed by the deed in silence."

Virgil and "I" have continued on deeper into Hell. They have now reached the Capital of Hell, but are blocked from the inside by the iron walls. These walls are guarded by the Rebellious Angels, who are of Ultimate Evil. Virgil and "I" are not allowed to pass, and though Virgil possesses great powers, he is powerless against them. They need Divine Aid.

Virgil takes action by praying for assistance from the Divine Aid. Now Virgil and "I" must wait. Both characters are anxious but they can do nothing but wait and pray for assistance. After waiting, and a bit of harrassment from "Three Infernal Furies" (who also call on Medusa), The Heavenly Messenger arrives. "Clearly he was a Messenger from God's Throne, and I turned to my Guide; but he made me a sign that I should keep my silence and bow down.  Ah, what scorn breathed from that Angel-presence! He reached the gate  of Dis and with a wand he waved it open, for there was no resistence," ( pg 90, lines 82-87). Then the Messenger leaves without saying a word.

These scenes relate to the quote because of the actions taken (both by Virgil and by the Messenger). Let's break it down: "A fair request" - the prayer for assistance from Virgil, "should  be followed by the deed in silence" - the Messenger comes down and opens the gate, without saying a word. The main part of this is the second part. The request should be followed by the deed without a word. This is what Dante is saying. When a "fair" request is asked of us, we should follow through with it, without arguing. We shouldn't complain about having to follow through with the request someone has asked of us, we should be willing to do it. This is what the Messenger does: Virgil has prayed for his assistance, and so the Messenger comes down to help him, and says nothing: he holds no grudge, and he doesn't complain. And so, this is what Dante believes: we should be willing to be helpful whenever we are asked.

Entry #1

"In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost."

The first quote in the first five cantos that the quote above relates to, is when the "I" character has realized that he has strayed from the True Way. "Midway in our life's journey, I went astray from the straight road and woke to find myself alone in a dark wood," (pg. 28). He knows he must find a way to get back on the straight road. Soon, "I" sees a hill and realizes he must climb it. He begins to, but is held up by three beasts. It seems as though he won't reach his goal, and the denouement of his life is evident. Then Virgil appears and elucidates to Dante of another way: he must go through Hell and come out the other side. "I" agrees to this onerous journey because he wants to be on the straight road, and not be in the darkness.

When "I" and Virgil pass the Gate of Hell and come to Acheron, they see the amoral souls who have arrived. They are waiting to be "ferried" over to punishment. " ' Woe to you depraved souls! Bury here and forever all hope of Paradise: I come to lead you to the other shore, into eternal dark, into fire and ice, ' " (said by Charon) (pg. 44). These souls have come to this river and will be taken across and receive their punishment. I consider these souls lost. Their lives have ended and they are surrounded by this darkness. They will be punished for their actions that were taken on earth. They are lost from the straight way because of their previous lives, and now forever will be in the dark.

After crossing Acheron, "I" and Virgil come to the First Circle containing the souls who were born without Christ. They can't come into the light now, but they wont be tormented in Hell. These are the souls who have the imprecation  of no hope. " ' For such defects we are lost, though spared the first and suffering Hell in one affliction only: that without hope we live on in desire,' " (said by Virgil) (pg. 51).  These souls did not sin, but they "lacked Baptism's grace" (pg. 50). These souls are lost in the darkness, without hope.

 

The Life of Dante Alighieri

Important Events.

Youth:         a.) born 1265               b.) orphaned in adolescence         c.) normal education           d.) early interest in vernacular lyric

Middle Years:         a.) spoke in the "Council of the Hundred"           b.) married Gemma       c.) elected one of the six supreme magistrates

Older Years:       a.) accused of graft and corruption in office         b.) voluntary absence became exile                       c.) studied at Paris and Oxford           d.) died soon after falling ill

Question(s):  Will the American government come to a place where a balance can be forged between religion and the state (or are we already there)?  How do you see the role of religion in the civil affairs of government in the United States? I don't think religion and the state will ever be completely separate, but I do think we should try to get them as separate as possible. I don't think we can separate them completely because many of our laws come from earlier civilizations, which were most likely based on religious beliefs. Take the Ten Commandments for example; "Thou shalt not steal" and others. Although for the obvious reasons being that not everyone has the same beliefs, we should separate the two as much as we can. Another reason why they can't be completely separated is that people's opinions on politics are influenced by their beliefs. Because of this, religion is present in the government. Politicians make decisions and those decisions are influenced by their personal beliefs. I think we should make efforts to separate them though. Even though I am Mennonite, and believe that there is a higher power, which I call God, I've often thought that the word God should be removed from certain sayings for example. Including "God Bless America" (which I think if anything it should be changed to "God Bless the Whole World"), and the use of the word God in the Pledge of Allegiance. Kids are told to say this in their classes (still correct? we used to in elementary school) but in the young classes, do they know what they're saying? What if they come from a family that doesn't believe in God, but the child comes home saying "I memorized the Pledge of Allegiance". It could turn into something big. In conclusion, I think we should try to separate religion and state as much as we can, but I also feel that they will never be fully separate.

THIS WEEK'S FOCUS:  In the current "debate on politics" in Washington D.C., the nomination of Harriet Miers to fill the vacated seat on the Supreme Court(who has never been a judge), as well as the resignation of the FEMA Director (Browne) after Hurricane Katrina (who did not have any experience with post-disaster reconstruction) have many wondering how we know if someone is truly competent to lead or not.

Question(s): How do you truly know when someone is competent to lead? How do you define a great leader in terms of the qualities that he or she exhibits? Use examples from "The Iliad" to support your arguments.

I don't think you/we ever truly know when someone is competent to lead. People are almost never all of what we think they are. There are aspects of people that we don't see. But this is where trust comes in. To be a leader, you have to have the people's trust. And how do we develope trust in people? We need to know their background; we have to have that comfort that we feel they know what they're doing. I don't think I agree with the nomination of Harriet Miers to fill the seat on the Supreme Court. She's never been a judge! How does that work? Now she's been nominated to serve as a judge in the Supreme Court. Something about that just doesn't work for me. I don't have full trust that she could do well in the Supreme Court, because she doesn't have that experience. This also is the same for Browne, The FEMA director. He didn't have the experience with post-disaster reconstruction. But that's what FEMA is all about! FEMA stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency. And this was a major disaster.

Back to the point... I don't think we truly ever know when someone is competent to lead. But we have to have trust in them. The whole scandle with Libby(is that the right person?) giving off the idently of the CIA agent is another example. He's in office. He's friends with the President. He knows better than to do something like this, yet he did it. And then he lied about it to the Grand Jury. He could face 30 years in prison for it. But not for giving off the identity, but for lying to the Grand Jury. There were those people who trusted him.Those  who said he was a good leader. But then he went and did this. So how do we really know when we can trust someone?

In the Iliad, there are many instances of good leadership that we see. In book 2, Agamemnon tricks his men by telling them that they are going home. They are all so happy, that they run to the ships. Many of the men get onto ships, but most are kept at the camps. He tricks them, and they're suppose to trust him. Then, later, i think in book 17, Agamemnon really does say, let's go home, and he means it. But people don't want leaders who just give up. They want leaders who will stand tall and take care of them.

This all comes back to the point that I think is true. I don't think we ever truly can know when someone will be a good leader, and have all of the great qualities of a good leader. No one can; no one can have all of the great qualities. But we can trust people. When we feel that someone will do well, we trust them. That's all that we can have. That and faith. We can have faith in that person to lead well, but we can't really ever know for sure that they will.

roles of heroes response

In the past, women have been lower in society, though today it is being corrected. Women today are as equal as men are. But the roles of women as the heroes are still seldom. I haven't seen a whole bunch of movies where the woman is the hero and the man is the victim. Why is this? I think the idea of women being weaker is still alive. In an action film, the man tends to be strong and brave, where the women are weaker and sometimes lean on the man for support. In the film "Catwoman" Halle Berry was the heroine. She was still a victim at the beginning of the movie though. She was weaker and was killed by men. It was the cats that brought her back to life, she wasn't strong all by hersefl. Personnally, I didn't enjoy the movie so much, but it was ok.

In the past, women have been the "stay at home moms". They've been unemployed, staying at home to do the housework, and be there for the children when they come home. It was, in most cases, the men that worked. For a long time, women weren't allowed the same rights as men, including voting. I think the idea that women are still weaker than men is still around, but it's being pushed away, slowly. I think to overcome this, we just need to keep putting literature and film out in the world where women are stronger. Men can be strong too. :) But women are also heroines in real life, and we deserve to be seen that way in literature. -