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cantos 30 - 34 - the Inferno # 7

"If being a kid is about learning how to live, then being a grown-up is about learning how to die." - Christine, narration, Part 1, Chapter 5, by Stephen King

 

            This quote really summarizes the journey which Dante takes through hell. For in the beginning, he is ignorant and childlike, and as time moves on, and his knowledge grows, he becomes an adult. By the end, he has learned what it is to die, and what it is to sin, and he has realized the consequences that those receive for taking such actions.

�If you wish to know who they are who share one doom, they owned the Bisenzio�s valley with their father, whose name was Albert. They sprang from one womb, and you may search through all Caina�s crew without discovering in all this waste a squab more fit for the aspick than these two;�

            These two people who �sprang from one womb� are trapped forever in ice in the deepest circle of hell. These two, had learned from their father to sin, and so he taught them to live, however immorally. As they reached adulthood, their sins against others grew till they passed and will lie forever tormented by the icy winds which surround them.

�I did not weep: I had turned stone inside. They wept. �What ails you, father, you look so strange,� my little Anselm, youngest of them, cried. But I did not speak a word no shed a tear: not all that day nor all that endless night, until I saw another sun appear.�

            The true finality of life, the acceptance of death and what is to come. As his children weep for what they do not understand, he accepts what is to come by turning himself to stone. The �stone� show the acceptance of death, for stone does not die, but it does not live, by turning himself to stone, he is blocking those outside feelings that come from needing to watch his children die. As Dante listens to this story, it is a way to comprehend the change which occurs as one dies, not just the final outcome of the person�s place in hell, but what got them there, and their story.

�I did not die and yet I lost life�s breath: imagine for yourself what I became, deprived at once of both my life and death.�

            This quote symbolizes Dante�s change from child to man. As he reaches the end of Hell, he �lost life�s breath�, and thus accepted what was, to move on to what is. Though death has not yet come, life is not present either. Dante is accepting his path, after gaining the knowledge of Hell, he must now pass through Purgatory. His childhood of ignorance and life has ended, and his adulthood of knowledge and death is approaching quickly. His journey has not yet ended, but he is now halfway to his destination, therefore he is not fully ready for Heaven, though he only has left to gain the information he needs in Purgatory to finally reach his final destination. Though his death is not yet present, his life has fallen away.

cantos 26 - 30

�Life is eternal, and love is immortal,
and death is only a horizon;
and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.�
~Rossiter Worthington Raymond

 

            The Inferno is a journey through life and death. Dante passes through, discovering the good and the bad of life, though not losing faith of where he is going. As Dante learns, although people�s lives may end, their journey continues on in Heaven or in Hell.  Though stung by such torments as he sees all the horrors of life, Dante still feels love, that of his life and the people he knew then, as well as feeling sadness for those who must lie perpetually in the suffering of Hell. As he realizes when he reaches �death�, that there is so much more to what comes, and he travels on to gain the knowledge of what is there.

 

�And seeing me so intent, my Guide said: �There are souls within those flames; each sinner swathes himself in his own torment.�

            Their lives, the sins they committed follow them through death. Their own pleasure in life now becomes their pain, their souls eternally in pain. Though Raymond�s quote seems to be one of peace and joy, it can of anguish and sorrow as well. As Dante observes as he journeys deeper and deeper into Hell, the lives of the sinners carry on in eternal damnation. For no matter the sin, there is a punishment which awaits those who indulge in such activities.

 

��O my sweet Guide,� I answered. �his death came by violence and is not yet avenged by those who share his blood, and, thus, his shame. For this he surely hates his kin, and, therefore, as I suppose, he would not speak to me; and in that he makes me pity him the more.�

            Though those in Hell may not hold the love for their fellows in life in high regard, and retain it throughout their death, Dante sees the pain in each of these souls, and keeps his love for them. Those in such pain may not be able to accept the love they feel, and turn it to hate instead. As Dante realizes with his friend from life, that his friend feels betrayed by those who loved him in life, and therefore can not accept the love he feels, for it hurts too much, so Dante feels the love and pity for him anyway, despite the gestures made toward him.

 

�So it stood until he said: Your soul need fear no wound; I absolve your guilt beforehand; and now teach me how to smash Penestrino to the ground. The Gates of Heaven, as you know, are mine to open and shut, for I hold the two Great Keys so easily let go by Celestine��

            Though this priest may have stated he held the keys to the Gates, he possessed no such thing. This is the embodiment of all human ignorance, though also of hope. For in different circumstances, Raymond�s quote may be different. For those who accept give false council, and give the impression of being such holy beings, the horizon of death dips downward to the fiery pits of hell. For in life, such people to not know what lies beyond that horizon, despite what they claim to know and they realize the horizon may be looked to in fear or in hope of what may come.

           

            Raymond�s quote symbolizes the journey Dante must take through Hell, and the life he lived before. Although it is a quote of peace and serenity, when looked deeper, it can mean much more. �Life is eternal; and love is immortal;� their lives flow on eternally, through happiness and sadness, their passage never truly ends, and the love of which they once held may be twisted into hate, or retained as a fond memory of what once was. �And death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.� Though their paths may be different, their choices of their own, the destination remains the same; death. The only difference is those who chose to live their lives with the knowledge that something more may come and they must be virtuous, or those who believe they are above it all and can venture down the path of malevolence. As Dante�s journey continues, he gains this knowledge, and realizes what life and death truly are.

cantos 16-20

�O human race born to fly upward, wherefore at a little wind dost thou fall.�

 

�But here I cannot be still: Reader, I swear by the lines of my Comedy � so it may live � that I saw swimming up through that foul air a shape to astonish the most doughty soul, a shape like one returning through the sea from working loose an anchor fun afoul of something on the bottom � so it rose, its arms spread upward and its feet drawn close.�

            The motif of something flying through this wind is present in these particular parts of The Inferno. This �doughty soul� which has risen from the pits of hell, riding on the wind, is there to take them into the depths of hell, he innermost parts, which this �wind demon� has risen from. This entails that this is what will knock us down, this being, perhaps a symbol of one who will come on the wind to knock you down to the pits of the damned.

 

�And that flayed spirit, seeing me turn around, thought to hide his face, but I called to him: �You there, that walk along with your eyes on the ground � if those are not false features, then I know you as Venedicio Caccianemico of Bologna: what brings you here among this pretty crew?��

            This is evident that those who seem to be virtuous, who are those looked up to by others may not be what they seem. That one small hit, one tiny flaw or failure, may result in being completely knocked from ones chosen path, and spiraling down until the final destination is reached: Hell. Even he, who has wronged, is shameful of his final resting place, attempting to conceal his identity to those he once knew. He knew that he could have �flown upward� to reach such high levels, yet he has been struck down by a foul wind.

 

�Maybe � I cannot say � I grew too brash at this point for when he had finished speaking I said: �Indeed! Now tell me how much cash our Lord required of Peter in guarantee before he put the keys into his keeping? Surely he asked nothing but �Follow me!��

            The lowest of the sinners, to Dante: those who sold ecclesiastical pardons. Due to the greed they held, they were pushed down by their own avarice to benefit from those who were foolish enough to purchase �tickets� into heaven. The small �wind� of human error has fallen upon the humans in hell, and pressed them until they cracked and gave in to irrational desires for money or fame. This tainted wind has touched all, yet these are those who chose to be swept away by it.

cantos 11-15

�Consider your origin; you were not born to live like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.�

 

�And I to him: �Not by myself am I bourne this terrible way. I am led by him who waits there, and whom perhaps your Guido held in scorn.�

            [Dante] is heading to heaven, though journeying though hell, he is following the advice and guide of Virgil (virtue), and denying the bath of brutishness. Though passing through such horrors, he resists those that are evil, and continues to avoid darkness and malevolence. For knowing he was not a brute, for realizing that following the path of light and virtue was that of sound judgment. As [Dante] travels, he poses the questions, to gain the knowledge of hell through his journey � following such a path is truly the path of righteousness, the path to heaven.

 

�Malice is the sin most hated by God. And the aim of malice is to injure others whether by fraud or violence. But since fraud is the vice of which man alone is capable, God loathes it most. Therefore, the fraudulent are placed below, and their torment is more painful.�

            Those who defy the �Laws� set out by God are brutish, those who chose to hurt others, rather than love thyself are hated by god, condemned to feel the pain they dealt in their lives for the rest of eternity. When those men who have the possibility of following the path of virtue and knowledge, wander down the separate path of fraudulence or violence, it is in them to find the correct path, and since they do not, it is in them to feel the wrath of God when the life of immorality they lived comes to an end.

 

� �Just as you see the boiling stream grow shallow along this side,� the Centaur said to us when we stood on the other bank, �I would have you know that on the other, the bottom sinks anew more and more, until it comes again full circle to the place where the tyrants stew.�

            The Centaurs in this canto are a symbol of the brute in a man�s soul. The half man, half animal appearance of the Centaurs is man�s bestial nature. Monsters, condemned to live eternally in hell, guarding those who refused to abide by the human rules. They are the bad side of human nature a mix of human and animal instincts, a monstrous being, who cannot change themselves, but is still forced to live there, among those who gave in to the animal parts of their psyche must live forever being tortured and guarded by those who are the mirrors of their souls: Centaurs.

cantos 5-10

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

�And I: �Except to speak my thoughts in few and modest words, as I learned from your example, dear Guide, I do not hide my heart from you.� �

         Few words are spoken between them, just enough to understand that which surrounds them, the darkness and evil that they must experience before feeling the light of which is Heaven. Through all Dante and Virgil experience, they end their experience in silence, for that is what is required with the darkness they face; the silence which allows thoughts and beliefs to emerge. For what this journey they take really is, is a way for Dante to understand all which the depths of Hell holds, and with silence, one may take in all that surrounds them.

�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.�

         Many parts of life are too amazing to be comprehended in the short while that they are experienced; this appears to be one of those times. With such an amazing presence as only a Messenger from God�s Throne may hold, the awe inspiring aura cannot be dampened by what any may say or do. These are such times that cannot be changed by spoken word, and silence is what must follow to appreciate the power that is before them.

�Then he turned back through the same filthy tide by which he had come. He did not speak to us, but went his way like one preoccupied by other presences than those before him.�

         Though such an incredible deed was performed, nothing needed to be said, and silence can be the best way to convey such powerful thoughts. The request was indeed fair - to assist them in the journey towards self actualization. Followed by the silence of a job finished, God�s Messenger leaves with the dignity that only one of such status can hold. Through the difficulties of life, and death as is presented in the novel, silence may be the only reprieve from the evil that beseeches them. And although information and understanding may come hand in hand, sometimes things may only be understood though perception and experience. Silence is a modest action, of thanks and of understanding; and that is all that is needed for one to persevere.

            Throughout his journey, Dante gains valuable knowledge as Virgil teaches him about the evils of the world. Though all lessons have not been taught or learned yet, Dante is becoming increasingly mature as the story moves on. He is beginning to understand the full meaning of this quote, although  he cannot fully comprehend the significance of it at the moment, given time, he will be able to understand it.

entry 1 - dante\\\'s inferno - cantos 1 - 5

Dante Alighieri, a short biography: Dante Alighieri was born in thirteenth century Florance, Italy. In that period of history there was a struggle for order in Florence. The lower classes triumphed over the aristocracy. Dante grew up in this world, as a lower class citizen. An important part of his young life is that of his family. At an early age, Dante�s mother died, and his father remarried soon after. In adolesence, he was orphaned by his family. As a youth, he met Beatrice Portinari, who was his love continuing throughout his life, she becamse a very important influence in his works. Though Portinari was an important influence in his life, his marriage was arranged with Gemma di Manetto Donati, and they sired three children. In addition to his life as a writer, he also became an ambassador and pursued a career in politics. During his time in politics, he was exiled and spent time with many differnent patrons while continuing to work on his Divine Comedy , mulling over the treatment he had recieved from his enemies. Though later, while coming home from a diplomatic mission from Venice, he fell ill. He spent his remaining years with Guido Novello da Polenta at Ravenna.

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

 

�Midway in our life�s journey, I went astray from the straight road and woke to find myself alone in a dark wood.�

         The metaphor of a �dark wood� seems to be speaking about an imprecation in [Dante�s] life where he is between life and death. A quandary -  seemingly �alive� though needing to reach heaven by experiencing all that life has to offer. Through the depths of darkness and hell he travels to find his way once again. The straight way had been blocked, and so he began the long, nebulous detour to heaven. This seems to be a metaphor for losing ones purpose in life, and needing to experience all that the tragedies of life has to offer before being able to come forth and arise a new, enlightened person.

 

�So saying, he put forth his hand to me, and with a gentle and encouraging smile he led me through the gate of mystery. Here sighs and cries and wails coiled and recoiled on the starless air, spilling my soul to tears.�

         Virgil, his guide through the darkness and evil, to help him eschew the malevolence that surrounds them , is hope. As he goes deeper and deeper into Pandora�s Box, hope can still be found and lights his way even through the �starless air�, filled with the pain and horror of those who died before him. This is his step through the �gate of mystery� into a world he knows nothing of, yet needs so desperately to find the meaning and nuances to that world. Though the darkness had obscured his path, Virgil was his light to guide him through the evil darkness of hell. This is a metaphorical �enlightenment� � the need to travel through such hardships to come out knowing righteousness.

 

�There, steering toward us in an ancient ferry came an old man with a white bush of hair, bellowing: �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. And you who are living yet, I say begone from these who are dead.��

         His journey is fraught with perilous tasks and means of travel. To follow the path of most resistance to reach his goal is not an easy task. Thus, he is met by many people, dark and sinister, who must lead him on his way through hell � the �dark wood� of which he speaks � to find his path of enlightenment. Though the ferryman may assume he is living, he seems to be at a median in his life, a place quite apart from the living, yet not yet part of the dead. In a crazy, mixed up world, he is trying to find his place, through the dark, twisted paths of hell, to the denouncement of truth and light of heaven.

 

Religion is an interesting pastime...

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?

    Religion is a very serious issue in our country. Since we are a "patchwork quilt", if you will, of different people and cultures. And with those cultures comes religion. Since we are such a diverse group of people, it would be sensible to separate the government that intends to guide the country, from certain religions that all its people do not hold as truth. Unfortunately, as of now, our government has found it difficult to remain impartial in the matters of religion, and church and state are nearly intertwined.
    Of course, since the United States was founded on the Christian tenents, there is certain difficulty now, hundreds of years later, to change the belief structure that the country was based upon. Therefore, it is a given that such a change is not going to be easy, unfortunately it is extremely necessary for such a separation to occor.
    The role of religions needs to be in the government only in the form of tollerance. It is important to the country to accept all forms of religion and culture, and encourage it, as long as it is not harmful to others. The integration of all different forms of worship and traditon into the way of life of our culture. Yet, it is important for all decitions being made for the country to not be influanced by the beliefs of certain religions.
    For example, we take the debate on abortion: so many people want to eliminate abortion because of their religious beliefs. Granted, a person's beliefs are very important, and if one thinks that abortion is wrong, there is a very simple answer - DON'T GET ONE! But, for the rest of the United States, they should have the ability to chose whether or not they want to make that decition. Or homosexual marriage, it is fine if it is not something you believe in, you don't have to support it, but there are many people who feel that it is an important part of the "freedom" in our country.
    The United States was not founded on Christianity, it was founded on freedom, and freedom implys that no one religion should be held higher than any of the others. Although I don't see our country as fairly distributed at the moment, if we continue to understand the importance of this issue, we will get there eventually. It may take time, and it may be difficult, but knowing the importance of accepting everyone, and their beliefs, we will end the debate on religions within our country. We have no national religion, we should act that way.

leaders? psh...

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 feel that it is very difficult to judge if someone is competent to lead before they become a leader. There are certain qualities that make one a better candidate than another, but without watching how well they adapt in crisis siduations, it is impossible to truely gauge how well they lead.
If we take the FEMA director, and Harriet Miers, they have no experience in leading in such siduations. Browne, who had never dealt with post-disaster reconstruction, could not deal with the needs of the job after Hurricane Katrina and Miers (though we don't know whether or not she will be a good leader or not) has no experiece in the Supreme Court, and cannot pull from prior knowledge to assist in her leadership abilities. What it all really comes down to is experience: without experience, one cannot lead to the best of their abilities.
In the Illiad we see this with Odysseus, he is a King of Ithica, a true leader that has had experience in war and ability to lead others in life and in battle. This is portrayed in the way the other Acheans listen to the wisdom of Odysseus, and his knowledge of war and soldiers. He was able to pursuade the other Acheans not to leave Troy, to stay and fight together and win, for that was what had been fortold. Odysseus is a great leader, because of his experience.
Also in the Illiad we see how there are inexperienced leaders, who are not as capable as they should be. For example: Paris of Troy. Yes, as a Prince he is meant to be a leader, one who helps his people in times of war and peace, but due to his lack of experience, he messed up to great lengths. He stole Helen away from Melaleus, and prompted the whole conflict between the Acheans and the Trojans (if we go by the legend told in the Illiad). And throughout the war, all he tried to do was get out of fighting. To stay out of conflict, for he is "a lover, not a fighter", yet because of that, he is weak, and causes others to die. Because of his lack of experience, and knowledge, he was a terrible leader, and ended up hurting his people rather than helping them.
In conclusion, it is seen that to be a truely good leader, one must have experience in the matters that they are leading in. Without that experience, they are bound to fail, and bring down the others in the process.

women as heros huh?

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:  Why does it still seem the norm in Western culture, when it comes to the use of heroes in literature and film, that the traditional role of men as the hero and the role of women as the victim still is used and supported by the audiences?  Is there any way to break this mold in a way that will lead to more diversity in the types of heroes?

    Men as the heroes of stories are what we have been taught since we were little. The proverbial "knight in shining armor" is what we have always heard, and consiter the norm. Also, the movement of feminism and equal rights really didn't take full hold until later in the twentieth century. Although I'm not saying it is an okay stereotype, it is a learned one nonetheless, and although we may want to change it, that isn't necessarily going to happen. It's pretty simple if you think about it, children's stories and movies are usually about someone getting in trouble, then the man comes along, saves the day, and everyone is happy. Take "The Lion King" for example (and I'm not bad mouthing the Lion King, I love that movie!), Simba leaves, and everything falls to pieces, all the lionesses are starving and Nala goes out to find some help, she finds Simba. After careful deliberation, Simba decides to come back, defeats Scar, saves the day, and the Pride land becomes wonderful and happy once again. These stereotypes have been ingrained in our minds for as long as we can remember, so it's only natural that the subconscious knowledge as the "man as a hero" comes out in writing. Since writing lives, as one writes the story flows out and seems to take a mind of its own, those stereotypes come out without anyone ever really noticing.
    Though we see the "man as a hero" in stories, I don't know that it would definitely be perceived that way in normal life. Men and women have separate roles, even before the general degrading of women began, they have always been separate. Perhaps in the past, a "set role" for men was to be the saviors, the protectors of the family or clan. This normality then passed itself through the generations, skewing slightly, until it came about that women were supposed to be "weak" and men were always supposed to be the "heroes". It's all a matter of history, and learned knowledge due to how we were raised and what those before us have thought of as true. It's a fact of life, until we realize specifically what is wrong, everything will go by and left unchanged.

hmmm... Howard Dean

    Hurricane Katrina devastated thousands of peoples lives and homes. In New Orleans specifically, class was indeed a factor in those who suffered in the result of this catastrophe. It happens to be that New Orleans has a very large percentage of those in poverty; those who don�t have the money or the resources to get out of New Orleans, even after they were warned. This is a fact, therefore, it is true that class was a huge factor in those who suffered and died, because they had no way to get out of the city.
    Those homes being destroyed could not have been avoided, unfortunately, the sickness and death that resulted from the people being trapped there could have been. Due the governments failure to act and send some kind of relief into New Orleans before the hurricane, in the ample time they had since they predicted the disaster, lives that needn�t have died, did die.
    There is definitely a possibility that race had something to do with the speed in which the help was received in New Orleans; a majority of the people living in the poorer areas of New Orleans were black. This is what the media is focusing on, and it is a very real likelihood. We can�t know whether or not race, age, and class really were factors. I would say that race and class specifically were a issue in who suffered and died as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
    I think that poor management from the state and national governments, and the financial state of most of the people who suffered in the hurricane were the most prominent causes in the following calamity. If the government, whether state or national, had stepped up and used some form of transportation (such as busses, which they have in excess), then the people who are trapped in the city would be safe. Speculating, it would seem that race and class would have something to do with it, because if they had been wealthy white people, I bet this wouldn't have happened. Unfortunately, we can't read the minds of the people who make those kinds of decisions. All we really can do is speculate.