His Teacher

Upon reviewing the Inferno, I've noticed something. When in the land of the Sodomites, he sees his teacher and he feels the necessity to bend down, to show that he respects the teacher. But that was Dante the Pilgrim. What about Dante the Poet? Dante the Poet put his teacher into Inferno and in a way called him a homosexual. Yet in his representation, it seemed he looked up to the man. Does Dante the Pilgrim represent Dante the Poet in anyway?

Or does Dante the Pilgrim represent someone else? Or...does he represent humanity? Maybe I could have a thesis on all the analogies that Inferno represents.

Romans

Why were the Romans traitors held in such a lower regrade? There have been many infamous traitors in the past. Some famous ones are Nero, Attila the Hun, the guy that betrayed Leonidas in Sparta and Lancelot.

Maybe Dante did see Romans in a higher light than the others. Betrayal of the first Roman Empire was just a little bit lower than the son of god. Maybe it was Dante who first believed the Romans weren't so bad and allowed the return on the arts.

The Punishments

The punishments for body sins weren't as severe as the other ones. Which leads people to think, are these sins really possible to the body? That may have led to the people's wondering "What is the body" and may have led to the Scientific Revolution.

Sorry, lost some reasons.

I could just edit my previous post

But I need another log. Returning to what I had previously said, Dante's inclusion of Roman and Greek heroes subconsciously affected the people of the Middle Ages, which in turn allowed the Renaissance, or the Return.

It would go something like, Dante writes the Inferno. Gives it to his bishop. His bishop reads it and goes "Oh wow, this is a great book for my Cardinal to read". Gives it to his cardinal. The cardinal reacts the same way. By our modern age, millions of people have read Inferno thinking, oh man those greek and romans, they lived the life. And so they began living their lives. Very few people resist the desires of the body. After all it's in the human genome.

Which makes me think, Dante may have also led the Scientific Revolution. Get to that on the next blog.

Further thesis ideas

Alas, I've finished the book and didn't bother keeping thesis logs as I had that spontaneous burst of reading power. So I'll just reflect back on thesis worthy moments. Of course the part with Lucifer is OMG! Or better yet Oh My Lucifer! Having the ultimate traitors in the deepest part of hell seems mildly surprising. We all know Lucifer betrayed God, Judas betrayed Jesus, Brutus and Cassius betrayed Caesar. Lucifer was pretty obvious, betraying God when your supposed to be his good frien...God doesn't have friends, he has angels. Judas betrayed Jesus, who supposedly loved him. But Brutus and Cassius's betrayal of Caesar was interesting... Why them? Wouldn't Cardinals who killed the Pope the become the next Pope be more of a betrayal? Musa said that Dante included these two to show his love for the Romans. (Sorta kinda). So this only reinforces my previous thesis, that Inferno isn't JUST a novel warning us of sinning, but it also maybe the birth of the Renaissance.

Another crack at a Pope?

In Canto XXVII, Dante again takes a crack at Pope Boniface. Further reading told me that in the old days, the Pope had troops, not just the Swiss Guard. For poor Guido, the devious Pope gave him a direct ticket to hell, although Pope absolution.

In a way, this canto plays down the position of the pope, maybe even the whole story. Dante may be giving the people of the Middle Century a message, "the Pope(s) are still human". All humans have the potential to sin, including the Pope.

Ulysses

Another Greek myth is visited, this time Ulysses of the Homer. Although in hell, it seems that Odysseus was still portrayed in a higher light, some how he was still a good man. The way he allowed Ulysses to speak, such dignity, even in the face of hell.

Now I begin to think, Inferno wasn't just a warning for sinners. It was an expression of art. For centuries, the Catholic Church had oppressed the ideas of the Greeks. But Dante, Dante was the one who ushered in the Renaissance, the Enlightenment. Using Inferno, he sneakily placed the Greeks in a sorta okayish term, radical for his day. But it may have been Dante, who led us into the modern era.

Soothsayers

The Soothsayers in canto XX sound like fortune tellers. So I'm gonna base this entry off that assumption.

Fortune telling or looking into the future has been nothing new for humanity. For almost all humankind history, guessing what will occur has been a fascinating topic. Until the Dark Ages. During this time, I guess there wasn't any lightbulbs. LOL. Also there was a much too much influence by the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church had virtually slowed down humanities ascent towards enlightenment. For a millennium they've prevented us from doing anything to help us.

As we can see from Dante, almost everything can be punished in hell. No risks were taken.

How did Dante begin the Enlightenment?

Jason and the Argo-NOTS

Jason, the mythical hero of Greek folklore is mention in this chapter, along with some infamous pimps of Dante's time. Chapter XVIII is a fine example reinforce two previous thesis I had brought up. Venedico Caccianemico and Alessio Interminei were both alive during Dante's time. Venedico was supposedly an Italian man who sold his sister to Maruis of Este to gain favors. This is just an assumuntion made by Dante and no real truth has been found about it. Also Alessio Interminei doesn't have any major history were he is spoken about. I'm just assuming Dante hated this guy. Like how many people during Dante's time was a pimp?!

Jason though, he was a hero to many Greeks. He was looked upon as Hercules was once. How come the Catholic's views differ from the Greeks? Hmm..

the Demons and the Pitchforks

The Demons had threatened Dante and Virgil with their PITCHFORKS! In our modern world, we connect devils/demons with pitchfork. So that makes me wonder how much did Dante influnence our world. Was he the one that made us think of hell as a place of fire (or boiling blood)? Was he the one that decided that demons carried pitchforks?

The Popes

I'm not sure if I completely understand the contrapasso for deceitful Popes. They are shoved into a well with their feet on fire. It just sounds like Dante might have hated Pope Boniface and thought that would be the ultimate torture for him. Maybe a good thesis topic would be to research the relationship between Dante, the Church and the overall religion.

Chiron

Again in Canto XII, more Greek mythological creatures are presented. And one of them, Chiron, is considered one of the most famous. Chiron was a centaur, half human, half horse, and in Greek mythology, he is the wise and helpful. But in Inferno, he's presented as part of hell, making life harder for them. Again this backs up my previous thesis, maybe it might be useful.

Some mildly interesting Canto's describing hell

Were mildly interesting...until Canto XII. The Minotaur! The Minotaur was a Greek "evil" beast that was fed Athenian sacrifices. In Inferno, he's the one guarding the wrathful souls. This makes me think, is this some how connected with the Greek myth? Are the souls some how telling us a message about the Athenians? In the views of the Christians, Athenians were the perfect example of souls that belonged in hell. They practice fortune telling, sodomy and many other "sins". As well as the names of people he was assumed to dislike, is the Inferno really just a way for Dante to insult his enemies?

So thesis time; "Dante uses the Inferno the criticize many figures he knew and throughout history."

Oh God.

The first part of hell, Vestibule seems kind of scary. As Vestibule is for the indecisive, it sorta connects to isolationism, not taking sides. As my intended major is going to be history, it automatically made me of America's early beginnings as an isolationist country. And through that, I came up with a so-so thesis that needs some refining.

"If Inferno was translated into modern and semi-modern terms, who would be the modern people that replace old ones" aka the Dalai Lama replaces Virgil and many American presidents would replaces the angels.

The choice of Dante

So in Canto II, Dante begins to feel like he is unworthy to be placed amongst the ranks of Aeneas and Saint Paul, but Virgil tells him Saint Lucia had determined that he was the be helped. Now that makes me wonder...why Dante? Does god almighty have something in plan for him? I'm starting to think this is a foreshadow, as well as a life changer in real life for Dante the Poet. Like the way he lived his life was not the "correct" way. In a way this book was meant to be a "rebirth" for Dante.

So thesis style "In the Divine Comedy, Dante manages to express his rebirth as a Christian" Or something like that.

Oh boy procrastination

I've been procrastinating for the past couple of weeks, but finally here I am,. Better late than never right? Oh god, I hope procrastination isn't a sin.

Anyways, Dante's Inferno. The world renowned epic. Before I even started reading it, I noticed the picture. It's hard to describe, it's a man...but not really a man. His hand's are tied behind him (assumed), and he's in a fetal-ish position. Behind him looks like fire and the veins can be seen in his face. But he looks calm. In pain, but calm. That makes me think, is hell really that bad for people who enjoys that kind of stuff. Like say for example, people who enjoy being tortured. Do they go to hell? Or do they hate it?