As I’m sure everyone noticed, I wasn’t in class today so my response is not filled with the literary terms and themes that were discussed.
Canto III is very intriguing. I had always assumed that Dante would choose to place all who are not good in hell. Instead, Dante creates a third category, not for good and not for evil; a place for people who “were neither for God nor Satan / but only for themselves” (35). The punishment for these souls is quite gruesome and severe; it makes one wonder how horrible the punishment would be for the souls who actually committed evil acts. This part of hell is more like a more terrible version of limbo.
The punishment for each sin is symbolic of what the sin is. In the case of the opportunists they chased after whatever it was they sought for themselves, therefore in the afterlife, they forever chase an unattainable flag. The analysis in the humanities packet suggests that the hornets are symbolic of a guilty conscience that constantly pursues the sinners. The opportunists are hated by the good and by evil. They have no place in the afterlife. Even Virgil tries to ignore them, and tells Dante never to speak of them.
The humanities packet further identifies the one who made the “Great Denial” as Pope Celestine V. Dante uses this canto to comment on the corruption of the Church and send a religious and possibly political message about the papacy. Like Dante, I would place prominent political figures in this limbo. Most importantly our current president. This person has sought out power and wealth for himself and his constituents, using fear to convince others to support his cause. Corrupt and cowardly our president serves neither good, nor evil. He only serves himself; this would place him just outside of Acheron along with Pope Celestine V.
Canto III is very intriguing. I had always assumed that Dante would choose to place all who are not good in hell. Instead, Dante creates a third category, not for good and not for evil; a place for people who “were neither for God nor Satan / but only for themselves” (35). The punishment for these souls is quite gruesome and severe; it makes one wonder how horrible the punishment would be for the souls who actually committed evil acts. This part of hell is more like a more terrible version of limbo.
The punishment for each sin is symbolic of what the sin is. In the case of the opportunists they chased after whatever it was they sought for themselves, therefore in the afterlife, they forever chase an unattainable flag. The analysis in the humanities packet suggests that the hornets are symbolic of a guilty conscience that constantly pursues the sinners. The opportunists are hated by the good and by evil. They have no place in the afterlife. Even Virgil tries to ignore them, and tells Dante never to speak of them.
The humanities packet further identifies the one who made the “Great Denial” as Pope Celestine V. Dante uses this canto to comment on the corruption of the Church and send a religious and possibly political message about the papacy. Like Dante, I would place prominent political figures in this limbo. Most importantly our current president. This person has sought out power and wealth for himself and his constituents, using fear to convince others to support his cause. Corrupt and cowardly our president serves neither good, nor evil. He only serves himself; this would place him just outside of Acheron along with Pope Celestine V.
The Gate to hell, through which Dante and Virgil pass, is symbolic in and of its self. The gate is made of stone and inscribed with writing. It a representation of the last piece of humanity the condemned souls will ever see. A stone gate constructed with human architecture in mind. Once the souls pass though it, all of their humanities will be lost.
7 comments:
I really like your thinking on this. What I think is the most interesting part is that they consider it a sin to advocate for yourself. I don't see these people as opportunists at all, but people with ambition.
Their punishment stands out the most clearly in my mind which is interesting considering they are in a relatively low level of hell
Katie, I partially agree that some of people placed here are those with ambition. However, the souls who are forbidden to enter Hell are those who chose to only serve themselves. A person can be successful and ambitious but still serve good or evil.
The point Dante is trying to make is that these souls had no place in life and have no place in the afterlife. They are not in any level of Hell therefore their punishment does not follow all of the same rules the other circles do.
I believe that this view of hell is faulty. Considering yourself without thinking about how what you do for yourself will affect others is a sin, and because of this is does deserve a place in hell. There is no grey area between black and white, and there is no middle area between heaven and hell. I do not agree with Dante's view on these sinners
Interesting to think about, being sent to hell but not actually being in hell. I liked how you tied in the current president to pope Celestine however in class Ms. Giggie pointed out that he was sent to hell because he did not take action and stop the corruption of the church. Unlike the president who participated in the corruption.
With your opinion of the president, perhaps he would belong in Circle Eight because of the way he actively participates in corruption. Maybe we could put the U.N. in limbo :)
Concerning the president, I see him more as a puppet than anything else. He does not actively seek to promote corruption, but he does not fight it either. He simply goes with flow, and will work for whichever side earns him more money.
Considering that this isn't yet hell, it's still pretty...hellish. I don't like Dante's idea that there is no moral ambiguity. Maybe the people on this level of hell were simply able to see all sides of a situation, which is why they chose not to be for either "good or evil". Dante's opinion apparently is that everyone need to pick a side, and it better be the "right" side :/
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