Last class of the term and of LS800. It's been an intense 3 months - yet despite the heavy reading load, most books made me want to delve deeper and read more about the period, about the issue, by the author etc. Some much history and so many things I have a glancing awareness of but no knowledge.
GOETHE background - 'last' Renaissance man
1749-1832, born in Frankfurt, died in Weimar
Contemporary of Wollstonecraft
Born in the Holy Roman Empire, prior to unification of Germany (1871). HRE dissolved during his lifetime
At age 27, went to live in Weimar, died there (though in Italy for a period)
French soldiers invaded Weimar while he was living there, entered his house and his mistress convinced the soldiers to leave the house. They married the following day
The Age of Enlightenment - away from Religion, towards Romanticism and emotions/passions/sensibility
Writer, poet, philosopher, natural scientist, critic, director, actor, painter, lawyer, government minister/advisor
Heigl, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Schopenhauer
Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert
Opposed French Revolution, opposed Romantic tradition (critical of emotional excesses)
In Italy during a period of renaissance of neo-classical influences
Like a German Shakespeare vis a vis language (as Dante was for Italy)
Accused by scientists of trying to import romanticism into science (i.e.: work with colours) - more appreciated in 21st c. Hard science doesn't give us all the answers.
FAUST
Part 1 more about Faust, Part 2 more about society.
Goethe finished Faust Part 2 just before his death
Goethe wrote the work over an extended period 1773-1831
Original idea was a simple legend about a magician who makes a deal with devil.
QUESTIONS
1. Compare Adam and Eve myth with Faust & Mephistopheles myth: searching for knowledge, Fall from Grace, serpent
Faust wants all knowledge and Mephisto tells him he can't have god's understanding of universe, meaning of universe. Offers him alternatives.
Mephisto tempts people but they have a choice.
Jung was very influenced by Goethe and Faust and relation of myth with collective unconsciousness.
Science vs intuition
Germany began to divide learning into departments: science vs philosophy etc
The beginnings of the concept of dangerous knowledge.
2. Is Faust a victim of a pact made by forces more powerful than himself, or a self-centred individual who leads an innocent young girl to her ruin?
Faust wanting to know and unify everything.
Mephisto couldn't tempt Gretchen as too pure but Faust could ensnare her with love.
3. In the Prologue, Mephisto argues that "man's life would be easier without Reason - for he uses it only for bestial pursuits." Is this a fair assessment?
Goethe would agree with Hume that we are using Reason to serve passions.
Movement in Germany that assigns naziism and Holocaust to Reason - as a very rational approach to a goal and how to accomplish it. It's a frightening thought, but this is probably the only approach that would enable people to commit such atrocities - remove the emotion, the empathy, the reactions from it.
WWI was a tremendous blow to reason - such a big change - got even worse with WWII and after.
Passion is pushing us to do things but reason separated from morals can be horrifying and terribly destructive. See Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Goethe sees the start of the industrial revolution: destruction of cities, families, rise of importance of individuals, science, production and innovation - and foresees the dangers of where mankind was heading.
Goethe seemed to support man's striving - for the best of something. We will read another of his texts in the new year and I'm curious to see how it compares to Faust.
This is it until 2013!
Showing posts with label Satan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Satan. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Discussion: Dante`s Inferno and Rumi`s Love is a Stranger
DANTE
This week we discussed Dante's Inferno (Book I of his Divine Comedy). I was surprised to have enjoyed this poem. Before this course started Lauren and I looked at a copy of the book and it looked very daunting. The poetry and the imagery made it quite an interesting read. I'm not sure I would have called it a comedy myself but the translator explains it in his introduction writing:
a "tragedy" begins in tranquility but comes to a sad end, and a "comedy" begins under adverse circumstances, but always has a happy ending
Stephen mentioned some background and then we discussed several questions.
The classical writings had been lost for a period of time but scholars were digging through old librairies to find the writings of ancient greek and roman thinkers. The Inferno merges the medieval world with the classics (such as Virgil's Aeneid and the writings of Aristotle). Power was shifting to the middle class (mercantile often) at the expense of feudalism. Some thinkers (Thomas Aquinas) were starting to reconcile Aristotelian thought with Christian teachings and this spurred interest in ancient texts.
Is the poem a theological text or could Dante be mocking or satirizing biblical teachings (or the church)?
The general thought was that Dante certainly had contempt for the church as it was at the time (with corruption, power grabs etc). Inferno deals very severely with simonists etc but he is also very severe with many other sinners. Overall though, Inferno is a very serious vision of what happens after death and was intended to let people know what they could expect if they did not live their lives according to the precepts of the bible or Catholic Church.
What is Dante saying about imagination, the idea of sin, power hierarchies and religion?
The numerous and detailed divisions in the Inferno are very important. For example the vestibule with the castle was a way to try and reconcile good and wise people who happened to be non-Christian (many because they pre-dated the birth of Christ so one can hardly blame them for not being Christian since christianity did not even exist) and the Church's strict teachings that only the baptised could hope to make it to Paradise (via Purgatory) and all others would be automatically consigned to Hell.
Stephen mentioned how the Europeans in the Middle Ages learned about Aristotle and his teachings from the Arabs.
We discussed the proposition in Mark Musa's introduction, that the Pilgrim (Dante) symbolically participates in each type of sin during his journey. If this is true, it was likely because he was supposed to be learning about sins, not sympathizing with the sinners (as he did with the lovers Francesca and Paolo). The purpose was to renounce the sins.
We also discussed the hierarchy of the sins and whether these would hold true today. In general we felt that they wouldn't all be considered the same today - most notably, today's society has much less tolerance for violence so these sins would be lower down - with the exception of suicide which would likely not be considered as harshly as in the 1300s. Deep at the bottom would be people like Robert Mugabe, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Hitler, as well as serial killers, mass murderers, pedophiles, domestic abusers etc. There was a general feeling that the worse sins would be violence against the vulnerable. We discussed whether treachery an dishonesty would be considered as vile as in the 1300s. Some people felt that it was almost expected people will lie, and politics was mentioned. I think that people still want honesty and usually expect honesty but most people do feel a little cynical and so if someone turns out to be dishonest or a cheater (Lance Armstrong springs immediately to mind) we are very disappointed and angry but there is a part of us inside saying "You can't trust anybody".
It would be an interesting exercise in a large group to get people to list sins (and see what would and wouldn't be classified as a sin these days) and then to rank them.
RUMI
In contrast, our other text this week was Rumi's poetry. I don't know much about Sufi-ism but these poems were a jarring contrast to Dante's world view. Stephen gave us a brief overview of the ancient picture in the Middle East with the Shi'ites, Sunnis (more fundamentalist muslims) and how the Sufis fit in (as mystics). Interestingly this was the time of Genghis Khan and the Mongol hordes whose invasions were the impetus for Rumi's family to leave Afganistan and head towards Persia.
We spoke about how mysticism tends to become popular in times of political unrest and turmoil. People want to turn inwards and seek out states of communion with God.
People read various favourite poems and Gordon suggested an interesting exercise which was for everyone to read a line from a poem, going around in a circle, one line each read without any comment or hesitation and you go around until the poem has been read aloud 3 times. We read A HOUSE FOR THE NAKED this way and it was amazingly powerful and moving. It was interesting to hear every ones voice, each different and also to hear how the way people read changed each subsequent time around. I wish I could have recorded it. Something I'd like to try again in a large group. It also really made you listen to the poem.
This week we discussed Dante's Inferno (Book I of his Divine Comedy). I was surprised to have enjoyed this poem. Before this course started Lauren and I looked at a copy of the book and it looked very daunting. The poetry and the imagery made it quite an interesting read. I'm not sure I would have called it a comedy myself but the translator explains it in his introduction writing:
a "tragedy" begins in tranquility but comes to a sad end, and a "comedy" begins under adverse circumstances, but always has a happy ending
Stephen mentioned some background and then we discussed several questions.
The classical writings had been lost for a period of time but scholars were digging through old librairies to find the writings of ancient greek and roman thinkers. The Inferno merges the medieval world with the classics (such as Virgil's Aeneid and the writings of Aristotle). Power was shifting to the middle class (mercantile often) at the expense of feudalism. Some thinkers (Thomas Aquinas) were starting to reconcile Aristotelian thought with Christian teachings and this spurred interest in ancient texts.
Is the poem a theological text or could Dante be mocking or satirizing biblical teachings (or the church)?
The general thought was that Dante certainly had contempt for the church as it was at the time (with corruption, power grabs etc). Inferno deals very severely with simonists etc but he is also very severe with many other sinners. Overall though, Inferno is a very serious vision of what happens after death and was intended to let people know what they could expect if they did not live their lives according to the precepts of the bible or Catholic Church.
What is Dante saying about imagination, the idea of sin, power hierarchies and religion?
The numerous and detailed divisions in the Inferno are very important. For example the vestibule with the castle was a way to try and reconcile good and wise people who happened to be non-Christian (many because they pre-dated the birth of Christ so one can hardly blame them for not being Christian since christianity did not even exist) and the Church's strict teachings that only the baptised could hope to make it to Paradise (via Purgatory) and all others would be automatically consigned to Hell.
Stephen mentioned how the Europeans in the Middle Ages learned about Aristotle and his teachings from the Arabs.
We discussed the proposition in Mark Musa's introduction, that the Pilgrim (Dante) symbolically participates in each type of sin during his journey. If this is true, it was likely because he was supposed to be learning about sins, not sympathizing with the sinners (as he did with the lovers Francesca and Paolo). The purpose was to renounce the sins.
We also discussed the hierarchy of the sins and whether these would hold true today. In general we felt that they wouldn't all be considered the same today - most notably, today's society has much less tolerance for violence so these sins would be lower down - with the exception of suicide which would likely not be considered as harshly as in the 1300s. Deep at the bottom would be people like Robert Mugabe, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Hitler, as well as serial killers, mass murderers, pedophiles, domestic abusers etc. There was a general feeling that the worse sins would be violence against the vulnerable. We discussed whether treachery an dishonesty would be considered as vile as in the 1300s. Some people felt that it was almost expected people will lie, and politics was mentioned. I think that people still want honesty and usually expect honesty but most people do feel a little cynical and so if someone turns out to be dishonest or a cheater (Lance Armstrong springs immediately to mind) we are very disappointed and angry but there is a part of us inside saying "You can't trust anybody".
It would be an interesting exercise in a large group to get people to list sins (and see what would and wouldn't be classified as a sin these days) and then to rank them.
RUMI
In contrast, our other text this week was Rumi's poetry. I don't know much about Sufi-ism but these poems were a jarring contrast to Dante's world view. Stephen gave us a brief overview of the ancient picture in the Middle East with the Shi'ites, Sunnis (more fundamentalist muslims) and how the Sufis fit in (as mystics). Interestingly this was the time of Genghis Khan and the Mongol hordes whose invasions were the impetus for Rumi's family to leave Afganistan and head towards Persia.
We spoke about how mysticism tends to become popular in times of political unrest and turmoil. People want to turn inwards and seek out states of communion with God.
People read various favourite poems and Gordon suggested an interesting exercise which was for everyone to read a line from a poem, going around in a circle, one line each read without any comment or hesitation and you go around until the poem has been read aloud 3 times. We read A HOUSE FOR THE NAKED this way and it was amazingly powerful and moving. It was interesting to hear every ones voice, each different and also to hear how the way people read changed each subsequent time around. I wish I could have recorded it. Something I'd like to try again in a large group. It also really made you listen to the poem.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Dante's The Divine Comedy: The Inferno
Dante The Divine Comedy Volume 1: Inferno Transl. Mark Musa. Penguin Classics 1971
We've jumped 12 centuries to the 1300s this week. Dante Alighieri was a Florentine (b. 1265, died in exile in Ravenna in 1321). We are only reading the 1st volume of his Divine Comedy. I'll have to put Volume 2 (Purgatory) and Volume 3 (Paradise) on to my ever-expanding reading list for when the course year is over. After reading the Inferno, I feel as if I really need to know who makes it to the next levels!
This was an interesting book for me. We went to church when I was growing up but the imagery and the elaborate structure of Hell described in this book is not anything I was ever exposed to before. It was intriguing to think that Dante based much of his structure on Virgil's Aeneid. As the Inferno shows, Virgil was not a Christian and so he is relegated to Hell and not able to aspire to Purgatory or Paradise.
Midway along the journey of our life
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
for I had wandered off from the straight path.
Even his description of Virgil has so much packed into 3 lines (Canto I, 60-63):
While I was rushing down to that low place,
my eyes made out a figure coming towards me
of one grown faint, perhaps from too much silence.
Some of the content was familiar to me, such as the famous (though I didn't realize or remember that it came from Dante) warning (Canto II, 9):
ABANDON EVERY HOPE, ALL YOU WHO ENTER
But much of the imagery was new to me: rivers of boiling blood, the geryon, the various torments.
The intricate structure of the Inferno was amazing and confusing. Now I'll have to read Virgil and Aristotle to see where some or much of this may have come from. The 9 circles of Hell (+ the outer vestibule for worthy un-baptised and non-Christians) and all of the fine gradations within: the three rings in the 7th circle, the 10 malabolgias (bad ditches) in the 8th circle, the Upper and Lower parts of Hell, the City of Dis, the various rivers and marshes, the physical structures (bridges, towers, castles, abysses, burning sands, gates and barriers), and the various monsters (Minos, Cerburus, Plutus, Furies, Erinyes, harpies, Gorgons, Minotaur, Centaurs, black devils, black cherubim, giants and then the giant Lucifer stuck upside down at the very bottom of Hell.
It was also quite interesting to see how Dante ordered the various types of sinners. He makes a difference between the sins of the intellect and sins of action. The Inferno was divided into Upper and Lower Hell with Upper Hell being for sins of Incontinence (essentially lack of control), which he calls the Sins of the Wolf; and Lower Hell being for sins that are deliberately done - the Sins of the Lion. The division is at the City of Dis. Heretics are separate, being based on intellectual pride. The Heretics are within the Gates of Dis, and so placed between the sins of Incontinence and those of Malice. In Outer Hell are the Lustful and the Gluttonous outermost, the hoarders and the spendthrifts, then the wrathful, the Heretics, the Violent (least sinful were those violent against their neighbours, then those against themselves - the Suicides - then most sinful were those violent against God and nature. He includes Fraud as being very sinful, putting it lower (more serious) than Violence, down the abyss to the 10 stone ravines in the 8th circle of Hell containing the Sins of the Leopard (from least sinful to most sinful):
Then the giants.
It was strange to have those who committed violence considered less sinful than the hypocrites and thieves or deceivers; those committing suicide more sinful than those who killed their neighbours. He also puts the Profligates in with the Suicides in the Wood of the Suicides, because they violently waste what they have.
There was certainly much passion in the Inferno, with many of the sinners those who had let themselves be governed by passion. Some obvious cases like Francesca da Rimini and Paolo (Canto V) in the 2nd circle of hell who gave in to their love for one another and betrayed family (her husband who was his brother). Dante writes about "those who make reason slave to appetite" (V.39), probably as neat a summary of the usual conflict between reason and passion as anyone could write.
It also contains a line I've heard before that contains so much in what it doesn't say. Francesca is speaking to Dante about how she and Paolo came to give in to their lust while reading about Lancelot (from a french text Lancelot du Lac),
"That day we read no further." (V.138)
Regarding passion again, Dante writes, as the Pilgrim visits the 3rd circle of hell (Gluttony), in canto VI, "...for pride, envy, avarice are the three sparks
that kindle men's hearts and set them burning."
Virgil tells Dante (The Pilgrim):
"...Remember your philosophy:
the closer a thing comes to its perfection,
more keen will be its pleasure or its pain." (VI, 106-108)
In the 6th circle (Heretics), in canto XI, Virgil instructs the Pilgrim on philosophy:
Philosophy...points out to one who reads with understanding
how Nature takes her course form the Divine.
[...]
From Art and Nature man was meant to take
his daily bread to live - if you recall
the book of Genesis near the beginning;
(XI, 97-108)
At the edge of the Wood of the Suicides they come to the Burning Sands and a river of boiling blood (the Phlegethon) and Virgil tells the Pilgrim about the Old Man of Crete whose tears are the source of all the rivers in Hell (Acheron, Styx, Phlegethon which all eventually collect to form the pool Cocytus at the bottom of the Inferno.)
Several Cantos deal with their travels in the 8th circle of Hell, over the 10 malabolgias (bad ditches, a series of stone ravines traversed by stone bridges). In the 5th bolgia (for Barrators) Dante writes (XXI.42) "You can change a 'no' to 'yes' for cash in Lucca". Again such a succinct way to say so much - though when we were in Italy in 2007 Lucca was a favourite city to visit and I had no idea of its medieval reputation for barratry. Dante considered barratry as secular simonry. It later acquired other meanings including the vexatious stirring up of quarrels or bringing of lawsuits; or the offense of persistently instigating lawsuits, typically groundless ones.
In the 7th bolgia ((Thieves, whose torment is applied by serpents) Dante talks about fame, something we've discussed in class with other texts. When you start to consider the meaning of life, what a good life is, what is the purpose of it all, there have been many discussions about how whatever one does in one's live it is unlikely to last for very long. Any descendants you have won't remember much about you after a couple of generations. If you leave a work of art (painting, writing, pottery etc) it may or may not last very long, if it does last for centuries or millenia, those coming after may not know much about you (such as Sappho or even Lucretius) so what does it mean. Virgil tells Dante :
Come on, shake off the covers of this sloth,
the master said, for sitting softly cushioned,
or tucked into bed is no way to win fame;
and without it man must waste his life away,
leaving such traces of what he was on earth
as smoke in wind and foam upon the water.
(XXIV, 46-50)
In canto XXIV Dante enumerates many exotic reptiles from the sands of Libya (which interestingly in some background reading for my essay I read was considered by some to be the location of the Elysian Fields or the Isles of the Blest): chelydri (which leave smoking paths), jaculi (which dart in the air and pierce), phareans (which makes paths with their tails), cenchres (which leave a wavering course in the sands) and head-tailed amphisbenes (2 heads, one at each end).
Again it's always nice to see a reference to something we've read this term and have more understanding of the reference now.
In Canto X (X.14-15), Dante writes:
...Epicurus and his followers
who make the soul die when the body dies.
The sheer number of references to legendary and historical figures and events, to places, to myths was staggering and again, I want to read so much more about them.
All the mythological figures (too many to list), Dolcino and Margaret of Trent, Caesar hesitating to cross the Rubicon (which I always thought was a Napoleonic reference and probably was used for him referring back to Caesar), Bertran de Born a Provencal troubadour in the 1100s who caused the rebellion of Prince Henry against his father Henry II of England, Nimrod building the Tower of Babel, Mordred (wicked nephew of King Arthur), Ganelon who betrayed Roland to the Saracens (making me remember Arezzo and their annual jousts which we saw in June where men on horseback from various factions in the city tilt against the wooden figure of a Saracen holding a shield and 3 wooden balls), Tolomen (Ptolemy), Caiaphas who advised Pontius Pilate, Michael Scot (a scottish soothsayer at Frederick II's court at Palermo), the Donation of Constantine, Cato and Pompey and the Caesars, Camilla, Penthesilea (Queen of Amazons), Semiramis (Queen of Assyria), Dido (Queen of Carthage), Tristan (sent by his uncle King Mark of Cornwall, to obtain Isolt).
So many stories and historical events that I'm dying to read more about. This book was so rich. It makes a strong case for not letting your passions overthrow your reason. Our other text this week is Rumi's poetry - incredibly different. Lots of passion but in a more transcendent way.
We've jumped 12 centuries to the 1300s this week. Dante Alighieri was a Florentine (b. 1265, died in exile in Ravenna in 1321). We are only reading the 1st volume of his Divine Comedy. I'll have to put Volume 2 (Purgatory) and Volume 3 (Paradise) on to my ever-expanding reading list for when the course year is over. After reading the Inferno, I feel as if I really need to know who makes it to the next levels!
This was an interesting book for me. We went to church when I was growing up but the imagery and the elaborate structure of Hell described in this book is not anything I was ever exposed to before. It was intriguing to think that Dante based much of his structure on Virgil's Aeneid. As the Inferno shows, Virgil was not a Christian and so he is relegated to Hell and not able to aspire to Purgatory or Paradise.
I found the imagery in this poem to be stunning. Much of it was horrifying and I can't imagine what it would have been like to live believing that these torments are actually what you would be suffering after death. I was hooked right from the beginning of this book, with the opening line (Canto I, 1-3):
Midway along the journey of our life
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
for I had wandered off from the straight path.
Even his description of Virgil has so much packed into 3 lines (Canto I, 60-63):
While I was rushing down to that low place,
my eyes made out a figure coming towards me
of one grown faint, perhaps from too much silence.
Some of the content was familiar to me, such as the famous (though I didn't realize or remember that it came from Dante) warning (Canto II, 9):
ABANDON EVERY HOPE, ALL YOU WHO ENTER
But much of the imagery was new to me: rivers of boiling blood, the geryon, the various torments.
The intricate structure of the Inferno was amazing and confusing. Now I'll have to read Virgil and Aristotle to see where some or much of this may have come from. The 9 circles of Hell (+ the outer vestibule for worthy un-baptised and non-Christians) and all of the fine gradations within: the three rings in the 7th circle, the 10 malabolgias (bad ditches) in the 8th circle, the Upper and Lower parts of Hell, the City of Dis, the various rivers and marshes, the physical structures (bridges, towers, castles, abysses, burning sands, gates and barriers), and the various monsters (Minos, Cerburus, Plutus, Furies, Erinyes, harpies, Gorgons, Minotaur, Centaurs, black devils, black cherubim, giants and then the giant Lucifer stuck upside down at the very bottom of Hell.
It was also quite interesting to see how Dante ordered the various types of sinners. He makes a difference between the sins of the intellect and sins of action. The Inferno was divided into Upper and Lower Hell with Upper Hell being for sins of Incontinence (essentially lack of control), which he calls the Sins of the Wolf; and Lower Hell being for sins that are deliberately done - the Sins of the Lion. The division is at the City of Dis. Heretics are separate, being based on intellectual pride. The Heretics are within the Gates of Dis, and so placed between the sins of Incontinence and those of Malice. In Outer Hell are the Lustful and the Gluttonous outermost, the hoarders and the spendthrifts, then the wrathful, the Heretics, the Violent (least sinful were those violent against their neighbours, then those against themselves - the Suicides - then most sinful were those violent against God and nature. He includes Fraud as being very sinful, putting it lower (more serious) than Violence, down the abyss to the 10 stone ravines in the 8th circle of Hell containing the Sins of the Leopard (from least sinful to most sinful):
- panderers and seducers
- simonists (churchmen who took money for religious acts)
- sorcerers
- barrators (secular simonists, grafters, sellers of public office)
- hypocrites
- thieves
- deceivers
- sowers of discord
- falsifiers
Then the giants.
It was strange to have those who committed violence considered less sinful than the hypocrites and thieves or deceivers; those committing suicide more sinful than those who killed their neighbours. He also puts the Profligates in with the Suicides in the Wood of the Suicides, because they violently waste what they have.
There was certainly much passion in the Inferno, with many of the sinners those who had let themselves be governed by passion. Some obvious cases like Francesca da Rimini and Paolo (Canto V) in the 2nd circle of hell who gave in to their love for one another and betrayed family (her husband who was his brother). Dante writes about "those who make reason slave to appetite" (V.39), probably as neat a summary of the usual conflict between reason and passion as anyone could write.
It also contains a line I've heard before that contains so much in what it doesn't say. Francesca is speaking to Dante about how she and Paolo came to give in to their lust while reading about Lancelot (from a french text Lancelot du Lac),
"That day we read no further." (V.138)
Regarding passion again, Dante writes, as the Pilgrim visits the 3rd circle of hell (Gluttony), in canto VI, "...for pride, envy, avarice are the three sparks
that kindle men's hearts and set them burning."
Virgil tells Dante (The Pilgrim):
"...Remember your philosophy:
the closer a thing comes to its perfection,
more keen will be its pleasure or its pain." (VI, 106-108)
In the 6th circle (Heretics), in canto XI, Virgil instructs the Pilgrim on philosophy:
Philosophy...points out to one who reads with understanding
how Nature takes her course form the Divine.
[...]
From Art and Nature man was meant to take
his daily bread to live - if you recall
the book of Genesis near the beginning;
(XI, 97-108)
At the edge of the Wood of the Suicides they come to the Burning Sands and a river of boiling blood (the Phlegethon) and Virgil tells the Pilgrim about the Old Man of Crete whose tears are the source of all the rivers in Hell (Acheron, Styx, Phlegethon which all eventually collect to form the pool Cocytus at the bottom of the Inferno.)
Several Cantos deal with their travels in the 8th circle of Hell, over the 10 malabolgias (bad ditches, a series of stone ravines traversed by stone bridges). In the 5th bolgia (for Barrators) Dante writes (XXI.42) "You can change a 'no' to 'yes' for cash in Lucca". Again such a succinct way to say so much - though when we were in Italy in 2007 Lucca was a favourite city to visit and I had no idea of its medieval reputation for barratry. Dante considered barratry as secular simonry. It later acquired other meanings including the vexatious stirring up of quarrels or bringing of lawsuits; or the offense of persistently instigating lawsuits, typically groundless ones.
In the 7th bolgia ((Thieves, whose torment is applied by serpents) Dante talks about fame, something we've discussed in class with other texts. When you start to consider the meaning of life, what a good life is, what is the purpose of it all, there have been many discussions about how whatever one does in one's live it is unlikely to last for very long. Any descendants you have won't remember much about you after a couple of generations. If you leave a work of art (painting, writing, pottery etc) it may or may not last very long, if it does last for centuries or millenia, those coming after may not know much about you (such as Sappho or even Lucretius) so what does it mean. Virgil tells Dante :
Come on, shake off the covers of this sloth,
the master said, for sitting softly cushioned,
or tucked into bed is no way to win fame;
and without it man must waste his life away,
leaving such traces of what he was on earth
as smoke in wind and foam upon the water.
(XXIV, 46-50)
In canto XXIV Dante enumerates many exotic reptiles from the sands of Libya (which interestingly in some background reading for my essay I read was considered by some to be the location of the Elysian Fields or the Isles of the Blest): chelydri (which leave smoking paths), jaculi (which dart in the air and pierce), phareans (which makes paths with their tails), cenchres (which leave a wavering course in the sands) and head-tailed amphisbenes (2 heads, one at each end).
Again it's always nice to see a reference to something we've read this term and have more understanding of the reference now.
In Canto X (X.14-15), Dante writes:
...Epicurus and his followers
who make the soul die when the body dies.
The sheer number of references to legendary and historical figures and events, to places, to myths was staggering and again, I want to read so much more about them.
All the mythological figures (too many to list), Dolcino and Margaret of Trent, Caesar hesitating to cross the Rubicon (which I always thought was a Napoleonic reference and probably was used for him referring back to Caesar), Bertran de Born a Provencal troubadour in the 1100s who caused the rebellion of Prince Henry against his father Henry II of England, Nimrod building the Tower of Babel, Mordred (wicked nephew of King Arthur), Ganelon who betrayed Roland to the Saracens (making me remember Arezzo and their annual jousts which we saw in June where men on horseback from various factions in the city tilt against the wooden figure of a Saracen holding a shield and 3 wooden balls), Tolomen (Ptolemy), Caiaphas who advised Pontius Pilate, Michael Scot (a scottish soothsayer at Frederick II's court at Palermo), the Donation of Constantine, Cato and Pompey and the Caesars, Camilla, Penthesilea (Queen of Amazons), Semiramis (Queen of Assyria), Dido (Queen of Carthage), Tristan (sent by his uncle King Mark of Cornwall, to obtain Isolt).
So many stories and historical events that I'm dying to read more about. This book was so rich. It makes a strong case for not letting your passions overthrow your reason. Our other text this week is Rumi's poetry - incredibly different. Lots of passion but in a more transcendent way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)