![]() Limbo is denied the Beatific Vision and true joy, but the light of Limbo is the light of the human intellect from the many noble and intelligent souls that find themselves in this circle. At the same time, they did know God which is to say that they did not live by the full standard of Truth (who is God). having been baptized), had achieved the cardinal virtues. These souls, including some notable Islamic philosophers, are those people who, though not Christian (e.g. Limbo is where all the righteous pagans are located. ![]() The first circle of hell is Limbo, which Dante and Virgil reach after crossing the river Acheron, the mythical Greek river that led one to the underworld (Hell), but no one is being punished here. As such, their movement comes together behind a banner, symbolizing a leader or lead, something which they never did in life.Īlthough there are nine circles to Hell, there are, in practicality, only eight circles. They are forced to move into action which they failed to do in life. Here they are stung by bees and other insects that causes them to run and scatter about. As such, neither Heaven nor Hell can take them because they didn’t choose the good, true, or beautiful (Heaven) nor the privation of the good, true, or beautiful (Hell). The neutrals are people who did not side with good or evil in their lives or times of crisis (which demand action). Time also exists for Dante because he is not actually dead.) When they enter Hell, they meet the first group of people known as the neutrals. (Do ignore the usage of rising and setting suns in the poem, it is not Dante making a mistake he uses the time of day and night in his narrative as a device to communicate a message to the reader. The reason why there is no hope in Hell is because Hell is timeless. ![]() Without this one cannot live a truly fulfilled and happy life which is what all humans seek.Īs Dante and Virgil approach the gates of Hell, they see the now infamous words: ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE. Without knowing Truth, which is impossible with reason or wisdom, then one cannot properly love. Furthermore, Christian anthropology asserts that man has a telos and that this telos is to live a life in union with truth, wisdom, and love. This is important to know when exploring the nine circles of Hell, and especially the separation between the first four five circles with the final four circles. In Christian theology, God is understood as Love and Truth. To understand Dante’s construction of Hell we must first understand some basic things about Christian theology. Understanding the Inferno: The Construction of Hell As such, I will explore a few of the major themes in the various books – starting with Inferno – and give explanation and context to these. For a basic understanding of the intellectual content of the poem, I cannot go too deep into the themes for risk of losing you, the reader. Admittedly, the poem is exceedingly dense and is ripe with all types of layers of allegory, philosophy, and theology. It also delves into the heart of Christian (Catholic) philosophy in how hell is constructed, the role of love in salvation, and how miserableness (a life overwhelmed in sin) is transcended to a life of happiness (which is what salvation is all about in Christianity). It expects a command of the classics which would have been commonplace in the early Renaissance period when Dante was writing: the stories of Homer and Virgil, of the Greek philosophical tradition, and, of course, of the Christian philosophical and theological traditions as well. ![]() The Divine Comedy is a rich and dense text. Moreover, following from the Christian tradition which Dante is part of and extols, it is first the love of things temporal when finally, and properly ordered, allows one to enjoy earthly loves while proceeding to move toward the permanent things: the good, true, and beautiful. Dante’s poetry rests on the classical presumptions of the human being: earthly love does have Divine, or transcendent, character and quality. Building off Homer and Virgil, and influencing the likes of Chaucer, Milton, Blake, and Tennyson, as well as bringing to popular consciousness and form the modern Italian language, Dante’s epic delves into the meaning of allegory, poetry, love, truth, and philosophy. Dante’s three-part epic poem the Divine Comedy, or Commedia, is one of the most influential and dense works of poetic literature in the Western tradition. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |