After posting about it last night, I decided to spend a half hour this morning finishing the Inferno. So now I am left praying that my professors will assign something entertaining to read so I won't feel compelled to go to the library. As an English major, I read so much I have no time for reading, if that makes any sense to you.
My biggest thought on the Inferno was how well Dante melded together the mythology of his culture with Christianity. In Dante's Hell, there is a River Styx and too many monsters for me to bother counting, including Medusa herself. Christ and the idea of one Supreme Being are mentioned time and time again. Some people might not like the juxtaposition of two polar religions, but I loved it. The mythology was Dante's culture; of course he would include it in his vision of Hell. Besides that, I think a lot of the Roman and Greek mythology was actually metaphor, just like a lot of Dante's Inferno. He assigned torments based on the sins committed -- for instance, people who were gluttonous on Earth were being continually eaten in Hell -- and I wonder whether he truly believed in the mythology, or if he just took Christianity as equal to the other stories of his culture. It would be too hard to tell without interviewing the guy.
I was startled to read that Dante had placed many of his own heroes in Hell (at least, I assume they were his heroes). Socrates, Plato, Ovid, all those famous people we still revere all were found in Hell. I wonder where Dante would have placed himself?
Off to classes now. Crossed fingers for a fun reading assignment.
No comments:
Post a Comment