Chap 1

1. Why did Ruth breastfeed for so long?
2. Were Ruth and her husband ever in love? If so, what caused Ruth and her husband to fall out of love?
3. Are Smith's and Parker's "flying" related? If so, how?
4. Why do Pilate and Macon not like each other? What happened?
5. Why does Milkman seem so removed from his family, even his sisters?

canto 34

"If he was truly once as beautiful/ As he is ugly now, and raised his brows/ Against his Maker- then all sorrow may well/ Come out of him. How great a marvel it was/ For me to see three faces on his head;/ In front there was a red one; joined to this,/ Each over the midpoint of a shoulder, he had/ Two others- all three joining at the crown./ That on the right appeared to be a shade/ Of whitish yellow; the third had such a mien/ As those who come from where the Nile descends" (Canto 34, lines 37-47)
So we've already discussed the three heads as being part of Dante's obsession with the number three, although despite its connection with the Holy Trinity, I do not understand this love. I understand that the devil is supposed to the antithesis of the Holy Trinity and God, thus he is three as well as one, just like it, but I want to know if the colors mean anything. Are the colors supposed to be representative of the different races on earth? Although, I don't think they'd seen the Indians yet, since it was still the Dark Ages, so how could they know about the "red man?" And I don't really know the whole story of Lucifer and what happened, I think he was angel, but then something happened, and God threw him down, and that's what made hell. But how did his body get so distorted? Like, he was probably a pretty angel before, and definitely did not have three different colored heads, so how come he has them now? So yeah, I don't know if the different colors are a black hat or anything, but it seems like it would have some manner of significance. And I guess I should look up Lucifer's story to see if that gives any insight, because honestly, I don't know a whole lot about those stories.

"He wept with all six eyes, and the tears fell/ Over his three chins mingled with bloody foam./ The teeth of each mouth held a sinner, kept/ As by a flax rake: thus he he held three of them/ In agony" (Canto 34, lines 54-58)
It seems very strange to me that the devil would be sad in hell. I guess I sort of have the image of the devil like Hades, who ruled the Underworld, and didn't suffer from it. In "Hercules" Hades didn't seem to mind being in charge of the Underworld, even if he would rather be ruler of all, like Zeus. But still, I never thought that the epitome of evil would not flourish in this place of evil. I also never figured he would be punished, but I guess it makes sense since he did something to anger God and all. It surprised me that he would be crying, I wouldn't think that someone so evil would feel guilt, but then again, he could be crying from the pain he has to suffer for the rest of eternity. Since Lucifer made hell, does that mean that he was the first bad guy ever to be on earth? And the first guy who needed to go to a place like hell? I really wish I knew more of the story about Lucifer, and the time period where that whole story happened, so I can put it all in perspective. But it seems strange to me that he doesn't lord over hell, that it's still God's creation, so God has control over it, and Lucifer is being punished. This definitely doesn't go with what I'd come to believe. Like, I figured that the devil wanted you to come down to hell because he was supposed to surface on earth and tempt people. But how can he tempt people if he's stuck in hell in his punishment for the rest of eternity? Are Lucifer and the devil different guys? That would probably make more sense if that were true, but based on the pictures we saw yesterday, he's not. This seems rather confusing, but I guess if I had more than a cursory knowledge of Christianity, it would help to clarify.

Why Dante?

"Dante's Inferno" has inspired many for centuries because he took the intangible and made it tangible. Religion is extremely intangible with its lack of physical evidence, and oftentimes its direct contradiction with science. Now it seems hard to believe that there's any room in the universe for a "hell" or a "heaven," but Dante made a place for it in his world. In his trilogy, the "Divine Comedy," he took the divine and made it earthly. It's such an interesting concept, no-one had ever done it so thoroughly as he had before, thus his novel has lived through the test of time. He categorized each sin from bad to horrible and came up with fitting punishments. Then, to further clarify what each sin was, he gave examples, not only from his contemporaries, but from the Bible, and Greek and Roman mythology.
The Bible's description of anything is a big vague, and there's so much of it that one might not be able to fully grasp each of the concepts. In his "Inferno" he explains what not to do so one can avoid suffering the punishments that he describes therein. He takes the concept of sin, and describes through examples what the Bible means and makes it obvious to the common man why not to sin. His colorful and illustrative painting of hell makes one shiver when one realizes what could happen to him. The details of the punishments are laid out so plainly that one truly understands the wrath of God. He truly made the vague, intangible parts of religion more understandable by his in-depth descriptions of the places one would live, the punishments one would have to suffer, as well as all the beasts one might encounter if one were to be condemned to an eternity in hell.
Even though the politics of the Church were dubious at best during Dante's time, he makes sure that the reader understands the wrath of God, which can even fall upon those who "serve" the Church. He makes it plainly clear that the reader knows that even though the Church is lax and does not always uphold Christian values, Christian values are important and one could be condemned to hell for not following them. He details thoroughly the harsh justice that God serves and how painfully fair hell is, even with all pain and agony. I thought it extremely interesting that he had hell being a very strict place with many rules, but I guess with a place so chock full of sinners, a lot of order is needed. Dante lays down the law of the Bible, to make the vague and confusing more understandable, so that men do not incur the wrath of God, and therefor have to suffer the consequences. In this sense, it seems like a warning, do not do this, all though these seem like very easy sins to commit, because this is what will happen. He takes the wrath of God very seriously and impresses this need to not sin upon the reader, so that one does not have to suffer for an eternity.
Dante is also very exact in he placement of hell. It's like he was thinking, these sins are not as bad, and therefore do not have as harsh punishments, and here are some examples of people who would go here. But this makes it extremely clear to the reader, ok, don't do this, I don't want to suffer this for all of eternity. I like how he orders sins from bad to worse, and how much order and structure there is in a place so full of sin. The people in there are people who did not have Christian values and structure in their lives, but now have to suffer the very worst of it. I also think it's interesting how he matched up every sin with a fitting punishment, like this sin is horrible and you have to suffer through being frozen in ice for the rest of eternity. He seems a very strong believer in the fact that the punishment should fit the crime. He also was very exact in his placement of examples, both contemporaries to Dante and people from Greek and Roman mythology. He weighed their crimes and strategically placed these people where they best desrved to be. They provided a guide to the reader so s/he knew exactly what circle s/he was in and the weight of the sin. This way, he can show how unbelieveably just hell is. The reader will recognize the examples and, hopefully, agree that this punishment fits the example's crime.
He made the intangible tangible through his description of the divine. He tells people what not to do, what will happen to them if they do, and what level of sin it is. He takes such an organized and rational approach to religion, which seems almost contraditory, which makes it impressive. His unusual approach to the afterlife had never been approached this way (as far as I know), and his detailed description of what cannot be known is so well thought out, that it's almost like, ok this must be right. His "Divine Comedy" stood the test of time because he took the divine and made it comprehendable to the human mind.

cantos 21-23

"The friar, 'In Bologna the saying goes/ As I have heard, that the Devil is endowed/ With many vices- among them, that he lies/ And is the father of lies, I have also heard.'" (Cantos 23, 140-143)
I really don't understand why this isn't completely obvious that the devil doesn't usually tell the truth. Honestly, don't believe what the devil says. He's supposed to be the epitome of evil. If he is evil, he must be a collection of all the sins in one being. Thus, if he is all the sins in one being, and fraud (or lying) is a sin, then the devil lies. I can't believe that they stopped to ask for directions in hell, not once, but twice. I think it's rather interesting that this guide who has known so much up till know is suddenly lot. If Virgil had been the stereotypical man and not asked for directions, he would have never been lied to by the malebranche. Also, I find it rather ironic that it was the hypocrite who told the naive pair that the devil is known for lying. A guy who is condemned to carry the weight of lead for the rest of eternity continues his sin, when he tells the Virgil and Dante that the devil lies, when he himself lies often. It's also very interesting how many people of the church are in hell, like this hypocrite is a friar.

"In winter, when the sticky pitch is boiled/ In the Venetian Arsenal to caulk/ their unsound vessels while no ship can be sailed,/ And so instead one uses the time to make/ His ship anew, another ne repairs/ Much-voyaged ribs, and some with hammers strike/ The prow, and some the stern; and this one makes oars/ While that one might twist rope, and another patch/ The jib and mainsail" (Cantos 21, 7-15)
I thought this passage was extremely strange and unnessary. I don't think it's important to know what people do in Venice in the dark. He was describing how dark it was, but explaining what people do when it's dark is completely irrevelevant. I understand if he goes on forever to describe the dark, so the reader can better see the immense darkness of the 8th circle of hell. I just don't see how this whole part adds to the story in any way, unless its some sort of metaphor that I'm completely missing. I guess it could be foreshadowing the fact that hell is falling apart, as the malebranche says later. So, after more research, I realized the connection between pitch and pitch black. So pitch is used to make repairs in ships, it's a sealant, and is a very very dark black color. Thus, Dante was comparing the extreme darkness of hell to a more recognizable substance in the 13th century to Venetians. I still don't think that the in-depth description of what Venetians do in the winter is required.

cantos 13-20

"'Behold the beast that has the pointed tail,/ That crosses mountains, leaves walls and weapons broken,/ And makes the stench of which the world is full!'/ So did my leader address me, then paused to beckon/ Him ashore near where the causeway came to an end./ And fraud's foul emblem came closer, till he had taken/ His head and chest from the deep to rest on land/ Before us, not drawing his tail up onto the bank./ His face was a just man's face, outwardly kind," (Cantos XVII, 1-9)
Not entirely sure I understand this. First off, if it's fraud's foul emblem, is it a fake? And is that why it has the face of an honest man? For some reason it seems like it's just a guy in a monster suit, which would not be nearly as hellish as the rest of the book, so I guess that can't be right. But, I guess it could be saying that the beast is this level of hell's mascot, thus being fraud's emblem, which i suppose makes more sense. Although, since it is "fraud's foul emblem" wouldn't it have some sense of fakeness to it as well? But is the fraud the fact that the monster has an honest man's face? Since, of course, the man cannot be honest since he is in hell. Also, why does the beast break walls and weapons? Is he allowed out of hell to go wreak havoc? It seems like he's a beast from Greek mythology, which, in a way is odd, since that would be magic-esque, which I don't think is allow. Sorcery or divination isn't allowed, so I don't see how it's allowed that a beast can be conjured to go wreak havoc. And, if sorcery isn't allowed, then how can god do it? There just seems to be some holes, maybe it's because I don't know christian teachings very well. I also thought the use of the exclamation mark here is interesting, and I guess there's a pretty good smattering of them throughout, but I just didn't think it would be natural here.

"O Simon Magus, and O you wretched crowd/ Of those who follow him and prostitute/ In your rapacity the things of God/ Which should be brides of righteousness, to get/ Silver and Gold- it is time the trumpet sounded/ For you: the third pouch is where you are put"
Even though I had to go look some things up, I thought this was an uncharacteristically clear passage. I like how I, as the reader, am told where Dante is and what group of people are here. It's very nice to have a roadmap, just for clarification, because sometimes it seems that he skips over a part or two of hell, but maybe it's just because there aren't such wonderful written roadmaps. So I did have to look up Simon Magus, who is regarded as the source of all heresies, which is a rather intense title. So he give rise to the term "simony" when he offered to purchase from the Apostles Peter and John the supernatural power of transmitting the Holy Spirit. And "simony," which I also had to look up, is the the buying or selling of sacred things or ecclesiastical office. So, yeah, that's bad and in the third pouch of the 8th circle of hell. It's just so useful to be like, oh look, I'm here reading about simony land, and hey, in case I was keeping track, Dante's in the third pouch (even if it doesn't say what circle, but luckily, there's a table at the beginning of the book). Anyways, the clarity was a very helpful breath of fresh air.

cantos 6-12

In the dead channel, one rose abeam/ Coated with mud, and addressed me: "Who are you,/ To come here before your time?" And I to him:/ "If I come, I do not stay; but who are you who have become so brutally foul?" "You see me: I am one/ Who weeps," he answered. And I to him, "In weeping/ And sorrow remain, cursed soul- for i have seen/ through all that filth: I know you!" He started gripped/ With both hands at the boat. My master stood/ And thrust him back off, saying, "Back to safekeeping/ Among the other dogs." And then my guide/ Embraces my neck and kissed me on the face/ And said, "Indignant soul, blessed indeed/ Is she who bore you. Arrogant in his vice/ Was that one when he lived. No goodness whatever/ Adorning his memory, his shade is furious.... And I said, "Master, truly I should like/ To see that spirit pickled in this swill,/ Before we've made our way across the lake." (Cantos VIII, 29-46; 50-51)
So I thought this passage extremely strange. Later on it names the wretched soul they are talking about as Filippo Argenti, who in real life, has bad blood with Dante. The theories of the animosity are: Filippo once slapped Dante, Filippo's brother had taken Dante's possessions after Dante's exile from Florence, and Filippo's family had opposed Dante's return from exile. But I also thought it strange that the guide praised Dante for being a jerk and provoking the shade. The shade simply asked why Dante, who was alive, was in hell, to which Dante replied, "but who are you who have become so brutally foul?" (33-34). Also, the guide doesn't seem to mind the vengence that Dante is seeking against a foe in his life on earth, which definitely doesn't seem like Dante being a good Christian. Also, in this point, you can definitely tell that Dante is the speaker in the journey through hell, since he's putting his biggest foe in the 5th level of hell. And even though they didn't get along great in life on Earth, it seems that Dante, if he gets to have the opportunity to be lead around hell by his favorite angel poet, would be more forgiving and kind. It just seems wrong.

"With his left hand/ He cleared the polluted air before his face/ And only in that annoyance did he seems tired./ I knew assuredly he was sent to us/ From Heaven..." (Cantos IX, 72-76)
Here Dante's arrogance is quite obvious. Why is it that Dante is so special that he gets a guided tour of heaven, hell, and purgatory? Dante seems to assume quite a lot about himself that Beatrice wants him to continue his art and has even given him a guide through places no other human has ever gone, just so that he can have some inspiration. Then, in this passage, his arrogance is obvious that some angel would come down from heaven just so that Dante could continue his journey. He assumes that angels have nothing better to do than to help some poet out, some guy who doesn't really seem to be that great of a Christian in his real life. Also, although I couldn't find the passage, his arrogance is extremely obvious when his guide tells him that it's good that he had trouble crossing the River Styx (maybe), because that means he's probably going to heaven. It seems rather presumptive of Dante to assume that he has lived his life entirely free of sin and that he will definitely be going to heaven. I think the whole deal where he's so special that he has a guide and that an angel opens the gate is extremely presumptive and arrogant of Dante, and isn't that some sort of sin?

cantos 1-5

"Low Italy, as Nisus fought to achieve./ And Turnus, Euryalus, Camilla the maiden-/All dead from wounds in war. He will remove" (Cantos I,82-84)
I don't understand all these names and what they represent. Are they from myths of Roman times? I understand that there was some great war, was it the Trojan War? It seems I will have to look all of these up.
So, after doing some research, I found that Turnus is the chief antagonist in the "Aeneid," which the speaker's guide, Virgil wrote. I was not quite right that the war Turnus died from was the Trojan War, but he died from the hand of a Trojan after the Trojan War. So, the "Aeneid" takes place after the Trojan War, and Turnus is the king of the Rutili in Italy and Aeneas comes to his land. Then, to be brief, Turnus kills the young Prince Pallas, Aeneas swears vengence on whoever killed him, and then there's an Achilles and Hector-esque deul. Aeneas is winning, so Turnus begs to be spared, or at least give his body to his people, but then Aeneas sees Pallas's belt, so he gets really mad and finishes him off.
Euryalus is either another guy from Virgil's the "Aeneid" or is a guy from Greek Mythology. The Euryalus from the "Aeneid" is one of Nisus and Euryalus, a pair that symbolized the ideal friends. They are Trojans and die during a nighttime raid of the Rutulians camp. Euryalus steals a bright helmet from one of the me he kills and so when reinforcements come, they find Euryalus by the brightness of the helmet. Nisus tries to come to his rescue, but kills him, and is overcome by more reinforcements, and he falls dead of Euryalus's corpse. The other Euryalus attacked the city of Thebes as one of the Epigoni, who took the city and avenged the deaths of their fathers...who had also tried to take Thebes. In Homer's the "Iliad," he fought in the Trojan War, where he was one of the Greeks to enter the Trojan Horse. So, the "Iliad's" Euryalus was involved in the Trojan War, so I guess I'm halfway right about the Trojan War...again.
And finally, Camilla the maiden is the daughter of King Metabus and Casmilla, in Roman mythology, but she doesn't die excitingly, so that can't be the Camilla that is being spoken of. The other Camilla, big surprise, is from the "Aeneid," here she helped King Turnus fight the Trojans, but was unfortunately killed by Arruns when she was distracted by her pursuit of Chloreus. But, she was avenved by her attendat, so that's cool. And, apparently, she was super fast, and Virgil said she was so fast she could run across the sea without getting her feet wet and run across a field of grain without bending any of the plants.
And Dante was right, they did all die from wounds of war in Virgil's book. I wonder why he expecteced the average reader to know these names. I doubt everyone read the "Aeneid," especially since it wasn't even done at Virgil's death.

"My parents both were Mantuans from Lombardy,/ And I was born, the latter end./ I lived in good Augutus's Rome, in the day/ Of false gods who lied. A poet, I hymned" (Cantos I, 52-55)
I thought the description of the Romans Gods to be false rather amusing, although it does make a lot of sense since Dante is writing in a powerful time for the Catholic Church, which he feels even more, living in Italy. I don't know what "sub Julio" means, but maybe it has to do with Jesus? I really don't know. I also wish I knew who the Mantuans were and where Lombardy is, although I guess it's part of the Roman Empire.