The Inferno

This illustration of The Inferno is more detailed than other versions we have seen, and it helped me to better envision each circle of hell. Since it's hard to see the illustration in this blog entry, I posted a link that will allow you see it better. Then, you can click on the image to magnify it.

http://www.bookteacher.org/Inferno.gif

Cleopatra's Suicide

I thought our class discussion of why Cleopatra was in the circle of hell involving the sin of lust instead of suicide was very interesting. I personally agree with what chrissy said, the sin of lust she committed before her suicide provoked the suicide itself, so therefore she was in the circle of hell involving lust. Although, as Ms. King said, every suicide is the result of an original sin, so why is Cleopatra the exception? I think that Dante must have thought that the sin that caused the suicide in Cleopatra's case was different. Maybe Dante could have related to something in Cleopatra's life? Or maybe Cleopatra's sin that provoked her suicide was less sinful according to Dante...What do yall think?

Virgil's "Prophecy"

I found the reference in class today of Virgil’s “prophecy of Christ” very interesting and decided to research the topic further. As we discussed in class, Virgil did not foresee the birth of Christ, but rather referred to the birth of a redeeming king. The association between Virgil’s quotation from his Fourth Eclogue most likely became associated with Christ’s birth as intellectuals from the medieval period tried to make the non-Christian Virgil seem “pro-Christian.” However, in reality, the quotation just serves as an extremely ironic coincidence.

Below is the actual quotation from the Fourth Eclogue:

“Now comes the last age by the song of the Cumaen sybil; the great order of the ages is born anew; now the Virgin returns, now the reign of Saturn comes again; now a new child is sent down from heaven above.”

Dante's death (wikipedia is a beautiful thing.........)THIS IS BEING POSTED DURING OUR BREAK, NOT CLASS TIME

He finished the Paradiso, and died in 1321 (at the age of 56) while returning to Ravenna from a diplomatic mission to Venice, possibly of malaria contracted there. Dante was buried in Ravenna at the Church of San Pier Maggiore (later called San Francesco). Bernardo Bembo, praetor of Venice in 1483, took care of his remains by building a better tomb.

Dante's tomb in Ravenna, built in 1780. Cenotaph at Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence. Cenotaph in Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence.

On the grave, some verses of Bernardo Canaccio, a friend of Dante, dedicated to Florence:

parvi Florentia mater amoris

"Florence, mother of little love"

The first formal biography of Dante was the Vita di Dante (also known as Trattatello in laude di Dante) written after 1348 by Giovanni Boccaccio;^[4] several statements and episodes of it are seen as unreliable by modern research. However, an earlier account of Dante's life and works had been included in the Nuova Cronica of the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani.^[5]
Eventually, Florence came to regret Dante's exile, and made repeated requests for the return of his remains. The custodians of the body at Ravenna refused to comply, at one point going so far as to conceal the bones in a false wall of the monastery. Nevertheless, in 1829, a tomb was built for him in Florence in the basilica of Santa Croce. That tomb has been empty ever since, with Dante's body remaining in Ravenna, far from the land he loved so dearly. The front of his tomb in Florence reads Onorate l'altissimo poeta—which roughly translates as "Honour the most exalted poet". The phrase is a quote from the fourth canto of the Inferno, depicting Virgil's welcome as he returns among the great ancient poets spending eternity in Limbo. The continuation of the line, L'ombra sua torna, ch'era dipartita ("his spirit, which had left us, returns"), is poignantly absent from the empty tomb.

Dante's Death Conflict

According to Wikipedia:

Eventually, Florence came to regret Dante's exile, and made repeated requests for the return of his remains. The custodians of the body at Ravenna refused to comply, at one point going so far as to conceal the bones in a false wall of the monastery. Nevertheless, in 1829, a tomb was built for him in Florence in the basilica of Santa Croce. That tomb has been empty ever since, with Dante's body remaining in Ravenna, far from the land he loved so dearly. The front of his tomb in Florence reads Onorate l'altissimo poeta—which roughly translates as "Honour the most exalted poet". The phrase is a quote from the fourth canto of the Inferno, depicting Virgil's welcome as he returns among the great ancient poets spending eternity in Limbo. The continuation of the line, L'ombra sua torna, ch'era dipartita ("his spirit, which had left us, returns"), is poignantly absent from the empty tomb.

Design Your Own Creation...

"Do you design your own creation?"

Well, if this question is approached from the perspective that God ultimately is man's creator and is ultimately in control of whether or not certain people will find us, then no, one is unable to design his own creation--creation in this sense would mean one's life pathway. However, I see an inherent flaw in this view of God's involvement with man with the belief of free will. If God gives man free will, then he has burdened humanity with the responsibility of finding Him. Though God may aid humanity in doing so, he cannot ultimately have power over whether or not humanity does. If he does, then free will no longer exists. And as a result, humanity is unable to design its own course of life, its creation.

Yes, that is Daryl in front of the Colosseum. And yes, that is a nun taking a photo. The photo of the inside of the stadium shows the holding cells underneath the main stage (which obviously no longer exists). To demonstrate naval battles, they obviously flooded all the holding cells and above.