Friday, November 2, 2012
Mahomet
In Dante's Inferno the Canto XXII talks about Mahomet, better known as the Prophet Muhammad to the modern day person, and I believe that he can represent two different things. First off, he represents the religion of Islam and how this was a diversion from traditional Christianity. In Dante's Hell Muhammad represents those people who followed the branches of Christianity and those who followed a different religion all together. He can also represent a schism between the church and society, a secular society.
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I think that, seeing as Dante was a devout Christian, he would have put any non-Christian religion in hell. Putting Mohammad in hell is a way if saying, "this guy is bad and should not be followed no matter what he claims to be." People respect Mohammad as another prophet which could have insulted Dante, so he tried to portray him in a bad light. I think he is sending the message that just because someone claims to be a prophet and preaches the word of God, it doesn't mean they belong in heaven.
I sort of disagree. I think he is in there (specifically in the part of circle 8 in which the sowers of discord reside)because in Dante's mind he sowed discord. Them Muslim religion has always had the belief that they must respect "people of the book" but Christians never really had that sort of belief, and as a result, Dante puts Mohammed in his hell. And i really don't see how it could symbolize a schism in the church, because Mohammed wasn't a figure let alone a significant one in the Christian church.
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