my eyes alit upon a feast to be again devoured as i wandered through the large bookstore yesterday…
a beautiful edition, illustrated, of dante alighieri's inferno, purgatory and paradise - complete with illustrations!
inferno, purgatory and paradise - all in one glorious volume at a price that my budget could not pass by - $14.98.
as much as i curse the large box stores that have driven my local small book-keepers from the neighborhood, this one, barnes and noble, came to make amends by offering this amazing descent into the abyss and emerging into hope and then into understanding.
i have read the journey of dante alighieri many times since dr. hadley first introduced our young minds to this description of "hell" and showed us how each circle represented not some future torment but that of the torment that exists in the now for each of these "sins".
from the tragedy of francesca da rimini, always to be buffeted by the winds for an illicit love to the constant rending of self for the sowers of discord, dante gives a better understanding of the psychological torment brought about by our own actions than any modern day therapist.
traveling the nine circles of hades, dante (accompanied by the poet virgil who guides his way), he "sees" the consequences of the actions of human frailty and deceit. but dante doesn't leave us with a bleak and unforgiving future. dante travels through purgatory, equally nine circles but these are the paths to atonement, to releasing the anger, hurt, pain caused by one's actions. finally, dante ascends into paradise to find that there are even levels that exist in this enlightened state.
but, tonite, i want to join hands with virgil and dante and take a walk through some of those circles and look at how they apply in our modern world of politics and society.
won't you join me as we climb down lucifer's squiggly legs and drop into the inferno to observe?
for the uninitiated into dante's journey, let me begin by explaining that this is dante's tale of losing his way and in an attempt to find "salvation", he traverses through through the earth to emerge the other side - hell to purgatory and eventually, to "behold the stars" of paradise.
For those who have travelled this way (many have done so many years ago at the behest of a class, teacher, curiosity), let me say that it is well worth re-reading - multiple times - for, as we age, we see even more clearly how the punishment described by dante really does fit the crime. for this diary, i am skipping parts as the book is long and some cantos they are describing of the beginning of the journey and the justification of dante for the placement of those who are not christian, yet still good people: the pagans, unbaptised, the four poets (homer, horace, vovid and lucan) and the philosophers. dante could not bring himself to assign them to hell, yet the church did not recognize them as worth of ascending to heaven (being as they were "non-believers" - so, dante created "limbo" as the first circle.
so, for the sake of this journey, let us begin with...
CIRCLE II
for those who are wanton - young, careless in love, without having tasted the bitter fruit of love stolen, how can the punishment of francesca da rimini seem harsh? (circle III, canto V) - for the love of paolo malatesta and francesca da rimini. they are forever denied a place to rest, to stay, to settle.
dante is drawn to the couple and asks of virgil that they might speak with the two lovers:
"O Poet, willingly
Speak would i to those two, who go together,
And seem upon the wind to be so light."
Inf. V. lines 73-75
as they tell their tale, their love illicit now binds them together in death - always to be buffeted about by the wind - never to alight, never to rest, their love knows no peace or quiet home - only that of torment of what they might have had in happier times.
i am reminded of john edwards and rielle hunter… forever fleeing, forever fearing discovery - who, also, is driven by this cloak that hides love not blessed - love that can never know true happiness.
i am reminded of newt gingrich, who's shades of relationships past haunt his future.
i am reminded of so many who look only to the now and constantly are driven to hide what should be joyous and beautiful, never to be allowed the safety and security of a place in the open - a place to call home.
CIRCLE III
for gluttony - in this circle continually comes eternal rain, hail, despoiled water and snow… it's inhabitants are sunk "in fetid mud".
i am reminded of those who would, for their own gluttonous desires, pillage the earth and turn her to a land unlivable. for gluttony is not just the devouring of food, it is the greed of consumption of wealth and resources, too.
who, in these modern times, will reside in the third circle? and who, along their side, will suffer for watching and not preventing this pillage and greed? those who deny the earth's rhythm to take from the mother until she is depleted, is this their fate?
CIRCLE IV
this, the circle for the avaricious and the spendthrift - oh, how those who now cause the pain of people throughout the world are described. the greedy, the hoarders - dante sees these "souls" as rolling great boulders with their chests at one another, to clash and cry out in pain "Why keepest" and, "Why Squanderest thou?"
are these not the words of the bankers? are these not the cries of the players who profit from other people's hard labor and then then lay waste to those lives when spent?
CIRCLE V
the irascible and the sullen - those whose anger overcomes them are mired in the mud and muck of the river styx.
as dante begins his journey into CIRCLE V, he is met with taunts of
"Pape Satan, Pape Satan, Aleppe!"
Thus Plutus with his clucking voice began'
And that benignant Sage, who all things knew,
Said, to encourage me: "Let not thy fear
Harm thee; for any power that he may have
Shall not prevent thy going down this crag."
Then he turned round unto that bloated lip,
And said: "Be silent, thou accursed wolf;
Consume within thyself with thine own rage."
Inf. VII, Lines 1-9
further into the descent, dante observed those whose anger drove them within the mire…
"They smote each other not alone with hands,
But with the head and with the breast and feet,
Tearing each other piecemeal with their teeth."
Inf. VII, lines 112-114
so consumed by their own rage, they were unable to see above the clouded filth to see the stars above them.
and we, when we succumb to blind anger, lose our way to see a clear path that lies ahead. hatred does, indeed, consume from within - and the one who holds onto anger and rage is blinded to that beauty and love around him.
CIRCLE VI
the heresiarchs - ah, those who were the heretics of dante's day - are they so different than the "false prophets" of today?
those who use religiosity for personal gain and fame? how would dante have viewed the crystal tower in it's burning light? is this the fire that consumes those within? this circle of arrogance for those who believed to find themselves betrayed by that arrogance - they suffer.
as dante stops between the sixth and seventh circle to describe the land of his journey, he encounters a citizen of rome, cavalcante de' cavalcanti, who asked about his son, guido. (dante disperses many living characters of his time within this work - a harsh rebuke of their actions.
perhaps, dante could be looked upon as the precursor to the political blogger, no?) in his journal, dante "is intrigued to discover that the damned can foresee the future and recall the past but have no knowledge of the present." - how well he describes the modern voter in this nation!
canto XI describes how dante and virgil are beset by a foul stench that emanates from the tomb of pope anastasius II. the tomb is at the entrance to CIRCLE VII to allow the two journeymen to adjust to the stench that is to come. how little the "church" has changed in the time since dante in that it is often used as an introductory to things most foul yet to be encountered.
virgil describes the next circle as divided into three smaller circles - each a different gradation of evil in the spirits below. i find the seventh circle most alarming - for, indeed, the punishment described has been one which many of us have experienced in our lives and have struggled to overcome.
THE SEVENTH CIRCLE OF HELL…
CIRCLE VII - the violent. for them, they are doomed to the river phlegethon, a river of boiling blood.
"But fix thine eyes below' for draweth near
The river of blood, within which boiling is
Whoe'er by violence doth injure others."
CIRCLE VII - first circle - the violent against their neighbors
to each his punishment is to be placed in the river of boiling blood, the most violent to be submerged to the chest, the throat, the eyes or totally submerged - who has ever experienced a rage that left you without speech - that you literally "saw red" - this, the "river of blood" that controls and overtakes all reason is that which exists today as completely as the river phlegethon described by dante.
CIRCLE VII - second circle - violent against self
to these, the suicides, they are denied human form and live as a tree in a wood of thorns - trees and bushes that weep blood when branches are broken and speak of great sorrow - forever unable to control their own movement, their own fate. this circle is one that requires much reading and study - it is, for me, one of the most puzzling of all the circles.
CIRCLE VII - third circle - violent against god
in dante's worldview, violence against god surpassed all other violent acts - and for that reason, this circle is one of arid sand and reining fire. it is a world devoid of hope and beauty and comfort - and it is the circle that leads downward toward the centermost level of hell. here, too, in the fascinating narrative, dante takes certain note of living entities of his day and recognizes and acknowledges them during his journey.
as dante leaves CIRCLE VII, he encounters violence against nature, violence against art and usurers. the re-reading of dante's inferno sadly reminds me how little our world has changed from his day.
CIRCLE VIII - the fraudulent and the malicious. where to begin - with the 1%, perhaps?
in the first bolgia (circle), we find the seducers and panders. how ironic that dante depicts both panderers and seducers as walking naked in opposit directions, having to face each other in their journey - forever exposed.
the second bolgia holds the flatterers - these are drowning in a foul stench, drowning in excrement. oh, a circle of corrupt politicians comes to mind.
the third bolgia is for the corrupt prelates - only their legs exposed, flailing from flaming holes in the earth. how crowded this circle must be if brought to modern times with those who are corrupt and corrupt and abuse those in their care!
the fourth bolgia is for the soothsayers. here dante exhibits a bit of wry humor - for those who claim to "see" the future now have their heads twisted totally around so their tears fall upon their buttocks.
[as someone who does see into the future at times, that's why i keep a good chiropractor at close proximity! 8^) ]
the fifth bolgia is for peculators and other devils. this is where the swindlers are thrown into a ditch bubbling with black pitch.
i am reminded of GOLDLINE... and glen beck...
the sixth bolgia is for hypocrites. little need be said for this bolgia - their fate is to wear gilded but heavy, lead lined cloaks - to march in single file. and those in modern day who have earned this journey - again, i think of glen beck and his friends.
the seventh bolgia is for thieves - they are running naked to be attacked by serpents, who, when struck by the serpent's blow, burst into flames and turn to ashes - only to be restored to mortal form to endue their fate once again. the thieves are entwined by the snares of their own doing - the serpent becomes the snake becomes the man in the instance of several named damned.
how interesting that they are placed near the lowest circle.
the eighth bolgia is for evil consellors - dedicated specifically to guido da montefeltro who joined the franciscan order to perpetrate fraud to guide pope boniface VIII against the colonna family - and then fraudulently "repented" on his deathbed. he was counting on the pope to absolve him. oops. bad choice on his part - thus, he gains an entire borgia of recognition!
closer we travel to the center of hell - and i can think of quite a few names to fill this circle…
the ninth bolgia for schismatics - this is for the sowers of discord - forever damned to rend their own being asunder only to heal and to again rip their own entrails from their bodies. those who deliberately create mayhem create as much damage to themselves as those upon whom they seek to imbue chaos.
dante's designated punishment is for such schismatics to literally be separated and torn apart from their own bodies.
the tenth bolgia if for alchemists, other falsifiers, forgers. - these souls pay with pestilence - for they are diseased and covered by sores. they are suffering the betrayal of their own bodies.
Descent to Cocytus - not into hellfire - but a lake of ice - where the traitors are submerged to varying degrees, never to escape. for those who have ever experienced extreme cold - the thought is terrifying. the numbing of all senses until those very nerves begin to burn with a cold, calculating "fire" of pain.
dante and virgil leave the circle of "simple fraud" and move to the circle of "complex fraud" - that of the traitors - and in this central lake of ice, those who have rebelled against god are entrapped in ice.
CIRCLE IX - the traitors and the frozen lake of cocytus.
first division - traitors to their kindred - those who murdered family are on the outer margins - frozen from the neck down still engaging in murderous ways... (the birth of the zombie? one such head is feasting on the brains of the other - count ugolino della giberadesca gnawing on the head of archbishop ruggieri, his former collaborater)
some traitors never quit, do they! and, even in hell, they are not to be trusted...
second division - traitors to their country - all encased in ice with tears that freeze, holding the eyes forever open to see...
third division - traitor to their friends
and, then, there is...
fourth division - traitors to their lords and benefactors.
it is this deepest depth of the lake that we find lucifer watching over those tormented souls encased in ice - the traitors surrounding him - yet lucifer is the pathway through the center of the earth and toward the upward climb of purgatory - the path to redemption - but that, dear readers, is a story for another day...
******
i realize that this is too large a task for one diary and i am running out of time - so i beg your forgiveness and hope that i have given you enough a taste of dante's journey with the hope that you will be curious enough to seek out the full reading - that you will want to know how these most debased souls met their fate. in the comments, please feel welcomed to add your explanation of these last levels - and please feel free to place such current "sinners" (dick cheney, rick santorum, sarah palin and more) in their appropriate circles. come to think of it, that would make a fascinating board game, wouldn't it! and, yes, there are a number of democrats that are deserving of a seat at the circle - but, that is your challenge - where do you place them and why for each nominee. please be specific.
Inferno is available on kindle as a free download and is something to read aloud - it is poetry of the highest degree and psychology that would make freud and jung proud.
Inferno is but the first of a fascinating read into human nature - Purgatory, with it's hope of redemption and a way to finding inner salvation and peace (nothing to do with religion if one so chooses to read it so) and Paradise - the look into an enlightened soul and the beauty awaiting is not just about christianity, although these books were written in that time in that vein.
i am so often struck by the words of dante when attempting to understand or view the actions of others - and am guided by his astute descriptions of what could well be a "hell on earth" for those who succumb to the raw emotion without compassion and love.
this is a book worth reading. (i've said that, already, haven't i...) if you already have, it is worth another gander - especially at $14.98 at your local barnes and noble! (nope, i'm not getting paid to promote - but this is well worth the investment!)
so, readers and book lovers, who do you nominate for which circle - i can think of quite a few who, from our political past that have places already reserved.
enjoy!
p.s., if you find some very weird spelling in here, please let me know - my autocorrect for mac textedit is really, REALLY weird at times! i think i caught all of them, but who knows!