dante
Dante takes the character of Minos both from the Aeneid and from ancient mythology. By placing a pagan god in a Christian view of the afterlife, Dante once again demonstrates that has no problem with mixing vastly different traditions. The punishment of the Lustful is fitting: Those who were obsessed with the stimulation of the flesh in life now have their nerves unceasingly stimulated by the tempest. They are also prone and in the dark, in the manner in which lust is most often acted out. The punishment of the Gluttonous, whose sins also involved an obsession with bodily pleasure, is similarly fitting. Those who could not have enough of things pleasing to the taste and other senses now have an overabundance of the most unpleasant food--for eternity. The excrement with which they are doused is both the literal and figurative product of their gluttonous consumption. Dante's great pity for those suffering in the Second Circle probably stems from his
Canto VI gives us the first extensive discussion of Italian politics. Since the journey through Hell is set in 1300, and Dante is writing several years later, he can "predict" the political events of the next few years through the mouth of Ciacco. Dante calls Florence a "divided city" (VI.61) because, at the turn of the century, the Black and White Guelphs were fighting for control. Ciacco describes a bloody fight between the two factions (May Day, 1300), which results in the Whites gaining power but only for a few years. The Blacks subsequently return to power and "heap great weights upon [their] enemies" (VI.71)--that is, they exile hundreds of the Whites. One of those Whites was, as we know, Dante himself. Dante takes the character of Minos both from the Aeneid and from ancient mythology Finally, this Canto also provides further insight into the material aspects of Dante's Hell. As Virgil says, the dead do not have their earthly bodies at the ti
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Approximate Word count = 646
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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