Questions and Answers
1. Review Dante’s Inferno
1. What is the purpose of Dante’s journey?
The purpose of Dante’s journey through hell is two-fold. The first reason is to showcase hell and remind Christians the fate that awaits them if they did not follow God’s word. The idea was to scare readers into an upright and Christian lifestyle. Secondly, there is some political ideology as well. When he shows famous people in hell, such as the previous Popes Boniface and Nicholas III, he is condemning some of the political and religious leaders of his time. This was his way of calling out the leadership for their failings in his eyes, and of reminding them they were not above God.
2. As a character, does Dante develop in his journey through Hell?
Dante begins his journey showing empathy and pity for those he sees in hell, no matter what they were there for. For instance, he shows sympathy to Ugolino, who not only watched his children die, but also may have actually ate his own children. He spends the first half of the poem weeping and fainting before he makes a change. At the encouragement of his guide Virgil, Dante begins to toughen up and starts to condemn the people who he sees in hell. He begins to show wrath to the sinners, even throwing one off of the boat.
3. What are the main themes of the Inferno?
One of the main themes in the Inferno is that God’s justice is perfect. Each sinner is met with a punishment that reflects their sins on earth. If one was a glutton, they were stuck eating excrement for eternity. Those who showed wrath in life spent eternity fighting one another. As sins get worse, so do punishments. Homosexuality, which was at that time unacceptable, caused one t have to walk on hot coals for eternity. The idea is that the punishment fits the sin.
A second theme, which fits hand in hand with the first, is that evil is the contradiction of the will of God. While Dante manages to classify various types of evil into different circles of hell, and therefore different levels of evil, the point is that evil of any type defies God.
4. What is the “logic” of Hell? (Why does it exist? Why are the circles arranged as they are? Why are the punishments such as they are?)
Hell exists as a place to punish those who do not live within the will of God. The circles are arranged in such a way that denotes the severity of the sin. Dante (the poet) chose how to classify the sins based upon doctrinal Christian values of the time. This means some sins are classified in a way that does not make sense until analyzed. For instance, the sin of murder lands one into the sixth circle of hell, while the sin of fraud lands one into the eight circle meaning fraud is worse than murder. This comes down to the commandment to love one another as God loves us; murder violates this law, but fraud perverts it completely, making it worse. The punishments are a reflection of the act of the sin and the severity of the sin. Ex. A glutton is forced to eat excrement for eternity.
5. In Dante’s poem, what is the relationship between Hell and the rest of reality— i.e., the entire created order?
Dante represents hell as the place where people who defy God goes to be punished for eternity. This indicates that Hell’s relationship to the entire created order is a retaliatory one. Hell is God’s way of retaliating against those who trespass against Him. Dante (the poet) also ties it in with reality by having actual people who have existed in Hell; in this way one also gets to see the reality of the world through Dante’s (the poet) eyes as he shows who he clearly believes has or is living against the order God created.
1-Review all previous material from the semester
For each poem or play, focus on one central character of your choosing and know their character (personality)
i. key roles and actions
ii. Motives
iii. what the character teaches us
iv. Where in Dante’s Inferno would your chosen character be (if at all)? (If the character is
already in Dante’s Inferno, be able to explain why he/she is there.)
Homer The Iliad- Agamemnon
i. Agamemnon was the king of Mycenae as well as the commander of the Achaean army. He led the Greeks to war against the Trojans. He is known for taking most of the plunder from their victories, even though he takes the lesser risks. He also demands that Achilles, their greatest warrior, give up the women he should have got as a war prize, Briseis.
ii. Agamemnon is motivated by pride, selfishness and greed.
iii. The character seeks to meet his own needs and interests rather than those of his country, which costs him more in the long run. He teaches us that short term sacrifices would better serve in order to win in the long run.
iv. He would be in the fourth circle of hell because this is where those who are greedy go. Agamemnon was motivated primarily by greed seeking a share of riches that were not his as well as other prizes that belonged to other warriors.
Homer The Odyssey- Penelope
i. Penelope is the wife of Odysseus. It is thought Odysseus is dead, and therefore Penelope is faced with suitors. She puts the suitors off by claiming she cannot marry again until she finishes a death shroud she will never finish, because in reality she remains true to her husband.
ii. Her motivations are love and loyalty.
iii. Her love and loyalty pay off in the long run; we can learn there is worth in being true to people.
iv. She would be in the first circle, limbo. This area was for non-Christians who were still good people and virtuous.
Oresteia- Clytemnestra
i. Clytemnestra was the wife of Agamemnon. She ruled Argos while he was absent. After Agamemnon murders her daughter, she plan and executes his murder.
ii. Her main motive is justice for her daughter, but there is some other motivations since she is having an affair with Aegisthus whose father was a rival to Agamemnon’s father for the throne.
iii. While she has gotten her revenge, she never considers her son in her actions. She just keeps the killing going. She teaches us that sometimes revenge is not worth it.
iv. She would end up in the ninth circle of hell for her treachery against her husband and King. She planned his murder with his enemy and carried it out, making it treacherous.
Virgil The Aeneid- Ascanius
i. The son of King Aeneas, he is a symbol of the eventual Roman race to come. He also defends the Trojan cam while his father is gone.
ii. He is motivated to display his leadership. He is also motivated by bravery.
iii. He does what his role in life says he should. This is admirable, and something we could all learn from.
iv. He would be in the first circle, Limbo. This is because he is a non-believer but is nonetheless virtuous.
1-The “humanities” are commonly considered to be about that source that makes “the human experience of the human” noble, great, true, or beautiful. It is also usually thought that this source of human greatness is nothing other than what is human. Is this true? If not, what are the alternatives?
I believe this is true. While sometimes human motivation has to come from outside oneself, it is still a reflection of what is within a human. For instance, one may have innate bravery that is motivated to come out at the sight of a house fire with people in it still. The house fire did not put the bravery there, the person was already brave and needed a channel to show it. Human greatness is within every human, but it is up to each individual to exercise that greatness.
