The Divine Comedy: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 21:
* [[Alien Geometries]]: While Hell and Purgatory have clearly defined geography, that of Paradise is more complicated. The spheres of [[Heaven]] correspond to the celestial spheres of a geocentric universe, but can equally well be seen as orbiting around [[God]] in the Empyrean, or as all existing in the same space. To enter Paradise or cross between the spheres, one must [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]], rather than doing any physical climbing. The structure of Heaven has been interpreted as an early description of the [[wikipedia:3-sphere#In literature|fourth-dimensional hypersphere]].
* [[All Just a Dream]]: Well, obviously. Unless it wasn't. Or perhaps it was. Dante scholars still argue about whether we are supposed to consider the whole thing one big, complicated dream; or if Dante wanted us to "believe" that he actually went to Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven and then came back ([[Willing Suspension of Disbelief|suspending our disbelief]], of course—we're obviously not supposed to believe that he ''actually'' did those things, just to approach the text like he physically went rather than went there in a dream); or if he intended us to interpret the whole thing as a ''prophetic'' dream (i.e. a dream, but one that is in some way true or a representation of the truth, like a lot of dreams in [[The Bible]]—and indeed, there are a number of dreams like this in-story, particularly in the ''Purgatorio''); or any number of variations on this.
* [[Aluminium Christmas Trees]]: While some historic figures in the poem are well known, others are far more obscure and take quite a lot of research to recognize. Given the time period, Dante knew a lot of them personally.
* [[And I Must Scream]]: The Inferno is made of these.
** In particular, suicides are turned into trees. They can scream, but only when someone (or something, as Dante sees later) breaks off a branch.
Line 63 ⟶ 64:
** The Uncommitted souls and fallen uncommitted angels aren't even considered worthy of entering hell, although they're still punished.
** In the fiery desert of the seventh circle, blasphemers and sodomites keep themselves away from the usurers.
* [[Even Heroes Have Heroes]]: Dante's reaction upon first arriving in Hell is, when put in modern terms, ''Hoy crap, it's VIRGIL!'' Indeed, Virgil was someone he had admired his entire life. A few stanzas later, he has a similar reaction to seeing his other idols, [[Homer]], [[Ovid]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace Horace], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucan Lucan]. Later, in ''Purgatorio'', [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statius Statius] is also excited to meet Virgil.
* [[Evil Chancellor]]
* [[Evil Is Burning Hot]]: A large portion of hell is torturously hot, like the fiery sands and the river of blood, and fire is used as aspects of punishments in other areas. It notably averts associating [[Satan]] with [[Hellfire|fire]], as he's trapped in the coldest part of hell.
Line 87 ⟶ 89:
* [[Hero's Muse]]: Dante is sent on his quest for redemption through the afterlife by Beatrice, who enlists the help of the poet Virgil to guide him through Hell and Purgatory, and guides Dante through Heaven herself.
* [[Hijacked by Jesus]]: Despite the generally Christian nature of this work, Dante borrows aspects of Hell (including the four rivers and various creatures) from the Greek underworld.
* [[Historical Villain Upgrade]]: Exactly who is in Hell and who isn't depends on Dante's opinion of them, and quite a few are not regarded as especially evil by modern readers. For instance, the biggest example may be Brutus, Judas Iscariot and Cassius are depicted as the ultimate traitors, being gnawed upon by Satan for eternity. Judas being there is understandable (being the betrayer of Christ) but Dante considered the assassination of Julius Caesar, the crime committed by the other two, to be the second-worst crime ever committed, as it represented the destruction of a unified Italy and the killing of the man who was divinely appointed to govern the world. (Again, this is Dante's personal opinion.)
* [[In the Past Everyone Will Be Famous]]: Everyone in the afterlife is either a well-known historical figure or someone who would be familiar to Dante's readers. It gets a [[Justified Trope|justification]] as Dante's guides point out these exemplary figures. They also usually have more important places in Heaven or more picturesque punishments in Hell. There are some exceptions, though—the hoarders and spenders, for instance, are so featureless that they can barely be distinguished from each other, and Dante does pause to talk with a nameless Florentine suicide.
* [[Ironic Hell]]: A quite famous one at that.
Line 136 ⟶ 139:
** Hell includes punishments for lust, gluttony, greed, and wrath.
* [[Seven Heavenly Virtues]]: They appear as beautiful maidens dancing around Beatrice's chariot in her triumphal procession at the end of Purgatory.
* [[Sinister Minister]]: An entire section of Hell is reserved for corrupt clergymen, who are tormented by being suspended upside-down in fiery pits resembling baptismal fonts, burned in a vile parody of a baptism. To be blunt, the nonfictional Dante ''absolutely hated'' crooked priests. Of especial note, one sinner here is Bonifice VIII, a notoriously greedy Pope and Dante's [[Arch Enemy]], who was responsible for his exile from Florence.
* [[Single Tear]]: A soldier Dante meets in Purgatory was put there instead of Hell because he shed a single tear before dying.
* [[Snicket Warning Label]]: Some early verses in the ''Paradiso'' warn readers not to continue further if they are not ready to deal with the complex theology discussed therein. Most people who end up reading it regret not taking the warning more seriously and end up with a headache, and left very confused.
| |||