Of all the different punishments and the people we saw in Dante's Hell there were two that really struck out to me. The first one that struck me is found in Canto XX and I found it
slightly comedic. This is the fourth pouch of the eighth circle of hell and is
full of diviners who are trudging along in tears full of grief while
"their chins and chests were twisted." For a diviner I could not imagine
a more perfect hell. They are eternally forced to see behind them and
contorted to where they can't speak, thus they have no ability to look
into the future. Why I found this comedic I'm not sure, but I also saw
it as a kind of warning. This is because I often find myself trying to
plan the future, but just because I can look forward does not give me
the right to know how every situation in life will turn out.
The second one I thought was interesting, since we just finished learning about Muhammad and the spread of Islam, was in Canto XXVIII where Muhammad is in the ninth pouch of the eight circle of hell. His punishment is to walk in a circle being hacked and cut in half only to be healed and then hacked and cut in half again. The people that join him in this pouch all "sowed scandal and schism while they lived..." Now they basically become a schism of themselves. Just like Dr. Mitchell said their punishment literally became the crime. To me this would be the perfect punishment for people like Mohammed who caused schism in the Christian religion. Just thinking of all the people that are in hell because of one person spreading a false religion makes me terrified. This punishment just like all the other punishments in Dante's hell would provide great vengeance for God.
p.s. commented on Jamie Kilpatrick's Nothing Ever Changes
I loved your connection of the diviners to trying to plan your future. Also, the diviner doesn't have the power they so enjoyed in life. Also, I like how you talked about causing a schism in yourself. This is ultimate justice and I think Dante did a good job coming up with the appropriate punishment for each sin.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Muhammad's punishment in that it definitely "becomes the crime." My question is how are we able to look at a particular punishment in Dante's journey and say that it is just. What really defines a just punishment and convinces us that it is sufficient. I just think that it is interesting how we all draw the same conclusions about the various punishments and agree that they are perfect for each situation. This leads me to my unanswerable question: would God agree with our reasoning on the punishments that Dante witnesses, or would His wrath be more mild or severe?
ReplyDeleteThe punishment for the diviners was very appropriate. Sometimes as humans, we would like to look in the future and get a sneak peek to what is in the future and we allow ourselves to fall into psychics to get assurance that we are living right. But in looking forward, many lose sight of the past and miss the present as a result.
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