Mother Mary appears further into the background than the Magi and Joseph in his artwork, showing depth.

In the “Madonna and Child” by Berlinghiero, Madonna’s face is too big for her body and she’s holding a miniature adult Jesus in her hands. The bodies are not proportional relative to themselves or each other.

The difference is that Dante depicts the inferno as a structured institution however, Van Eyck depicts the inferno as a more chaotic region where the souls are everywhere rather than being localized in different levels.

christ

grandfather

when you first glance at him

Cimabue’s “ Madonna and Child”,

escape

you can note countless comparisons.

which is seen in the Adam and Eve were both doing something

he is worth much more than what God deems him to b

letting us know

anger

Ugolini

being

To help us understand the very nature around Hell and Lucifer let us examine Canto 33 .

never dying

Ugonlino

This is very different from how Dante was in the beginning of Inferno, where he questioned himself and his worthiness of being the one to do the journey.

Dante the pilgrim does not weep for Ugolino and instead uses his tragic story to criticize the city of Pisa.

With this in mind, Ugolino is implying that his crime is no where near as treacherous as that of Ruggieri

The presence of the words ‘teeth’ and ‘bone’ further emphasize Ugolino’s canine-like actions because it resembles a dog struggling to chomp on a bone whose rough exterior highlights the hardness of Ruggieri’s human flesh as well as the indifference and cruelty of the soul, itself.

Ugolino’s famine becomes unbearable and he begins voraciously feeding on the decomposing bodies of the children

So in conclusion, the whole pilgrimage was worthless because Lucifer ultimately had zero impact on the development of Dante and his guide to purgatory.

does not like

Dante, the Ghibellines

thieves

Dante’s torture is his entire journey through the circles into hell.

Ugalino

Fra

Lucifer used this ability to speak to try and incite rebellion among the other angels

he isn’t glorified or even dignified by speec

n which the feet of simonists are engulfed in flame. In a certain way, Satan too used his position in a different context for personal gain.

members

through

Nothing burns like the cold

nothing but a tool in God’s hands

As Barollini described it: “In spiritual terms, Lucifer is the antithesis of the Divine Trinity: Lucifer spirates death where the Trinity spirates love.”

Or are we, the readers, up for a big disappointment?

offered

spoken

He betrays Archbishop Ruggieri

Canto 33 focuses on the nature of weeping among the sinners. Dante alters the meaning of weeping for each soul. Count Ugolino wants to cry because he wants to express his grief for eating his own sons however, Alberigo wants to cry in order to obtain some for of autonomy over his own sins. Both want to express their grief for their fate however, neither can express it because crying is a humane characteristic that doesn’t fit their inhumane crimes.

dual nature of being a relief and punishment

personifies

body

more purer

The “stone” represents his loss of humanity because he begins to perceive his sons as food.

When

it’s

high priest,

Aristotle’s principle of contradiction

After reading this Canto it made me realize

are

whom

in which

which

in which

my treatment of the text tends to gravitate to philosophy and mythology

And that we should risk being wrong, rather than not making any thoughtful interpretation at all.

so we are bound to write posts about similar things

This made my posts more than just summaries of each canto. I can see that as the weeks went on, I tried to focus more on a specific idea in each canto.

Dante’s exploration of contrapasso in the Inferno is something I find very interesting, as readers can probably tell from the numerous times that I’ve brought it up through my blog posts.

At first I thought the topics I address have all been very different, but looking back I notice I usually write of how Dante views certain sinners and their actions. I write whether he shows the sinners pity or distain, whether he writes of their punishment as fair or unjust.

my

image

Blog post 1 and 5,

should also look into arguing against what other people have written, if I do not agree with them.

I believe, going forward, this would be a useful technique to add to the upcoming posts because it allows for an analysis of how the vivid text is brought to life in a manner that allows me to visualize the harrowing events in Hell.

I believe I focus on this theme consistently because it is important to keep track of the emotional roller coaster that Dante is on.

which Virgil fails to do so in canto 21

. Considering that Dante depends solely on Virgil as his guide, it is understandable that I included this connection in order to make my point.

I use sentence syntax to show a character development in Farinata from a to a florentine Citizen.

cantos

canto

post I was able

made

My fifth blog post I compared

13

My first four blog posts were more like summaries rather than reflective posts. They all included images with a short description of them but, I mostly summarized what the canto was about. However, my blog posts five and six had more connections, comparisons, similarities and changes in style.

he ongoing theme of symbolism

the worst sins to the least severe in order

which

tend to bring bits of information I learned in previous classes

arguement aswell

imporve

I found that while I quote a lot from the Inferno, I do not often quote from outside sources like many other students do.

all my other posts have either directly addressed the way the act of remembrance is used in the text or alludes to it by examining the representation of sinners in comparison to their living appearance

On the other hand, I have to admit that my posts lack coherency and logical organization due to the fact that I choose the most appealing image or topic of my interest in a particular canto without paying attention to what I previously wrote about.

continues through hell continue

language

n which he

writing helps one express ideas/ reflect on their own well-being and I think Dante (the writer) is doing this through Dante (the pilgrim).

written

I believe writing as simple and as clear as possible is rather difficult than easy but sometimes writing in a simpler way is better.

After re-reading my posts one recurrent thing I do is incorporate the plot

and dig deeper in my explanations

Sometimes I find myself formulating my own ideas of what events mean and get so excited that I write my posts on my ideas alone without searching outside commentaries that could take my idea a little bit further as well as support my ideas. Finding solid support would not only validate and explain my ideas but would also help other students reading my posts better understand the ideas I’m trying to express if maybe the way I have worded something isn’t as clear as it could be.

I’ve focused on themes like fear, midlife crisis, sinners creating their own Hell, and comparing sinners to animals.

for that

We can see there is an implicit iconography of ascension by comparing these two excerpts.

draws

brought

can be

on

On

indeed

But then why are the sinners of canto 22, who are guilty of barratry, also compared to animals? They were not violent.

From

by his Tuscan language

they angered the  “Silent,

believed

According to Friedrich Nietzsche, how can these sinners achieve human greatness

stated

Of course, Dante did not place this reference here knowingly since he believed that the Donation of Constantine happened. Regardless, I believe it is worth mentioning as an interesting observation even though it is undoubtedly without intent.

The forgery of the Donation of Constantine was an act that I would classify as violence using intellect or in a broader term fraud as well as a theft of power from those who held it by dishonest means.

making

was the first example of the encyclopedic nature of Dante’s Commedia I was introduced to and whose layers I find fascinating.

As our poets make it to the sixth circle

of

similar to how Christ had the weight of mankind on him

It seems that this journey is also a test of faith for Virgil as much as it is for Dante.

his little excursion of Dante and Virgil is definitely a part of his design

them

it

ucci is among the unique sinners that Dante meets

medium

livelihoods

the Blake medium

This advice seems to be an indication of Dante the poet’s life outside of Inferno.

they

Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri,

were

ou look closely it looks like Virgil and Dante are hugging each other as they watch in fear the exchange between Ciampolo and the demon

When Ciampolo bluffed, it portrayed Ciampolo’s victory and Alichino’s defeat (Falvo

was

et al.

Falvo, Joseph

The Logistic Model Has Good and Bad Features PROS CONS Mathematically Tractable, College Life

hat pnishing sin does not always help the sinner understand the nature of what he or she has done wrong

sinners

Martinez and Durlings note to lines 19-21, states that the traditional idea of how dolphins would warn the sailors when there was a storm approaching

Sparknotes

was

to us

the precariousness of the ending

helped

was

his

the Pilgrim

writes the sinners in his poetry back into existence on earth

Virgil’s encouragement for the Pilgrim to seek fame can be read as representing Dante’s act of writing the Divine Comedy, to use his life to gain fame by writing poetry

you

two

characters

the heat from the pitch couldn’t pull them apart

Dante uses an extended metaphor that “as sometimes one frog stays while the other jumps”

Vergil.

the souls have this little patience with the damned soul

was

saw

beasts

,

The demons are pretending to help Dante cross the 8th Circle hence they’re acting as “dolphins” leading Dante and Vergil who represent the sailors however, the beasts are really like the sinners themselves who trick and deceive people.  

Beasts vs Sinners (Parallel)

do

Evil Tail

word

n canto 8

Barolini elaborates on this point by claiming, “Malacoda [Evil Tail] weaves truth with falsehood into a perfectly designed trap, giving instructions and information that seem straightforward and helpful to Virgilio but that his troops can decode as deceitful and hostile,” (Barolini)

he self-assurance present in Virgil’s attitude.

the father figure

Given that Dante’s father was accused of usury, a form of fraud, could this be an admission by Dante that the accusations against his father were not only true but also that Dante himself assisted in that fraud? Or could it symbolize Dante freeing himself from the shame he felt due to his father’s crimes since the sins of the father should not fall upon the son?

The appearance of two father figures of Dante in Inferno begs the question, where is Dante’s biological father?

, benefited

trusted

was

Barolini’s commentary, “Malacoda was effectively telling his devils that they will soon be authorized to attack the travelers.”

was

“And to me he said:

was

being there

In Canto 23, Virgil and Dante managed to slip away from Barbariccia and the other demons that were distracted by the demons Calcabrina and Alinchino fighting. Virgil and Dante saw this as their final opportunity to leave

This contrasts with the way in which most of the sinners in Hell are prey to their emotions and physical desires such as anger, lust, greed, and so forth. Although Virgil is in one circle of Hell, he is only there because he is not a Christian; he is a pagan. Virgil, however, uses his willpower to master his emotions. Throughout the poem, the ability to master emotions is seen to be a uniquely human characteristic that identifies with human ability.

milked

her pen

This is shown when

verybody sins, including himself

were

v.s.

himself as well as the reader

avoid ending up in a damned position similar to Nicholas.

that bothers him throughout his participation in politics

At this point, Dante is used to and no longer shocked at the extremity of the punishments.

He is becoming more aware of his connections to the souls in Hell, especially when they are connected to a political or religious background in which Dante participates.

ongoing

Boniface

someone

A contrapasso of punishments rather than a contrapasso of sin and punishment.