3/10/09

"People immersed in filth that seemed to drain from human privies." Canto XVIII line 105

I find it odd that people who flattered were forced to lie in human shit for all of eternity. The punishment is incredibly cruel and disgusting. I guess this is the exact opposite of what they did during their time living. Flatters spent there time trying to hide shitty things behind fancy words in order to get what they really want, and now they are forced to live with only the human excrement because that is all their life really was. Dante chooses not to linger long here also, his excuse is that the smell is unbearable, which is understandable, but as a poet who wrote sonnets for Beatrice, is could be quite possible for him to be a flatterer himself. He tried to woo her by using beautiful language that quite possibly made he feel better about her flaws. I just think that flattery would be an easy sin for a poet to commit and that Dante intentionally stayed for such short period of time because he feared his own life.

"Boniface, are you already standing there" Canto XIX line 48

Boniface is actually Pope Boniface VIII, who was the Pope when Dante wrote this epic. Dante is effectively accusing a live holy man being destined for hell. Dante must have already been exiled and excommunicated at this point because this is by far the boldest statement he has made. I posted earlier that he was bold in accusing past clergy men for being sinners but now he is accusing quite possibly the most powerful man in Europe of fraud. It wasn't uncommon for men of the church to take money in order to give a free pass to heaven, but who has more authority to say whats right and wrong then the Pope so technically this behavior could be considered virtuous. Now we know that Dante disagrees with the Pope on this one. I find it shocking that the church allowed this to be published with this one line. I'm shocked that Boniface didn't have Dante assassinated for this.