Dante's Demons
So I drew interest in a pretty important topic in this week's reading. That was the way Dante's demons looked and acted. Specifically, I took notice in Cantos 21 and 22. In 21, Virgil and Dante are entering the fifth ditch of Malebolge. "Where grafters are punished" (214). A demon named Evilclaws emerges from the lake of boiling tar to stop Virgil and Dante. Virgil instructs Dante to hid behind a rock. The thing that was interesting, however, is the way that Dante describes the demon's visual appearance. Obviously, this is the way Dante is imaging hell based on his own beliefs, assuming he has not actually been and able to return to tell the story.
During this part he says,
"I saw a devil coming black as Hell
Ah, how his face was fiercer than a beast's!
How cruel his behavior seemed to me,
his wings spread open and his feet that flew!
Over his shoulder, spiked and hunched for pride,
He slung a sinner by the ankles both
and snagged him by the sinews of his feet."
Dante is imaging this demon as almost a mystical creature. It is funny because most people during this time period all have the same imagery of demons although they have never seen them. There is no clear scripture to exactly what a demon will look like, so they are not determining it from that. An example of this is the painting Descent from Christ at Limbo painted by Andrea Bonaiuti da Da Firenze (yes I copied and pasted that... sorry for the font change.) In this picture is depicted a "demon" which has a very fake look about it. The demon is...for one...naked, and it a deep red color with large wings and sharp teeth.
The strange thing is, the idea that we have for demons in modern times, is very different. Most of the time, many people do not know how they would describe a demon. Most people usually just define the acts of the demon. However, many see them as a vision of darkness. The demon takes on no human form at all. They come in the form of a cloud or shadow. Personally, when I think of a demon, I imagine the shadows in the movie Peter Pan. They do have a human-like figure, but they are pure darkness. I see them as the "evil twin" of an angel. An angel is masked in the glory of the creator and the demons are hidden in the shadows of that glory. I think the scariest part is, there is no clear definition of the physical characteristics of a demon. They could be living amongst us daily and we would never know.
PS: I commented on Brenna and Madison's posts
During this part he says,
"I saw a devil coming black as Hell
Ah, how his face was fiercer than a beast's!
How cruel his behavior seemed to me,
his wings spread open and his feet that flew!
Over his shoulder, spiked and hunched for pride,
He slung a sinner by the ankles both
and snagged him by the sinews of his feet."
Dante is imaging this demon as almost a mystical creature. It is funny because most people during this time period all have the same imagery of demons although they have never seen them. There is no clear scripture to exactly what a demon will look like, so they are not determining it from that. An example of this is the painting Descent from Christ at Limbo painted by Andrea Bonaiuti da Da Firenze (yes I copied and pasted that... sorry for the font change.) In this picture is depicted a "demon" which has a very fake look about it. The demon is...for one...naked, and it a deep red color with large wings and sharp teeth.
The strange thing is, the idea that we have for demons in modern times, is very different. Most of the time, many people do not know how they would describe a demon. Most people usually just define the acts of the demon. However, many see them as a vision of darkness. The demon takes on no human form at all. They come in the form of a cloud or shadow. Personally, when I think of a demon, I imagine the shadows in the movie Peter Pan. They do have a human-like figure, but they are pure darkness. I see them as the "evil twin" of an angel. An angel is masked in the glory of the creator and the demons are hidden in the shadows of that glory. I think the scariest part is, there is no clear definition of the physical characteristics of a demon. They could be living amongst us daily and we would never know.
PS: I commented on Brenna and Madison's posts
first off, i love you.
ReplyDeleteI believe demons are way worse than even that. Demons are these characteristics that Satan sends up to us in the image of pleasures and temptations, and when we give into these temptations we are allowing these demons to come in and destroy us emotionally and drive insane physically and mentally. I know because I've dealt with my demons before. The worst part about this is that when you try to move the demon out of you, it clings onto you and holds on for dear life.
Zane Duke
It’s interesting the way he describes the demons, I agree. He pictured the demon as being as Black as Hell, which is surprising to me because I had the insane notion that Hell is somewhat well lit in a pleasing ambiance with the unholy burning of tortured souls and flickering embers. He could have also meant that the demon physically is as dark or darker than the metaphorical aspect of Hell.
ReplyDeleteAlso the description of how the demons act is quite. . . I’m trying not to say cool, but I have no other word. He describes them in a way that is barely held back. It doesn’t even depict the true maliciousness of demons but it’s still pretty callous and brutally rough. He slung a sinner by the ankles and caught him by the sinews of his feet. The image itself is just. . . Interesting.
~Ezr Kennedy