Notes -Nate Strum
Does the diviners' punishment symbolize the fact that they see the wrong way?
"That other who's so skinny in the flanks was Michael Scot, and he without a doubt knew how to play the tricks of sorcery." Reading through the other blog posts, I'm surprised to not find an Office reference!
The the fifth ditch of Malebolge, Dante hides behind some rocks while Virgil goes to convince the head demon, Eviltail, to not hurt them. After Eviltail calls off his demons, Virgil calls Dante out of hiding. Subsequently, in the words of Dante, "So I came out and hurried up to him, and all the devils made as if to lunge, so that I feared they wouldn't keep the deal, / As once I saw foot soldiers grow afraid when they marched with safe conduct from Caprona, surrounded by so many enemies." That reminded me of the surrender of Fort William Henry in The Last of the Mohicans!
The the fifth ditch of Malebolge, Dante hides behind some rocks while Virgil goes to convince the head demon, Eviltail, to not hurt them. After Eviltail calls off his demons, Virgil calls Dante out of hiding. Subsequently, in the words of Dante, "So I came out and hurried up to him, and all the devils made as if to lunge, so that I feared they wouldn't keep the deal, / As once I saw foot soldiers grow afraid when they marched with safe conduct from Caprona, surrounded by so many enemies." That reminded me of the surrender of Fort William Henry in The Last of the Mohicans!
Here is a list of the demon names: Eviltail, Crumplehead, Tramplefrost, Harlequin, Larddog, Curlybeard (hmm, maybe Edward Teach read Dante and took away the wrong lesson), Stormbreath, Dragonsnout, Dogscratcher, Swinetooth, Gobgoblin, Redfroth. I'm getting some seven dwarfs vibes.
By the way, Dante's use of creative punishments is another example of borrowed concepts from Homer. Remember Tantalus? Maybe Homer gave Dante some tips when they met back in Limbo
P.S. Owen and Sydney
P.S. Owen and Sydney
I found your notes to be humorous! I did find the demons names to be similar to the names of monsters or dragons in almost every children show in history. Your though about the diviner’s punishment does make sense. Their vision as they lived were so twisted and turned, they couldn’t see that they were going the wrong way but they didn’t care enough to try to fix it so now they’re doomed to walk around with their heads on backwards.
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