Idolatry in Hell // Moriah Nelson
As I was reading the assigned reading this week, I was struck with how much Dante idolized Virgil. In Canto Nineteen, Dante is asking Virgil (as usual) to identify a certain tormented soul. When Virgil instructs Dante on how they may find out, Dante states,
“As a thing pleases you, it pleases me.
You are my lord, you know I never part
You are my lord, you know I never part
from your will, and you know my silent thoughts.” (lines 37-39)
Those words are not spoken flippantly, nor are they entirely untrue (as we later see that Virgil can essentially read Dante’s thoughts while in Hell). It almost sounds like a psalm King David would write or sing to God. However, that is why I think this is a perfect example of how we can idolize people, exalting others to a place that only God should be: on the “throne of our hearts”. We should only strive to please God and ultimately what pleases God is always better than anything a human can contrive. We can expect that people will mess up, and sometimes their will is going to be flawed, though God’s will is perfect. Finally, yes; God knows our silent thoughts. God alone is worthy of our worship. Any other human, even if they seem or maybe are more incredible than most people, was created by God. They cannot take credit for their own life and often their talents. Additionally, Dante probably should have been a little more careful about potentially sinning in Hell where he could possibly never leave or have a chance for redemption.
I’m interested to see if Dante begins to realize this error of idolatry or if he still views Virgil through rose-colored glasses by the end of this book. Will he share the experience of so many others in realizing his idol has flaws and is just another human being (whose greatness could not save his soul)? I sincerely hope so, though I’m doubtful.
I commented on Will and Zelda's posts.
I commented on Will and Zelda's posts.
You bring up an excellent point and it is interesting that Dante did not immediately disregard Virgil for being in hell. Even later on he does not seem to have connected the dots that Virgil is not a holy man and should not be looked up to. While Dante may enjoy his poetry he seems too infatuated with this man. Perhaps that is why Dante is in this predicament in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad somebody blogged on this because I noticed it too. Dante definitely puts Virgil up on a pedestal and he doesn't stop! He continues admiring Virgil all the way through Purgatory. When he begins his journey through Heaven and Beatrice takes the place of Virgil as his guide, he does it even more. He holds Beatrice as the pinnacle of perfection (that's one of the reasons I dislike her so much). To us, this seems like a big problem. But, given that Dante continues this through his entire journey, perhaps in his time it was different. Perhaps it was a little more like the Catholic Church's veneration of the saints than actual idolatry. But I don't have enough knowledge to accurately talk about that, so I'll just stop here.
ReplyDeleteI commented on this fact in my blog post too! It is odd to me that Virgil does not get angry at Dante for this almost "worship" he has for him. No matter how great Virgil was, at the end of the day he was just another flawed human being like the rest of us. The idea of sinning in Hell is very interesting to me though, as we see several of the people in the different layers being defiant and thus sinning even more. Does this result in more punishment? It does not appear so, but one has to wonder these things.
ReplyDeleteI noticed this as well! I've found the ways that Dante speaks to Virgil throughout this story to be consistently jarring. One would think that Virgil would correct him for his blatant idolatry (considering they're in Hell and whatnot), but so far he hasn't. I must admit, I'm a little disappointed by that. I personally don't think Dante will realize his mistake until it's too late, but we can certainly use him as a reminder that no one but God is worthy of our worship
ReplyDeleteThis can also make us think about the people in our life as well. WHo do we lift up and put on a pedestal in our lives? Sometimes we look at non-Christians and see their accomplishments and we admire them more then we should and we forget that in the end, they are wrong about a fundamental part of life.
ReplyDeleteAll glory to God. I love how you pointed out that sure, some people may seem overly amazing, but God created them so once again God gets the credit. I think we tend to put ourselves and others on a pedestal in our minds so easily when really God is the only one who deserves that admiration. I think Dante will realize this depending how close he presses into Jesus. I wholeheartedly believe that if we follow Christ closely He will reveal where we have fallen and where we need to change. Great post as always!!! -Anna Grace Gay
ReplyDeleteThis is super interesting. I wrote my blog post on idolizing things as well, but I wonder if he even knows he is idolizing Virgil. I think sometimes we get caught up in other things and make them idols without even realizing it, so i wonder if he might be in the same boat.
ReplyDeleteThe Divine Comedy shows the growth Dante goes through. As we currently see, Dante is still thinking with worldly reason and is still drawn to worldly things. As he gets out of Hell, he begin to cleanse himself of earthly reason in Purgatory and gains a more divine reason in paradise. So yes, he indeed learns the error of his ways. I found it interesting that he idolized a damned man as well. In truth, we do the same thing sometimes with our favorite people on earth.
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