tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7265874572986378023.post1567991291889610676..comments2009-06-18T23:51:26.831-04:00Comments on The Pulse...: The Divine Comedy: The Only Good Thing to Come Out of Italy in the Last 700 Years. Just Kidding. Sort of.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05251526230604295318noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7265874572986378023.post-13078511578037927012009-04-05T15:58:00.000-04:002009-04-05T15:58:00.000-04:00I am Andrew Esherick...I was in GS in DC with Fran...I am Andrew Esherick...I was in GS in DC with Francis. I think I actually stayed at your house in NY one year during the planning weekend for the 2007 summer vacation. And UD is the University of Dallas.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03570804087713905672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7265874572986378023.post-67895056479915925202009-04-03T22:58:00.000-04:002009-04-03T22:58:00.000-04:00so, in my usual straightforward style: who are you...so, in my usual straightforward style: who are you, Andrew? and is UD University of Delaware? <BR/><BR/>Dante and the Commedia ARE amazing. I myself took a class of it with Chris Bacich during high school. Unfortunately, I only got up to canto 28 of Purgatorio with him (the rest he did the following year, when I went to college). <BR/><BR/>In any case, something interesting you might like to hear is that Chris actually characterized Purgatory as something different from what you said: a place of education to divine love and justice. He said, instead, and I actually find this reading more compelling and engaging, that Purgatory is the place of the New, of the unpredictable action (and ultimately, Mercy) of God that constantly surprises and brings joy to the souls in Purgatory. This can be seen immediately when Dante and Virgil find Cato at the base of mount Purgatory; simply his presence there is a surprise because, after all, he lived without meeting Christ, AND he committed suicide (albeit in the name of justice), so why isn't he in Hell with Pier delle Vigne? The surprise continues when Dante sees the Angel coming with the the new load of souls entering Purgatory. There are a number of other examples of these surprises, but what's great is that all the souls remain always in awe of them. No one is ever afraid of them, but rather always sure they are good and they look to see what new miracle God is performing in their "life." <BR/>This kind of attention actually, I think is what Dante suggests is the truest/best/most human (pick your preferred superlative) position to have in life. To constantly have eyes wide open like a child, sure of reality's goodness because s/he knows who gives it to him/her. And this actually leads into another thing Chris said: that Purgatory is Dante's vision of what the ideal Christian life on Earth would be, whereas Inferno is the anti-ideal of human/Christian life on Earth. <BR/><BR/>Needless to say, I LOVED Purgatory exactly for those two things: novelty and openness. I think it's my favorite canto, although I have yet to read Paradise. <BR/><BR/>Also, I'm very happy that you bring out the fact that Dante's Commedia is NOT a moral dogma in literary form. I would be interested to hear more about what work you think the Commedia has done for building the consciousness of the West beyond the oh-so-trite fear of Hell's punishment. And this can be answered simply by starting with going deeper in what it has illuminated for you.<BR/><BR/>And just for the record, I agree with Francis completely. Virgil's Aeneid is not a snooze-fest at all- in the Latin. He's really a literary genius. I read the English, though, the summer before I took a Latin Aeneid translation class, and I'm guessing you, like me, suffered from reading a bad translation. It's true, though, no Virgil, no Dante (even within the Commedia itself!)mkstellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03552353722325186348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7265874572986378023.post-2508783411588288592009-03-31T20:14:00.000-04:002009-03-31T20:14:00.000-04:00I am actually taking a seminar now called "Dante a...I am actually taking a seminar now called "Dante and the Modern Reader" and we are right in the middle of Purgatorio. I love that throughout Inferno and Purgatorio (I cannot yet speak for Paradiso), Dante is not afraid to scandalize and condemn what he knows is a corrupt church--as Francis said, even going to church becomes just another task that comes up short without true recognition of the pity He has on us. Also (as the name of the class implies) we have been talking a lot about how the sins and shortcomings of Dante's time have remained with us today, though perhaps in slightly different forms. Likewise, I think it's clear that human need, especially for the companionship, has not changed much either. Like the souls in Purgatory who sing and pray in unison, this is also an integral part of our own journey.bernekingmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16838952526873024719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7265874572986378023.post-43551381832847884472009-03-31T00:37:00.000-04:002009-03-31T00:37:00.000-04:00Andrew - thanks for the post. I hope you have eve...Andrew - thanks for the post. I hope you have even better things to say about it once you read it in Italian. Also, Virgil is not boring at all; he just needs to be read in Latin. And I think it is safe to say "no Virgil no Dante", meaning Dante owes a lot to the Roman poet's fantastic lines.<BR/><BR/>I am very interested in what you said about true moral education, which in the end is an education to the mercy of Christ's presence, and nothing else, because nothing else satisfies our infinite desire. Not our projects, not our moral efforts or the fact that we go the Church, or the fact that we are pro-life, or the fact that we promote social justice. These are part of the journey, but incomplete - and I would even say corrosive - tasks, unless there is a true recognition of Christ's mercy.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05251526230604295318noreply@blogger.com