The World of Dante

This website is interesting to explore. It not only contains a gallery, with illustrations inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy, but also maps Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, and music mentioned in Purgatorio and Paradiso. It also includes a timeline that is useful for keeping up with Dr. Clemente's references to the different people Dante refers to. The sections (Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso) also include the three books in total (Italian on the left, English on the right, as in our books). It also includes additional information on the three books, such as the terms used in each, as well as an interactive map of Hell under the Inferno section. While this information does not go into as much depth as the notes in the back of our books, I find some of it useful in conjunction with our text.

Little Nicky: Hitler's Fate

This movie gets alot of its ideas from Dante and I can't help but always think of this scene when we are discussing how the punishment fits the crime.  I know it is a little inappropriate but I find it hilarious.  There are several other comedic references to the punishment the sinners in this movie.

Images from Dante

I am reading this incredibly fast.  I am fascinated!  This image is from Canto 32.  It is the Ninth Circle, first ring.  I love these images.  There are more at this website which focuses on the work of Gustave Dore'.

The Art of Courtly Love

This website talks about not only the history of courtly love, but also the troubadours, and the "rules" of courtly love. The Art of Courtly Love is on Google Books, so you can view almost all of it there. These are the rules that were applied in Eleanor of Aquitaine's time, and were considered when Chretien de Troyes was writing his tales of Arthurian legend.

 

A few pictures of Yvain --- our knight from the Arthurian Romances.

Table paralleling Greek and Roman gods/goddesses

This is a little late for Virgil and for Homer, but I thought it was useful.  I should have posted it sooner.  Hope you enjoy!
Greek/Roman god Table: http://www.katehovey.com/chart.html

"Dido and Aeneas" and the descent to the underworld

Henry Purcell created the opera "Dido and Aeneas," a retelling of the tragic love story we read in the Aeneid. This website explains a lot more about the opera, including that it is witches instead of Mercury that reminds Aeneas of his duty to found Rome.
One of the most famous pieces of that opera is what is known as "Dido's Lament" or the aria actually titled "When I am Laid in Earth." Here is a version sung by Hayley Westenra, a more modern artist. A link to the lyrics are in the description beneath the video.
 This link talks a lot more about the common theme of the descent to the underworld in myths. If you don't have the time or inclination to read all of it, here's the gist: the descent to Hades or hell was a step on the journey that led the hero ultimately to enlightenment. The author also talks about the significance of the downward descent, literal in the stories we have been reading, where the Underworld is actually under the crust of the earth. Although hell has always been thought of as at least being partially a torture chamber, the Hades of the Greeks also holds the Elysian fields, their equivalent of Christianity's heaven. The author references several other 'descent' myths, including Gilgamesh and the myth of Orpheus. (This link takes you to another site with two versions of the Orpheus myth.) The author of "The Descent into Hades" discusses the idea of the descent being literally versus otherwise and how it may or may not be the equivalent of a temporary death for the hero. Despite the frequency that trips to the Underworld are mentioned, it was not an easy thing. The author lists a number of rituals that the hero would have to complete in preparation for the journey. In the end, the author states, "The true significance of the descent into Hades is not to be measured by mundane results. These are but stepping-stones on the way to greater goals. The ritual is nothing beyond what it represents; the preparation for initiation is everything. Only when the necessary moral strength and purity have been developed will the required transformation of consciousness safely take place. The final initiation will mark the awakening into divinity which is the potential for all humanity."