Guest Blogger - Ben A.

While reading The Inferno a great number of questions came to mind, among them are: did Dante forget to mention the scholars in the castle were forced to read The Inferno over and over again for eternity? Will we see the Wife of Bath in hell? Why would there be a pope in hell?
I believe the answer to my first question, were the inhabitants of Limbo forced to try to read through The Inferno? is a yes. While I do not feel that the punishment for those whose only sin was not being baptized should be very severe I feel as if just sitting in a castle is not a punishment likely to be found in hell. I believe that a very just, and logical, punishment for those who devoted their lives to literature and the arts would be to read the most complicated book known to man for eternity. The only reason Dante didn’t include this little tidbit of information in his book is the fact that it would not be good at all for sales if people found out that the very book they were about to purchase was being used as a punishment in hell.
The answer to my second question, will we see the Wife of Bath in hell? I found a bit ironic. Being that lust was the second circle in hell and the Wife of Bath did not appear there the answer to my question is quite simply: no. My question may seem a bit random but considering how much effort Dante put forth to include famous scholars, people, and mythological creatures it almost seemed odd that a character from a book written by the father of English literature would be left out. Despite the fact the Wife of Bath was left out I think the people that Dante did chose to include are quite important. So far, it seems as if Dante has been trying to write a non-fictional piece of literature meant to warn people about eternal damnation. By including persona that most people would have known at the time The Inferno was published Dante is able to put into perspective the type of sin and lifestyle one must lead in order to be sent to that particular circle of hell. For instance if Dante had said he came across David Letterman in the second circle of hell, that would make made complete sense to everyone today and everyone would know why Letterman ended up there. (By the way, I don’t have anything against Letterman, I’m just using him as an example.)
To answer my third question I had to do some research. Dante putting Pope Anastasius is another reference to a previous writer. Pope Anastasius II was pope during a time when the eastern and western church were not getting along, and trying to settle things down Anastasius said “We do not want disagreement among the churches any more.” And was willing to try just about anything to make a compromise. Because he was trying to make a compromise people started raising arguments trying to keep the church orthodox. While in the midst of the quarrel Anastasius died and it was taken as a sign from God that Anastasius was wrong. After this, as according to http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_anastasiusii.htm, the author of the Liber Pontificalis criticized him and thus Dante followed suit and placed him in hell.