Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Guest Blogger - Tom F.
So in Dante, Ms. Arko made a whole big deal about the symbol three. Three is here, three is there, three is everywhere, right? What does it have to do with anything? Cool, Lucifer has three heads, there are three beasts that symbolize three character traits, there are three rings in the seventh circle. Is this supposed to mean something that just I did not understand? Pride, envy and greed are the three traits that the beasts symbolize. These traits are used continuously throughout the story. They show up in all the circles of hell, but in the end of “The Inferno” none of it gets tied back together. What is the point of these three beasts and symbols? You would think in the ninth and final circle the number three or the traits of the three beasts would come into play somewhere, but it does not. The final circle is Lucifer and his three heads chomping on the three worst sinners while the other traitors are frozen in the ice. Again, what is the point of these symbols? There is no support for these symbols through the whole story; they just keep popping up in random circles, like we are supposed to know what they are talking about. We were told that the symbol three had something to do with god and hell and the whole afterlife deal. But we never learned this in class or we could have figured this out on our own. Who did not spark note the whole story anyway? It was hard enough just to understand the story, and all these “symbols” that do not mean anything made it that much more difficult to comprehend. So I ask you again, what is the point of three and how does it tie the story together?
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The 3 just stands for the holy trinity, the father, the son and the holy trinity. I guess that the author of Dante was very religous, the the divine trinity is a big part of the Christian religion. So author based Dante's inferno on religion. The 3 beast represtent the 3 parts of hell, since hell is divided into 3 parts. The sins of concupiscence (immoderate desires), violence, and fraud. Arko talked about envy, pride, and avarice, but that doesn't make any sense to me. "http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/prologue.html"
ReplyDeleteThe three to me made the story even more confusing then it already was. Little references to the number always came up, but nothing really added up together in the end, which left me completely confused because we always talked about three being symbolic to the inferno.
ReplyDeleteThe holy trinity, GOD the father and the holy spirit, was what dante based the inferno on. and the fact that it was very confusing and didn't seem to end very well may be because dante's inferno was only the first of another series of three. it might have been explained better in the second or third of the series.
ReplyDeleteBy the way... This is Anthony Schliesman...
ReplyDeleteThe number 3, as stated a couple of times, is in connection with the holy trinity (God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit). Since this trinity sort of resembles heaven and what it stands for, it would make sense that three of the opposite would resemble Hell. It's almost as if Hell is somewhat mocking the Holy Trinity. Well alright in MY opinion it's mocking the Holy Trinity, but anyway you look at it it targets the Holy Trinity concept and spins it around to form and describe the ugly abyss that Hell is...
I agree completely with you Thomas. The significant three does seem sort of random. In the end I don't believe that the signifcance of this number three is ever explained, leaving readers with thoughts of what it could mean running through their head, I know that's what happened to me. I know that there are a lot of possibilites to the meaning of the number three such as Christ, Father and the Holy Spirit. Another possiblity is Heaven, Life and Hell. These are just some more possibilties to the hundred others.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what most people said, that three was a reference to the Holy Trinity. However, I think it was one of the most vague references known to man. In fact, Dante never actually mentioned the Holy Trinity, us connecting three with the Trinity is just an educated guess. Dante could just as well be saying he likes three slices of bread on his sandwiches. But, I do think Dante used the reference of three as an important part of the story. I think he used it as more of a tool to make important information and details stick out rather than actually connecting it with anything. I think this is where alot of the confusion is coming from, the fact that Dante didnt actually connect three with anything externally and us saying it means this is more of a guess than a statement.
ReplyDeleteEven if the three in Dante stands for God, the holy trinity, and the holy spirit why do we see the reference of three appear in The Inferno over and over again? It still does not make any sense to me.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the symbol three represents God and the holy trinity. I think it is used because heaven and hell are the complete opposites of each other and that Dante wanted to bring in the pure side of the opposites to keep things "good" and free from evil.
ReplyDelete