We started our Inferno unit this week. I actually am enjoying it, and my canto is fortunately not very gory or particularly exciting. Well, it's pretty cool. It's the one with false counselors, like Ulysses and Diomedes. It's a little funny, because Dante put these two myths (AKA fictional characters) in hell, when he doesn't even know if they're real. Much of his hell is Greek mythology, but still. It doesn't seem right to put possibly nonexistent characters into hell, but since his hell is also fictional, maybe it makes more sense that way. If the place is fictional, then why not use pre-made fictional characters to go in it? Although one might also argue that if it is your fictional realm, then you should populate it with your own fictional characters. But in order to make it seem universal and be more relatable to everyone who read it in his time, then using familiar legends and even real people would help get the message across better. Who knows. It was a very long time ago, and Dante himself is not alive to tell us what he was going for.
The project is going fairly well. I don't have to present until March 7th, which I am very thankful for, and I'm kind of hoping I get pushed back so I have more time to work on it, but that probably won't happen. I'm not overly concerned, I've still got a lot of time to work...but I have projects due fairly soon in every single one of my classes except History, which is plenty time-consuming on its own. I'm getting very stressed about all of them, but hopefully I will be able to manage my time well enough to still be okay...sigh. Anyway, I am Canto 27, and basically the entire thing is Dante listening to this guy in a flame complain about how he doesn't belong there and someone else was the one who condemned him. Also, this guy in the flame has no idea what's going on in the outside world since he's been burning in hell for quite some time. To be honest, I'm glad I got one of the actual "burning" cantos, since there will be plenty of images for that. It's also kind of fun to have the canto that is as stereotypical "hell" as it's going to get, what with the burning and the fraudulent counselors and whatnot. So I'm hopeful for the project. I think I'm gonna make it. Maybe.
