Reflection of Hell

Over the past week, we've had to sit through presentations on different Cantos of hell. We've gotten through Cantos 1-18. The first few were fairly straightforward; Dante is feeling lost, and then he enters hell itself. This combined with the overall feeling of winter and exhaustion probably contributed to my feeling a bit like I am drowning, but that's okay. We are in hell, after all. Anyway, Canto 5 was pretty interesting due to the people in it, and someone in that Canto's son was referenced in my Canto, so that's pretty cool. It's a bit of a stretch, but there's still a connection. Also, we had two absences, so the class did not see either Canto 8 or 13. But it was really interesting to learn about all of the different Cantos and what was in them

Today we talked about Cantos 14 through 18. 14, 15, 16, and 17 were all in basically the same part of hell, and then 18 was the first one in the 8th circle. 14 was a transition one and also kind of an overview Canto, and then 15, 16, and 17 were the three different sins in the area that was gone over in 14. Those three sins were blasphemers, sodomites, and usurers. Then Geryon arrives and takes Virgil and Dante into the 8th circle, which is at the end of Canto 17. It is getting to the point where it is almost difficult to listen to what the punishments are for the people in the lower circles of hell. What is happening to them is truly terrible, and I wouldn't wish that upon anyone for eternity. Even the people that deserve to be punished like that should serve their time and then get out of there once they have repented. I can only imagine how horrible the rest of the Cantos are going to be. Mine is one of the lowest, and it's not that bad. So maybe it won't be overly awful.