Great link with 3 minute taste of the latest Babylonian exhibit at the British Museum. I think you’ll like it.

Pip, pip, cheerio, Baiba

The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it.

Woodrow Wilson

In my reflection on the epic of Beowulf I would like to bring up the issue of consequences from being proud and honored after performing good and feat. Even though Beowulf is known for his heroism and unreal strength and power over monsters and other nature forces, his being unbeatable, defeating monsters and saving whole towns from their conquering.  His honor was never ashamed before his pride went out and led the curse of Grendel to be released on the kingdom, of which Beowulf became a new king. His union with Grendel led into a trap, which was entailed in the newly born golden monster that put to danger the entire kingdom. Defeating the monster that was Beowulf’s creation meant the need in sacrifice, which usually happens in case when one’s pride took over and the need in defeating that kind of emotion appeared.

Author pays our attention to the lesson that must be learnt by reader. Once bad emotion like pride or jealousy is led out of the soul a sacrifice must be done in order to be saved from the consequences of these bad emotions. No matter how strong and mighty person is, when consumed by pride and faced with temptation, chances are that he is to tempted to his desires. Sorrow will follow after all damages are done. To regain the honor, sacrifice is needed. But in real life, it doesn’t have to be that way. Usually people do not sacrifice much, but keep their sins till they die, but then they are going to pay and regret for that sin of pride and honor. Anyway sacrificing is to be made at the any point of individual’s journey in different terms and means of paying for what is done. So while you’re not yet in the pit of guilt and shame, keep your integrity to the last moment.

The plot of Inferno describes circles of hell, which is the part of underworld and became the base for the funeral procedure for many ages. The description of hell is attractive to many people due to its terrible features and illustrations. Though, also the picture of hell makes people think of their lives as trial period, which is given to them for making choices as they live and than continue their path in a different world bearing the conclusions of these choices in sense of suffering in inferno or smell pleasant aroma of paradise. People are gifted with a right to choose and I think they are the ones who know or assume they know what will happen to them after they die. This feeling of desire to get into a better place after the death is the cause of tolerance in the society, which make the humanity to exist without a set of killing and destruction.

The uniqueness of Dante’s literature is his involvement in the epic’s plot and of different characters well known from the history, his beloved one and teachers in his journey. In hell he met people about whom he cared. He made his epic very realistic and the most valuable piece of literature as many critics admitted.

I cannot acknowledge the Dante’s illustrations being real. Though, I admit that the value of human life is well developed in this epic. Person is gifted a life, in which personal growth has to be achieved in face of God by fulfilling moral virtues. Human life is a valuable gift that allows human spirit to change and develop inorder to get into eternal world free of sins and seductions.

how would you explain that hell could be an expression of love from God?

I had to think about it for a good while before i could figure out and have my own stand point on this matter and now as i have done i will gladly share with some of my thoughts and insights that i have gotten.

Firstly to begin with i have to say that i definitely agree that hell, indeed, is as an expression of love from God. He has created a place for those who qualify for nothing more than that. I have heard somewhere that God doesn’t hate sinner but the seen he hates.

All those who are not worthy to live in the Kingdom of God in His presence, wouldn’t want to be there in the first place. Because i think they couldn’t stand His glory, and they would have a sense of guilt for what they had done on earth. They would have a clear knowledge of their wrong doings and they would know that they are not worthy to be there.

It is like going to party where you have not been invited too. Or showing up at the party and not have appropriate outfit for it. It still is a great party, but no one would feel comfortable being there.

Everyone is invited but very few are choosen

Who are the chosen ones? Those who keep all the commandants and live that kind of a life that reflects teachings of the Gospel. I don’t think people will be or are forced into Heaven, definitely not by God. It has to be a choice, desire and goal that person makes in order to be and live with God.

We discussed in class that Dante’s views were very much associated with church teachings of the time.  Part of this teaching was of Purgatory.  Like many other Protestant Christians in today’s world, I do not subscribe to the doctrine of Purgatory.  Here is my reason.  If Purgatory was meant to refine people to be ready for Heaven, then what was Christ’s sacrifice for?  Also, being refined is what this life is supposed to be about.  All over Scripture we get the picture that Christians are supposed to be increasing their faith and refining their character throughout their lives.  This process of perfecting our faith is not to get ready for Heaven, but to be transformed into the image of the One who created us.  We are to continue growing in Christ-likeness.

Another difference I would hold with Dante concerning Hell is that I would not have a place for people who died before Christ came.  Or at least I do not believe there is a provision for that.  The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament.  One of the aspects of this God is that He is not held to our standards of time.  God completely transcends time.  My personal view is that just because someone dies on earth on one certain day does not mean it is that same day in the afterlife.  The timeline of eternity is not held to the same boundaries as earth’s timeline.

My final difference with Dante concerns his different levels of punishment.  At this point in my understanding of sin, I would not believe there are different levels of punishment which go from bad to worse based on the sin.  I do, however, like Dante’s portrayal of the punishment being ‘cantro passot’.  If I were to present it, I would likely have everyone on the same plain because all have sinned.  From my perception, the root of sin is the heart beating for something else more than it does for God.  God embodies everything good and pure.  One could say, therefore, that making the ultimate decision of something else over Him results in the absence of anything good and pure which would be Hell.  Also, everyone has a laundry list of sins we deal with and have dealt with in life.  How does one decide which sin counts for more?  If I have rejected God and must then end up in Hell to be punished for sin, which sin defines my life?  Which sin is the biggest?  Even if God had an opinion on which sin was worse, why would that count for any merit when I have rejected Him?

When it comes to the idea of spending some time in Hell then being allowed to enter Heaven or being destroyed, I have an issue, again based on the time concept.  How much time can you spend in a place where time simply does not exist?  The years of eternity will not be counted.  It’s eternity.  Who is keeping track?

I hope this was not incredibly confusing or even seen as unnecessary, but there it is. 

As discussed in class, the first similarity to highlight is that both Achilles and Aeneas have a pivotal friend in who dies in battle which causes a similar reaction in each of them.  Achilles’ dear friend Patroclus died at the hand of Hector which caused Achilles to emotionally react in a way so as to not respect Hector as a worthy enemy on the battlefield.  Aeneas’ friend, and son of the King who treated him so kindly, Pallas was killed at the hands of Turnus.  We see at the ending of the Aeneid that Aeneas has the same type of reaction that Achilles had toward Hector.

Another interesting similarity to note is that both stories have a point in their war where the fate of either side is to be decided by a single battle between the two pivotal people.  The two pivotal people are also both fighting over a woman (more so in the Iliad than in the Aeneid).  However, both of these fights in both of these stories is thwarted by the gods.  In the Iliad, we have Paris and Menelaus fighting over Helen and Aphrodite brings Paris back to his room to keep him safe.  In the Aeneid, we have a potential battle between Aeneas and Turnus, but when the two parties are making sacrifices, a goddess (I believe a nymph) stirs the hearts of the warriors and the battle continues.

A final similarity to note is that both stories end with the main character not actually reaching his ultimate destiny.  The Iliad ends with Achilles asleep next to his Briseus, but we know that this is now how he is fated to end up.  A glorious death is in store for him.  The Aeneid ends with Aeneas killing Turnus, but we know that he is fated to be the founder of Rome.  We do not see either of these fates actually accomplished in the story.

As stated earlier, these two stories were meant to be similar, as Virgil planned it that way.  I just thought that sharing these would add to the value of the two stories.

I find it to be very interesting that Dante thought that without baptism a person can not live in the heaven with God. Even though the holly Bible does say in John 3:5

“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

Does this imply also infants? Newly born baby’s? Apparently, Dante thought so! That doesn’t make sense to me! What do you think about it? If thats the case then it looks to me that God wouldn’t be a fear God. However, i believe that He is, and that there must be another way how infants can be saved into the kingdom of God!

As for myself, i believe that all infants that die go straight to heaven and there is no baptism for them needed. Maybe reason why sometimes infants die is that God has different plans for them on the other side of veil and the only reason why they were born at all is to receive a body?

Another question came in my mind….

at what age are people after they die? I mean, people die at all sorts of ages. Do you think that person stays for eternity in the age at what they die? That doesn’t sound right to me either.

There are many questions that can be raised from reading Dante’s divine comedy. These were just some. I am sure, that i will have some more as i continue to explore this fine literature.