Blog Post 8 due 3/24

The poet Virgil serves as Dante's guide as he descends into Hell. When Dante asks him to identify the souls he encounters in Canto III, Virgil answers:

"These are the nearly soulless
whose lives concluded neither blame nor praise.

They are mixed here with that despicable corps
of angels who were neither for God or Satan,
but only for themselves."

Who are these souls, referred to as the "opportunists?" They are not allowed in Hell because those doomed to Hell might gain a sense of superiority over the opportunists. What contemporary figure does Dante include in the company of these souls without a place? What fantastic details does Dante use to convey the meaninglessness of their perpetual activity? Their sins on earth are aptly punished in this outer limit of Hell: their activity serves as a metaphorical mirror to their lives on earth.

Blog post 7 due noon 3/17

And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in Heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads (Revelation, 12.1-3)

The Book of Revelation of St John was written in the last part of the 1st century AD, probably during the persecution of Christians carried out under either the Roman emperor Nero or Domitian. The concept of the Apocalypse, finds roots in the later books of the Old Testament, most notably in the Book of Daniel.



These two illustrations are not only centuries apart, they were created for very different reasons. One is an illustrated Apocalypse commissioned by Eleanor of Provence and reflects the interest of elite women of the court during the late Middle Ages. The other illustrates the same subject, but was produced by monks living in the Asturias region of Spain, isolated from the culture of the rest of continental and insular Europe. Pushed to the edge of Spain by the Umayyad Dynasty, the monks in Spain perhaps transferred the destructive symbolism of the Book of Revelation to the Islamic rulers. In their isolation, they saw the approaching turn of the millennium as the fulfillment of end time prophecy. (Their illustrations are heavily indebted to Islamic stylistic traits.)

Compare the two illustrations. You should be able to tell the courtly one from the one produced by those waiting for the end of the world. Keep in mind the entertainment value placed on religious illustrations by women of the court. These women were also the chief audience for Medieval Romances like Tristan and Isolde and the Legends of King Arthur.

Which style do you think more appropriate for an illustration of the Apocalypse?

blog post 6 for 3/10

The following poem is an Anglo-Saxon riddle poem, translated from Old English into modern English. It is one of many Riddle poems in the Red Book of Exeter

The Exeter Book resides in a locked vault in the library of Exeter Cathedral, safe there after the vicissitudes of a thousand years, although not unscathed. At one time, the front cover had been used as a cutting board and beer mat; leaves are missing and fourteen pages at the back have been burnt. Written in a single hand, it is one of four manuscripts, dating from the second half of the tenth century, that preserve virtually all the poetry in Old English that has survived, including such important elegiac poems as The Seafarer, Deor, The Wanderer, The Wife's Lament, and Width.

The Reed (Probably a love message in the form of a riddle.)

I grew where life had come to me, along

The sandy shore, where the sea foamed in

Below a cliff. Men came

To my empty land only by accident.

But every dawn a brown wave swept

Around me with water arms. How

Could I ever imagine a time where, mouthless

I'd sing across the benches where mead

Was poured, and carry secret speech?

What a strange and wonderful thing to someone

Who puzzles, but neither sees nor knows,

That the point of a knife and a strong right hand

Should press and carve me, a keen blade

And the mind of a man joined together

To make me a message-bearer to your ears

Alone, boldly bringing you what no one

Else could carry and no one hears!

Who is speaking? The Anglo-Saxons loved riddles for the handy way they have of linking an inanimate object (once it is figured out) to a more abstract notion, like love or artistic expression, faith or courage. This perhaps has something to do with the hold overs from their pagan "animism" or their belief that there is no boundary between the physical and spiritual worlds. Can you tell the person/thing who is speaking this poem? Think about what "point of knife" and "press and carve me" might mean - literally and metaphorically. What language evokes pain and melancholy in the poem? What language creates a brighter mood?

You many comment on the poem in any way you like.