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.
For Dante, both the physical and the spiritual worlds were set up as a hierarchy, leading up to God. Basically, what this means is that everything starts with God and exists in layers radiating outwards from Him.When they were living on earth,their actions were based on what benefited them. However, these benefits were forever changing. Just so, the Banner is constantly changing, never stopping. As they go after it, like the wind, the banner eludes them, just as they lived their lives on winds of change.
ReplyDeleteGod is our Creator. Everything is in existence because He has allowed it to be. Everything begins with God, just as the breath we just took started in Him. Dante believed this and believed that everything shown from Him. God created us for one purpose but within that purpose people still change overtime along with the benefits. Some, however, choose to not obey that purpose. Most are concerned for themselves and how they will receive glory out something rather than God. They follow the seasons and adapt accordingly to receive new benefits.
ReplyDeleteDante referrs to this as levels after life. depending on how they lived their life depends on where they decend to. As for the opportunists i'm not exactly sure what is b eing asked, but what take from it is if someone was all about themselves and nothing but themselves during life they made it to this place because they don't exactly deserve hell (I guess)... If the opportunists gained for others more than themselves in a morally and ethically correct way then they made it into heaven.
ReplyDeleteWhat I gathered from this passage is that Dante believed there were different steps to hell. The ultimate goal is to make it to heaven. However, not everyone follows the way of God. Therefore, Dante points out each level away from God showing how each person steps away from God. If you lived life well but did not believe then you would be away from hell, but not in heaven. If you were a murderer or hated God you would find yourself in hell with many more people like you. In hell, it would be a constant struggle as everyone around you would be a bad person.
ReplyDeleteDante believed that the steps referred to maybe catagories that the people in Hell were placed depending on the way they lived their life. It also depends on how close you were with God. Did you live life the way that God asked us too? If you lived a good life but did not believe in God you would be in one of these steps. The worse you lived the deeper in the steps you were placed.
ReplyDeleteDante begins his journey through the Inferno at the Limbo circle of hell. These circles of hell are rings of sins from the least to the most extreme, levels we clime after death to reach the heavens. We were created by God in his image to serve him and obey his laws sent from the heaves but we live different lives and not all are followers of God. Depending how we live our lives on earth puts us and our sins on a level in the circle of hell.
ReplyDeleteDante begins his journey in the upper levels of hell. As he goes through these levels he learns what each hell is designed for and the people who are commited there. He is currently in the Limbo level and this is filled with people who neither did much wrong, but strayed from god
ReplyDeleteSamantha S. The opportunists are those souls who did not choose between good and evil but only sought what would benefit themselves. Dante mentions recognizing several of the souls but only specifically mentions Pope Celestine V. Dante is very specific when describing the punishments of the Opportunists. Every way they are punished in the afterlife is a representation of their past sins. For instance, Dante writes that because Opportunists never chose a side while living so in death they are punished by an eternity of chasing an always-changing banner that signifies their always-changing “illusion of their own advantage”. He also describes how they live in darkness because their sin was dark and that they were “pursued by wasps and hornets” just as “their own guilty conscience pursued them”. Finally, because their actions were “a moral filth”, they will forever “run through the filth of worms and maggots which they themselves feed” from the blood and “putrid matter” that is produced from the stings of the wasps and hornets.
ReplyDeleteJeffrey Z. In this picture of Dantes Inferno, the souls that virgil comes across are of those people who may not have done anything wrong during their lifetime and who also have not prayed to a higher god or power during that time as well. Which is why they are not allowed in to Hell like the others who are supposed to be sent there. Those souls not allowed in serve a meaningless after life down there and have really no purpose, as if almost he wanted you to be doomed to Hell so there could be almost a position assigned to you. For the sins those are punished accordingly to how that sin had an impact versus others that were made.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the place for the opportunist in Dantes Inferno is what we call today Limbo. I think the opportunist are niether good nor bad people, but individuals that did not take a stand for either right or wrong and avoided choosing. I think the oppoptunist in Dantes Inferno are much like the Agnostics in our time.
ReplyDeleteDante placed this "levels" of hell based off of the actions/thoughts of people did throughout their lives. The more horrible the action, the further they are placed nearer to the center of hell. As far as opportunists are concerned, the definition of an opportunist is someone who takes advantage and or exploits them for their benifit. Despite the circumstances that follow them. I would say that the opportunits dante is reffering to are those who are in limbo or did not choose between heaven and hell. They were neutral in deciding between heaven and hell.
ReplyDeleteDante believed that there were certain requirements or steps that had to be made to live eternally in heaven. I think that in this exert he is placing limit on what is still acceptable to make it into heaven, but the steps taken out of bounds place you in the layers of hell. While he believes God is the creator and the master, the people are those that stray from him. People make the decision to dwell in heaven or hell based on their decisions. Those that refuse to choose end up in limbo, where there is no eternal damnation or salvation, but rather indecisiveness. Those would be the opportunist here.
ReplyDeleteWhen Virgil mentions the "opportunists" he is talking about the pagans and unbaptised people, who are in the same league as the angels that refused to be believers. While in this area Dante mentions an encounter with a famous greek philosopher, I believe that it was Socrates but I could be wrong. Also in this quote Virgil does put a limit on what is acceptable for a person to make it to heaven, and that limit is that the person needs to be a follower of Christ.
ReplyDeleteBarbara T. 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:
ReplyDelete"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."
I feel like the opportunists were not predestined to be evil. Like the intro said they were fence-riders and chose to not side with evil or good. They did nothing in life and in a sense had no conscience. I think the opportunists & outcasts were not allowed in hell because those who were doomed to hell, those who were evil in nature, would feel a sense of superiority over the opportunists. Marci S. Those within the 9 circles of Hell justify their sins to themselves, and I think they would have a sense of pride in their sins, thus making themselves believe that they are above the opportunists. Dante describes their punishment as fitting the crime. The map of upper hell displays his idea of how a person deserves to be in a deeper degree of hell or punishment depending on the crime.
ReplyDeleteJeffrey Z. n this picture of Dantes Inferno, the souls that virgil comes across are of those people who may not have done anything wrong during their lifetime and who also have not prayed to a higher god or power during that time as well. Which is why they are not allowed in to Hell like the others who are supposed to be sent there. Those souls not allowed in serve a meaningless after life down there and have really no purpose, as if almost he wanted you to be doomed to Hell so there could be almost a position assigned to you. For the sins those are punished accordingly to how that sin had an impact versus others that were made.
ReplyDelete(Clint McGalliard)Opportunists are people who in life never sided between good and evil but made decisions that favor only themselves. Also known as fence-sitters, Dante's opinion of these souls is that they were cowardice, but as an opportunist would say that's just Dante's opinion which is no better or worse then anyone else's. Maybe if there were any actual evidence from either God or Satan then the opportunists would be more inclined to pick a side.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Dante believed in taking steps to go to heaven. You have to do certain thing to be able to go to heaven but if someone did opposite or out of line with the "steps" then it would send them to hell. The people who didn't do anything at all or attempt at making a choice between heaven or hell would end up in limbo.
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