A Day Late, But What the Hey!

I've been traveling all day, all day yesterday, and didn't have Internet access all break, so truly this is my first chance since Thursday since I've had to blog. If my grade gets docked because of missing, oh well! At least I know that I blogged as soon as I could, I guess.

Dante's Inferno is beyond weird. One thing that I remember about it (it's been a long/short break) was the bloodthirsty were forced to stand in a river of blood, guarded by centaurs, and the more people you've killed, the deeper you were in blood.... *shiver*

I am so happy we get to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail in class. I remember the first time I watched that movie (I think it was 7th or 8th grade) and I DID NOT get the humor of it. I thought it was absolutely dumb. But since then I've watched it another 278 times (kidding) and it's still absolutely hilarious. I was surprised how many people in our class have seen it before! And for the ones who had never seen it before, I could tell some of them thought it was absolutely dull and stupid. I think for a movie like that, it takes a couple times of watching it to really "appreciate" it. My favorite part is probably either the very beginning with the swallow and coconut argument, or the Knights Who Say 'Ni!'.....
 
I'm just glad we had the opportunity to see it, and I hope we finish it up on Tuesday. That's the other thing. I can't believe how quickly this semester went by!  .....

Dante's Inferno

I think out of all the books on our list for this semester, this was the one I was most excited to read. I've heard a lot about it, have been told that it should be on my "must read" list, and have since been interested in reading it. So far, the circles of Hell remind me of Tartarus, the Hell of Greek mythology (I'm impressed I remember this stuff from 7th grade!!) The punishments in Tartarus included someone who had to eternally push a boulder up the side of a mountain, and another who was standing in the middle of a lake, throat burning with thirst, but every time he would try to drink the water it would evaporate.

It would suck to be cast into Hell and eternally tortured by the sin that you committed during your life. The two examples we talked about were the lustful lovers being so close to being reunited until they were swept away from each other by a storm, and also the gluttonous having to live in their own filth, with constantly crappy weather (literally).

Kinda makes class depressed since all we talk about now is eternal damnation.... Ah well!

Romanesque Feudalism

I'm usually not really interested in architecture, but when it's from hundreds and thousands of years ago, it's a bit easier to catch my attention. I thought it was really cool how the churches back then, though they weren't too appealing to the eye, actually doubled as fortresses. Also, the symbolism tied into Romanesque architecture is very intricate. With portrayals of Hell and suffering, the path to salvation, and everything in between. I thought it was pretty cool how they would design the churches to look like a cross if you viewed it from above, too. As for all the different relics that the churches possessed, I don't really see the point in them. It honestly reminded of Pokemon cards or something... Who has the rarest one? Yes, I was a geek as a child, but that's not the point. Who cares if someone has the leg bone of Mary Magdalene? We're not supposed to worship HER, we're supposed to worship God, aren't we? And yes, she was an important character in the Bible, but it's just kinda creepy to keep her bone as a souvenir.... Tell me now if you think I'm wrong.

Song of Roland

It's cool seeing how many parallels are drawn between this book and Christianity, for example,  when we talked about how Roland refuses 3 times to blow the horn and call the other soldiers back into the pass so they won't die. This is written to resemble how in the New Testament Peter denies Christ three times. Also, there's Charlemagne's 12 men, and the 12 Saracens that are specially selected and all die in the order they were chosen in the first place. Then there was also where Charlemagne hangs 30 innocent people, which is symbolism for when Judas betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, then tries to give it back, and ends up going out and hanging himself.....

We also brought to attention the comparison of Roland to Achilles. They both are considered the heroes of their story, but at the same time have that tragic flaw that just screws everything up for them. For Achilles, it was his anger, and for Roland, it was his pride.