Sunday, January 28, 2007

Dante & Brunetto Sittin’ in a Tree

Dante’s decision to place the much-respected Brunetto Latini in the seventh circle of hell is his declaration that no matter how good or wise someone may be, sin is sin and must be punished accordingly. Dante writes that when he was speaking to Latini, he walked “as one who walks in reverence meditating good and evil” (l. 45 p. 120). Apparently, Dante the character was baffled to find Latini there and by “meditating good and evil,” was trying to resolve his questions and understand Latini’s presence. Even in hell Dante listens to Latini, takes his advice, and heeds his warning. It is clear then why Dante doesn’t condemn him quite as wholeheartedly as he does some of the other sinners, like the simoniacs.

What is a bit unclear to me is Latini’s speech to Dante. Latini says “your good works will be your enemy,” which leads me to speculate that somehow Latini’s sin of sodomy was tied to his good works (l. 64 p. 121). Knowing that he was a prominent scholar, politician, and writer, and thinking that good works would then most likely involve teaching, mentoring, or otherwise imparting his knowledge, perhaps his sin occurred with someone with whom he had a “student-teacher” relationship. This line of thought, however, reminds me that Dante and Latini apparently had just that sort of relationship, and since Ciardi’s notes make it seem like Dante was the only person to know of Latini’s homosexuality, I wonder how Dante would have known this unless he was the other sodomite in Latini’s homosexual relationship. If this is the case, it would explain why Dante “went astray from the straight road and woke to find [himself] alone in a dark wood” (ll. 1-3 p. 16). The pun on “straight” is just too amusing to ignore, and yet I doubt they used that term then in the same way we do today. In fact, all of these speculations are most likely unfounded and irrelevant, but the possibilities intrigue me.

If Dante’s belief that all sinners must be punished in accordance with their sins is true, and assuming that my speculations are also true, then Dante would have realized his fate as soon as he saw Latini. This may explain some of his hesitation and surprise at discovering Latini among “that ghostly crew” (l. 22 p. 120). I believe, however, that if homosexuality is indeed a sin and hell is as Dante depicts it, homosexuals would not be in the seventh circle, but rather, in the second with the carnal. The two sins go together I think under a broad category of “sexual sin.” But personally, I don’t think anyone goes to hell because of a sin or any other action. It’s entirely possible for homosexuals to go to heaven just like anybody else. This is a protestant view though, and one which Dante would not share.

5 comments:

Deacon Chris said...

No. This is just a reference to Dante's political problems, and Latini's. As far as I know, has nothing to do with homosexuality.

Betsy Strobel said...

Ciardi talks about Brunetto on page 124 and then about the other men that Dante places there on page 131.

Hell's Belle said...

I kind of had the same idea, because Dante outs Latini. I was thinking that Dante was afraid of the stigma that could come from being attached to someone like Latini, because he was his student. Remember that Dante was falsely accused; he was probably afraid of further false accusation so he had to sort of separate himself from Latini. I don't think it's fair to say accepting homosexuality is a "protestant" viewpoint. Protestants are actually MUCH less tolerant of so-called sexual deviance. Look up early trials of American settlements. They sentenced people to death for buggering sheep, and spouses brought eachother to court for not having enough sex. I think Protestants are, as Ciardi pointed out, much more squeamish about the human body in general. And i should know, because I'm half Prote!

RachelP said...

Actually, Rhiannon, I agree with your comments about intolerance. I'd like to clarify for you, however, that I do not at all think protestants are more or less intolerant of homosexuals than any other religious group. What my post said is that the idea that anyone can go to heaven regardless of past sins is a protestant view. I said nothing whatsoever about protestants being more or less accepting of homosexuality.

Hell's Belle said...

I guess I'd have to say, right on, except that many Protestant sects adhere to the doctrine of predestination, which is from Calvinism. Catholics and Orthodox Christians also believe that a person can go to heaven in spite of all their sins; it's a pretty general concept of Christianity. Even Judaism has this belief. I think Islam (and probably only the more fundamental sects) is the only monotheistic religion in which one's good and bad deeds are recorded and balanced out to see where you will go in the afterlife.