“Making his shoulders his breast; because his purpose/Was seeing too far ahead, he looks behind/And stumbles backwards. And here is Tiresias-/The seer who changed from male to female, unmanned/Through all his body until the day he struck/A second time with his staff at serpents entwined (203)”
I thought it was funny to see Tiresias down in hell. So I thought about Oedipus and Dante. In Oedipus the prophecy was so important and inevitable. Tiresias was praised for his ability while Dante shuns it. Tiresias in Oedipus was a much more heroic figure and wise. In Oedipus religion was such a big deal as well just like in the Inferno. But the Greek gods seemed to have much more control. All the sinners made choices that got them in their positions. But Oedipus didn’t have a choice. The gods punished him anyways. I wonder where Oedipus would end up in hell? Why can some of the sinners tell the future but others are punished for that? I thought it was strange Dante mentioned Tiresias change from a man to a woman story.
“My heart: when in the fair world, hour by hour/You taught me, patiently, it was you who showed me/The way man makes himself eternal; therefore,/The gratitude I feel toward you makes fit (155)“
It puzzles me why Dante put this man in hell. Dante praised the man heavily and had a deep respect for him. He seemed so far to have the most pity on him. If he was so important to Dante why was he not placed in purgatory or paradise? I believe all the other people Dante has met have been enemies or he wasn’t too personal with them. But Latini was his teacher. The notes in the back say that Dante was taught the way to eternity was through fame. Well, I think Dante just might have achieved that goal of being famous.
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