Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture
“In the last episode of the thirteenth season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (‘Skin in the Game’) and the story continuing in the first episode of the next season (‘The Devil and D.B. Russell’) the bad guy imitates the depiction of the nine circles of hell as found in a 16th-century version of Dante’s Inferno.” —Wikipedia
“A monumental mix of dark and epic classical music based on Dante’s Inferno from The Divine Comedy to accompany you in your journey through the circles of hell, including Ludwig Van Beethoven, Stravinsky and Penderecki.” — Moontopmountain, 8tracks, 2013.
Nineteenth century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translates Inferno, featured in this 2013 book. More information about this translation can be found here.
“There are many descriptions of the afterlife in fiction that can be traced back to Dante’s imaginative journeys. The wacky afterlife universe depicted in the 2013 movie R.I.P.D (Rest in Peace Department) can’t shake off the legacy.
“When a Boston police officer is killed by his renegade partner, he is immediately whizzed up to a questionable Heaven where he discovers that everyone has to answer for past crimes in the thereafter – or join R.I.P.D, Inferno’s police force. The task of the R.I.P.D is to catch ‘Deadoes’, the souls of the deceased who refuse to accept their fate and instead return to the world of the living in order to spoil it.
“The ascent to where R.I.P.D resides is a helical ride for the recently departed, a cocktail of two shots of Inferno, half a Purgatorio and one of Paradiso. Sitting under the department of ‘Eternal Affairs’, R.I.P.D is run by a chief, half Virgil, half Minos, whose role is to give the new recruit a tour of the establishment. The movie seems to suggest that if you’re not simply visiting Hell (like Dante the pilgrim), then you’re either a convict or an (infernal) law-enforcement officer, whose job is to keep the damned away from the living.
“Dante’s circles of Hell are alluded to in the prison cells of the R.I.P.D precincts and in its staff’s crammed offices. Hell is other people working in the next R.I.P.D cubicle.” –Cristian Ispir
“I decided to create my own hellish steak recipe. I immediately drew inspiration from outside of the culinary world: the first part of the 14th century poem, Divine Comedy. Also known as Inferno, this part was written by Dante Alighieri to document the descent into hell. That descent began at the gates of hell, which bore an inscription that ended with the words: ‘Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate”, or ‘Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.’ That sounded like a fitting beginning for a hellish steak recipe. After passing through the gates, Dante made his way through nine circles of suffering — Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treachery — with each circle representing a gradual increase in wickedness.All submissions will be considered for posting. Bibliographic references and scholarly essays are also welcome for consideration.
Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.
