Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture
“As Lucifer works to perfect his own garden of Eden within his newly-created universe, evil forces begin to work against him and the Archangel Michael finds himself torn between his service to God and to his brother Lucifer.” —Mike Carey, <em>Lucifer Vol. 4: The Divine Comedy</em>, Amazon, April 2003 (retrieved February 21, 2024)
“IDW Publishing’s Godzilla in Hell miniseries has Godzilla finding himself in Hell after accidentally destroying the planet in a battle with SpaceGodzilla and rampaging his way through the levels of Hell to find a way out, destroying the ‘Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here’ sign with his atomic breath, battling demons and manifestations of familiar monsters representing various sins, and turning a version of the Mount of Purgatory made up of monster parts into a battlefield between the forces of Heaven and Hell that want to recruit Godzilla into their ranks.” —James Stokoe, “Divine Comedy in popular culture,” Wikipedia (retrieved January 24, 2024)
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“Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic is a 2010 adult animated dark fantasy film. Based on the Dante’s Inferno video game that is itself loosely based on Dante’s Inferno, Dante must travel through the circles of Hell and battle demons, creatures, monsters, and even Lucifer himself to save his beloved Beatrice. The film was released on February 9, 2010.” —Brandon Auman, “Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic,” Wikipedia, (retrieved January 24, 2024)
“A Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith tells the story of a librarian and her assistant from the ‘Unfinished Book’ wing of the library of Hell tracking down escaped characters from the books, attempting to meet their authors or change their stories. Towards the beginning of the story, as they are about to depart the library of hell for Earth so they can track down an escaped character, a figure appears and quotes most of the inscription which is written on the gate of Hell in Dante’s Inferno.” –Contributor Robert Alex Lee
Here is the synopsis of the 2019 novel, from Penguin Random House: “In the first book in a brilliant new fantasy series, books that aren’t finished by their authors reside in the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, and it is up to the Librarian to track down any restless characters who emerge from those unfinished stories.
“Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing—a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.
“But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil’s Bible. The text of the Devil’s Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell….and Earth.” —Penguin Random House
Contributed by Robert Alex Lee (Florida State University ’21)
“The virtual paradise of Aaru is destroyed. The lords and ladies are overthrown. Most of the Vedas are captured, and Magic Man’s dark creation, Hel rules with an iron fist, exacting her horrible revenge.
“Arch Veda Rose is afraid it’s all her fault. While the defeated lords and ladies sequester themselves in the impregnable tree-fortress of Yggdrasil, Rose decides it is up to her to make things right. Together she, and her bitter rival Matteus decide to work together to secretly infiltrate Hel’s Kingdom of Dis and rescue their tormented friends.
“At the same time, Koren has struggles of her own, mourning the untimely death of her father and separation from her sister Rose even as the corrupt megachurch pastor, Benjamin Belial, inserts himself deeper and deeper into her life, affairs, and family, and public opinion turns increasingly against Elysian Industries. Though worlds apart, both sisters must traverse a proverbial Dante’s Path with no guarantee of success or survival.” –David Meredith, Amazon, 2020.
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.
