Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture
“In the film Beetlejuice there is a scene in which the character Beetlejuice is terrorizing the house residents, and the case worker, Juno, creates a distraction: Dante’s Inferno Room.”
Contributed by Christopher Beckham (University of Texas – Austin, ’16) and Karalee Shotola (University of Texas – Austin, ’16)
Dante’s “Nine circles of Hell” list is #14, which links to Guy Raffa’s Danteworlds page.
See the full list by Gary Belsky, The New Yorker, December 26, 2012.
Contributed by Aisha Woodward (Bowdoin ’08)
“Hell is steadily losing adherents. The Infernal Tourist Board (chief field-researchers Dante Alighieri and John Milton) has therefore produced a promotional flyer. . .
Dining:
-Chez Tantalus: See your dinner hover over you, but never quite get close enough to eat!
-Bar Lethe: A popular, even crowded, establishment, despite the slow and surly service of barmaid Medusa. You’ll soon forget everything, including why you came. . .
Accommodation:
-Holes of the Simoniacs: Dive head-first into these funnels of fun, and let a devil set the soles of your feet on fire!
-The Sacks@Malebolge: Ten delightful mini-ditches in the trendy 8th Circle, specially designed for liars and flatterers. Enjoy an in-room massage from attentive demons.” [. . .] —The Economist, December 22, 2012
Contributed by Guy Raffa
“In Ravenna, Italy, archivists recently discovered a lost canto of Dante’s Inferno — what appears to be the tenth circle of Hell. The ninth circle was previously understood to be the lowest point of Hell reached by Dante and his guide Virgil before ascending on their journey toward Paradise. A portion of the 14th-century manuscript, translated into English prose, is reproduced below.
‘Virgil,’ I cried, ‘Those shades–burning, immersed in human excrement, trapped in icy waters. I thought I had witnessed the basest of all sinners. So who are these figures I now see? Do my eyes betray me, or are their heads fully absorbed in the derrières of others? And who are these individuals whose bottoms are swollen due to the immense size of the heads there immersed?’ [. . .] –Deborah Tennen, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, October 25, 2012
Contributed by Steve Bartus (Bowdoin, ’07)
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.
