Dante Journal: Cantos 18-23
Circle
7: Pimps and Seducers
Answer one question. Be specific, and quote from the text. (Feel free to use both Dante Worlds for background, but make sure to quote from the text, and try to help me see you did the whole reading).
- List two examples of "Contreplasso" in this section that you think are particularly apt or funny. Quote and Describe. Explain why these punishments "fit the crime" in the particular examples you quote.
- An "epic simile" is an analogy or comparison that helps us visualize something difficult to image (in this case, places and punishments). They frequently begin, "Just as..." or "Like one who...", to set up the comparison, and then illustrate its connection to the actual place or punishment with "so did...." Try to help me see you did the whole reading by choosing three epic similes from different cantos of today's reading, quoting the similes and explaining how they help you visualize a punishment or landscape of punishment. Why do you think Dante makes these comparisons.
- Dante gives the story of Jason and Medea as an example of an actual "pimp or seducer," but then fills this section with "metaphorical" seducers (flatterers, fake sorcerers, hypocrites, simonists, nepotists, and corrupt politicians). Give an example of two such people in different parts of today's reading. First explain how they are "pimps" or "seducers," and then compare one of them to a modern-day public figure and explain why.