dante 34(level 9)

[sojounggg]

so we just finished learning dante

in my imagination level 9 (the most horrible and worst level of dante's view) would have fire everywhere.

but instead it had cold ice.

when lucifer (the uggliest creature in the world now) is flapping
his wings every thing turn in to ice.

why ice? why not fire?
and why dante flap his wings?
is he trying to secape , regreting what he have done or still being against god?

[ginayang]

I think level 9 had cold ice instead of fire because Lucifer needs to cool down his anger. Lucifer has great anger towards God and those people who come to hell. Plus, since he is a big monster, he has a lot of body heat and needs to cool down. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure Dante didn't have any wings so I don't know how to repond to that question.

[RegXD]

well it could mean something whether its fire or ice because it depends on how dante depict it. where as other religion depict hell or level 9 in hell as a icy cold place rather than flaming hot environment. and also dante describle lucifer that he cannot feel regret but only blame others for his mistake. which i think is stupid because it tells me that lucifer once was beautiful or pretty but now ugly and stupid cuz he doesnt have the brains to think again.

[sang]

I think that's the comical part about this whole "divine comedy" thing. Because generally, we expect like a fire, hot, burning hell, rather than a freezing hell. So to go against the general imagery and belief of hell, I think that Dante purposely put ice instead of fire into the last level.

[cathysjun]

I also agree with Gina. I think it is to cool him down from his anger and body heat. I also think by putting him in a place that is so different from who he is, it is hard for him to endure the place. Fire represents Lucifer and ice represents god. God is punishing Lucifer for what he did and trapping him in the ice.

[jessicak016]

I think that with ice, it was easier to carry out the punishment for the Dis, or Lucifer. Dis was trying to escape, so he was flapping with his wings. But then as he flapped his wings, the ice got bigger and freeze him more and it was more impossible to escape from his punishment. Therefore, he is causing his own punishment. So I think that the element ice made that possible. If the last level of hell was made out of fire, then Dis' punishment would be just to get burnt, which might not really help. He would be able to escape maybe.

[sujeonggg]

I think it's switching throughout each level of hell. Because we normally think of fire/burning image of hell, I think some levels might be firy, while some, like level 9, will be icy. And I also think Lucifer itself might be some kinda related to ice.

[juliekim]

Yeah, I was wondering that too. I think Dante used ice because he wanted to say that it was so lifeless and godless that there was no energy in it. Even though fire's something that's considered evil and bad, it also gives out a vibe that has to do with energy and vitality. But ice is like there's literally nothing there. No hope or whatever. I think that's the kind of feeling that Dante wanted to portray for the last level.

[seongrae]

I think Dante choose to express the last level of hell with ice because there were fire on the previous stages and have different theme of stage. The ice is also a scary thing when we know about it, it is same as fire. If there is a lot of ice, people will freeze and die like burning in fire when the fire is big. Also when one freezes, it will be like one second and fast. But fire will take time, so I think the ice kind of shows cold hearted theme of last hell level.

[sarahlee2]

I honestly didn't understand why there was ice in the last level of hell either. I had always imagined fire and burning in hell. I guess to Dante, freezing as a punishment was worse than burning. I don't really agree with that though.

[hannahs]

I think it was ice because for a person to be able to betray someone, they have to be cold and heartless. Which ice portrays better than fire. I think it's kind of weird though. Having fire near you sounds more painful than having ice, so I don't get why the place that should be the most painful has ice.

[joannekim]

I agree with Hannah about the reason for ice. Level 9 of hell is for betrayers, and betrayers are often cold-hearted. I think ice better suits the punishment for betrayers than fire. I also think Dante already used fire for previous levels of hell. For Lucifer flapping his wings, I believe that he is doing that just to make sure all other sinners are getting painful punishment by constantly freezing the place.

[michellelee]

I also thought the reason Lucifer is portrayed with ice was because of his cold-heartedness. Also, I think he always flaps his wings in order to get out and this shows his desperation to escape.

[minchoi0923]

I think ice is supposed to symbolize the cold-hearted nature of the betrayers. Lucifer is the worst betrayer, after all. He betrayed God and tried to rebel against him. By describing the last level of hell with ice, we can see their personalities. Also, the ice can also represent his regret. By "cooling" him down, he can regret his actions and feel sorry for God.

[elijahlee]

I think that the ice was a representation of the cold hopelessness of the situation. Also, ice sucks the strength from you. And, when ice is REALLY cold, it can even burn. I think that ice is much more of an accurate and impressive representation of the situation. The wings and flapping was to signify Satan's ultimate powerlessness in my opinion.