Dante's+Inferno-2nd+Circle

=There is no greater sorrow then to recall our times of joy in wretchedness. = =– Dante, Inferno, Canto V =

=media type="youtube" key="-uoeaV_69Wk" width="560" height="315"= =A song to listen to while reading all about the doomed lovers- adds dramatic effect=

=Second Circle: Lust = ====Those stuck in the second circle are continuously punished by being blown by forceful winds so they may never rest or find peace. The winds represent their restlessness of passion for desire. Dante also noticeably feels pity for those trapped in this torture, and he also cries for them (though he does many other times too). He feels so sorry for them because they are essentially damned by love.====

Description:
====__**Dante's Inferno:**__ //They find themselves on a dark ledge swept by a great whirlwind, which spins within it the souls of the CARNAL, those who betrayed reason to their appetites. Their sin was to abandon themselves to the tempest of their passions: so they are swept forever in the tempest of Hell, forever denied the light of reason and of God.//====
 * __ Sparknotes: __**// Dante and Virgil pass into a dark place in which torrential rains fall ceaselessly and gales of wind tear through the air. The souls of the damned in this circle swirl about in the wind, swept helplessly through the stormy air. These are the Lustful—those who committed sins of the flesh. //

=**Lust v.s Love?**= ====// Love is a strange emotion. It is ever evolving. Lust is transient. With time, one realizes that love and togetherness are two different things. Very few people are lucky enough to experience the two emotions simultaneously. //====


 * Lust's passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes. **

=__ Characters: __=

// Minos- // Minos was the king of Crete in modern mythology, and represented as a fearsome and ugly beast who is the guardian of the 2nd circle of Hell. Upon hearing the sinner's confession, his tail spins around the victim a specific number of times to reveal what circle they belong in. Dante depicts him as a grotesque monster, most likely because of the possible rape of Europa by Zeus. While he was king, he would send seven boys and seven girls to the minotaur's labyrinth every nine years. After his death, he became a judge in the underworld.

// Cleopatra- // After Ptolemy XII's death, the throne was left to Cleopatra (18) and Ptolemy XIII (10) who mostly likely married (customary for siblings at the time). Eventually she overthrew her brother with aid from Julius Caesar. After his death, Antony fell in love with her beauty and personality which turned into a love affair (with three children). Strife an tensions continued between Octavius and Antony. Antony was falsely told of Cleopatra's death when arriving at battlefield. He committed suicide because of the news and she returned the favor by being bitten by an Egyptian cobra.

// Achilles- // In an older version of the Iliad (not Homers), Achilles actually died in ambush after falling in love with Polynexa (a trojan princess). However, he was tricked which could be lust overpowering reason. He also leaves the Acheans in Homer's version because Agamemnon demanded to have Briseis (Achilles' war prize) as his own. There are also speculations of his relationship with Patroclus.... he does act passionately after his death by killing Hector and mutilating his body in a storm of rage and passion as well.

// Paris- // It all began with the apple of discord and Paris' choice of deciding which goddess was the fairest of them all (Athena, Aphrodite, Hera). They all promised to grant him gifts, and he toke Aphrodite's which was to have the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen. So he ABDUCTS her who is in fact MARRIED. Some versions of the myth claim she went willingly.. However they are soon married and the Trojan War breaks out.

// Helen- // An entire war for 10 years, thousands of gruesome deaths, and the loss of heroes occurred all for Helen. Her father was Zeus who ravished her mother in the form of a swan. In some versions of the myth, Aphrodite was even rumored to be jealous of her beauty. Helen didn't have a say in marrying Menelaus for it was her father's (the king's) doing for political reasons. it's still debated if she willing went with Paris, but for the purpose of Dante's Inferno, let's say she did go with Paris which would be putting lust over logic and perfect for landing her a spot in circle two. Although Paris was already handsome, Aphrodite made him more irresistible and Helen fell in love with the young man like he had fallen in love when he first saw her. Helen's character was never really developed so she simply appears oblivious to the horrors she caused (and Paris) as well as displaying little emotion and n remorse.

====// Tristan- // His story, of course, is the tale of two people who share a forbidden love. It became part of mythology in medieval Europe, most likely around the Arthurian times. (He was also symbolic to the virtues of chivalry). After killing a skilled competitor (Morholt) in battle, Tristan disguised himself and sought help from an iris princess/healer Isolde. When he returns to Cornwall, he spoke to his uncle, King Mark, so highly of her that King Mark decided they would marry. Some versions claim they began to fall for each other on their journey to Cornwall when Tristan was sent to fetch her. They mistakenly take a love potion meant for her and King Mark. So their affair begins and eventually others began to suspect and Mariadoc finds them..knocking each other's socks off. So the King and his barons try and try to catch them in the act. (Trial by Ordeal was actually used for Isolde!) Many different endings were created. Tristan dies of a disease in one, believing Isolde never came for him and in return she died of grief. Tristan is also murdered by his uncle in another version. In this same Prose Tristan version, Isolde tells him she wishes to die after he's been stabbed so he crushed her to death in his embrace. ====

// Guinevere- // The romance between these two actually fueled another couple in the second circle, and Guinevere and Lancelot were apparently influenced by Tristan and Isolde.After being caught in bed with Lancelot, she was tried and sentenced to burn for her infedility. Although she wasn't burned, she did become a nun at Amesbury.

// Lancelot- // He was one of the bravest knights of the Round Table for his strength, kindness and loyalty. However his affair with King Arthur;s Wife became known as a catalyst for the Round Table to implode. When confronted about their relationship, he restored his honor by cutting off Sir Meliagaunt's head. Soon many other knights became suspicious. King Arthur's nephew gathered 12 knights, stormed Guinevere's chamber and found them in bed. Lancelot fought his way out, only to return of Guinevere's fate. King Arthur was furious and attacked Lanelot's castle, but they failed. He ended his days as a hermit.

=__**Ending Lines of Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem for Lancelot and Guinevere**__= //A man had given all other bliss, //

//And all his worldly worth for this, //

//To waste his whole heart in one kiss //

//Upon her perfect lips. //