Dante, Paradiso; Blinded by the light

At work training is over and the grind of the everyday has begun. I enjoy Saturdays as I can sit by the window and stare at the people going past, though the phones can be either very busy or very quiet. Some of us, if it's quiet, sit there and judge people's parallel parking for a bit of fun. 

I am glad to have finished the Divine Comedy, though at times I have wondered if I should have read the other two works first(The New Life and Convivio). I just wonder if it would have given me a bit of background into who Beatrice is.

The Story
In Paradiso, Dante proceeds through the nine spheres of heaven.
First, the sphere of the moon, with those who failed to keep their vows to God.
Second, the sphere of Mercury, with those who were just and right but for the reason of selfishness and ambition.
Third, the sphere of Venus with the lovers of God and people.
Fourth, the sphere of the Sun where Dante meets with the wise of the faith e.g. Thomas of Aquinas.
Fifth, the sphere of Mars with the holy warriors. Here, Dante meets his great grandfather, who fought in the crusades, as well as Roland and Charlemagne.
Sixth, the sphere of Jupiter, with those who ruled well on earth, including David and Hezekiah.
Seventh, the sphere of Saturn, with those who dedicated their lives to prayer, ascending and descending the golden ladder. Here, Dante discusses the current corruption in the Church with those he meets. Then, Dante ascends the stair to the next sphere.
Eighth, the sphere of the fixed stars, with Mary and the Apostles. Again, Dante discusses the corruption in the Church with those he meets.
Ninth, the sphere of Premium Mobile. This is the last sphere and from here Dante sees the nine circles of angels, circling the triune God. He tries to explain what he is seeing but quickly gives up as he has no words.
As he progresses through these spheres, he gets further and further away from earth and out into space. Also, the amount of light increases at every stage and he is eventually blinded by the light, that he can barely see Father, Son, and Spirit.

Reflections
While Dante is, on the surface, taking us through a rather Christian view of heaven, he can not seem to leave out the references to the old Roman gods and to astrology (Scorpio). I find this dilutes his authority on these matters. I haven't read his other works yet but I must say that his idolization of Beatrice is odd and rather out of place in his attempted epic on heaven. He seems to almost deify her, which feels out of place in an epic about God.

Comparisons
I say "attempted epic", as it does not have the same feel as the earlier epics, like the Odyssey. Though, we saw in Inferno that he rates himself as up there with the great epic poets.
The change of guide from the Purgatorio seems necessary, in the sense that Virgil wasn't a Christian and we could not expect him to have access to heaven. But the choice of his lovers, Beatrice, as his new guide seems, well, odd.  We don't see the same fragmentation of levels as we see earlier in Inferno and Purgatorio, which is interesting, but I wonder if he wanted to stay with the religious numbers of 6 for Inferno, 7 for Purgatorio and, 9 for Paradiso. In fact, it even seems a little like he was stretching to find nine topics for spheres of heaven.

Have you read Paradiso? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Paradiso but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
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Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio; An uphill climb

The Story
Dante ascends through the 9 stages of Purgatory. The first two are before the main gate of purgatory. These are the excommunicated, but repentant, and the late repentant, those who waited till their dying breath to repent. At the gate of Purgatory, an angel etches seven P's on Dante's forehead.
The other seven, follow the seven deadly sins and Shades must spend time in the levels that they are guilty of, for an unspecified amount of time.  Each of these levels has its own punishment, related to the sin to be Atoned for. At the end of each level, an angle removes one of the P's from Dante's forehead.
The third level is Pride and Shades are forced to walk, bent, under huge stones, never getting a chance to see the motif on humility that dominates the wall.
The Fourth level is Envy. The penetant wear gray robes and have their eyes sewn shut with wire, so that they can no longer look on the things of others, with want.
The Fifth level is Wrath. Here the Shades proceed around in a cloud of smoke, so that they can not see.
The Sixth level is Sloth. Here the Shades run endlessly around the level, in such zeal that they did not have in life.
The Seventh level is Avarice (Greed, ambition etc.). Here the shades are bound, hand and foot, and must lie facing downwards, so that they can not want more of every good thing.
The Eight level is Gluttony. Here Shades are perpetually hungry and thirsty, and water and food is visible but out of reach.
The Ninth level is Lust. Here Shades must leap through flames while reciting chased stories. Dante too, must leap through the fire. Though he is scared, he wants to see Beatrice.
Beyond the Levels, there is Earthly Paradise or the garden of Eden, at this point Virgil leaves Dante's side and he progresses alone. He spends some time talking with a young woman, until Beatrice arrives with a large entourage, that includes the four winged beast and the 24 elders.

Reflections
This time, we see the seven deadly sins. Not being to familiar with the concept of Purgatory, I had expected to see these in the Inferno, but I guess they are the sins that the repentant get caught in, not the sins of the unrepentant.
It is interesting how Dante has paired the sins with their respective penitence, it is rather logical. While the church still has and uses the seven deadly sins, the idea of purgatory has been removed and replaced with the more biblical: Jesus died for all sins even those of the Christian.

Comparisons
The levels of Purgatory are far more distinct than the circles of the Inferno, which makes it a bit easier to follow. I still find it odd that this is where the seven deadly sins are used, if they are deadly surely they would be sent to hell.
Like the Inferno, Virgil continues to guide Dante through purgatory, as he did with hell. But, we do see this end as he reaches the Earthly Paradise in the Purgatorio.

Have you read Purgatorio? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Purgatorio but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
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Dante Alighieri, Inferno; A downwards spiral

So I landed myself a new job! I will soon be a call center operator part time, which will be really cool. I don't start until the 18th of March, which is a few weeks away, at the moment.

The Story
Inferno is the story of Dante as he is being lead through Hell by the spirit of Virgil and progresses down in a spiral. Dante starts in a dark forest, which he cannot seem to escape as his way is blocked by three vicious creatures. Here he meets Virgil who agrees to take him through hell and out the other side as the only escape. They the proceed through the nine circles of hell: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, and Violence which is broken into three rings, Fraud which is broken into 10 Bolgia and Treachery which is broken into four rounds. Dante then proceeds to the center of hell and climbs the devil, himself, to escape. As he progresses down through the circles, he stops and talks to many shades of note, mainly Greek or Roman including Homer and Ovid. All those that are named are references to history and older epics.

Reflections
As simple as the above description is, the text is not that straight forward. It is more a meandering through of different parts, without clear distinctions between circles or their sub-portions. I did not always recognize the named shades that Dante meet but I think I will come across them as I continue through my BC list.
Dante at first seems to be working from a Christian perspective but this quickly falls away as he uses many other descriptions of the afterlife from many different cultures and sources, with the rives Styx needing to be crossed and with demons and principalities drawn from the Greek and Roman gods and famous people. Dante also presents the poem as a recounting of a vision that happened to him, which it could have been but it does not line up with the Christian scriptures but rather is a large part of Christian mysticism.
I had thought that this was the origin of the seven deadly sins and it is a part of it's propagation; but, it is more accurately a doctrine of the Catholic Church as part of their doctrine of carnal and venal sins. I do not believe, from my research, that it is still an active doctrine and it is not biblical.

Comparisons
The crossing of the river Styx is straight out of Greek mythology and we also see the crossing of the river of the dead in the Gilgamesh epic. The difference being them, is that in both Greek mythology and the Gilgamesh epic, the river was something that separated the world of the living from the world of the dead and that all the dead had to make the crossing. In the Inferno, it is one of the punishments for the damned and is part way though the circles, so not all the dead cross it, only those going to deeper circles.

Have you read Inferno? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Inferno but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of Inferno.

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching: Taoisms heart

NZ is playing India at cricket this afternoon and it's on free to air TV for a change. So, that is in the background, distracting me as I write this. Its only just started though, so the interesting stuff isn't on until later. If you are unfamiliar with cricket, it's a slower game so you can kinda half watch it and half do other things without missing too much. I say that and then there is a wicket in the second over... make that two by the fourth over... this game may not go New Zealand's way at this rate...

Synopsis
Lao Tzu is a contemporary of Confucius, though the name literally means Old Man and so does not, to the modern reader, evoke the image of being a specific man. There is also some question as to whether it was written all at once or added to over time.
The central idea in the Tao Te Ching is the idea of Tao or “the way”, as it is generally translated.Though it covers more than the translation suggests. The way is almost an organic thing, encompassing the idea of an eternal, or high, way to go and of an entity in its own right.

The Way includes pushing away desire and embracing nature and the natural order of things. Being okay with the loss of things and people, to death, as a natural part of life. To pursue Tao, is to pursue non-action and stillness.

It is in the Tao Te Ching that we first see the concepts of Ying and Yang, of balance of positive and negative energies, and the idea that we should strive for that balance in our lives and beings.

Reflections
I can see how the Taoists gave birth to the Tai Chi movements and the like. Their focus on contemplation, and being free of desire, also reminds me of what little I know of Buddism. Tao is a slippery concept in this text as it almost has a life of its own; not being just the path, as I said before, but the whole person becoming more like the way.

It also advocates applying knowledge more than gaining knowledge and I think this seems to suggest that the author is aware of how too much 'head knowledge' can get in the way of practice of the things taught in the Tao Te Ching.

Comparisons
Because of the fluidity of the concept of Tao, the Tao Te Ching is a little more fluid to grasp than the more concrete work of the Analects. You can tell that Confucius and Lao Tsu are contemporaries because of the cultural similarities that we see in the society they are writing in and trying to have input on.  In saying that, they come at the issues of the society in two very different ways: Confucius' message is to improve yourself and you can improve the things around you. Lao Tzu's message is more, to find the Tao, or spiritual path, and the rest won't matter because you are so in touch with Tao.

Have you read The Tao Te Ching? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read The Tao Te Ching but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of Tao Te Ching.

Confucius, The Great Learning: The great ordering of controllable things

I have spent a chunk of this evening moving furniture around with my husband as we convert our spare room into an office and moving our computers out of the lounge. It will be a big change for us as it will be the first time we have committed to having that room "empty" and not getting in a boarder. Also, it will be the first time since we got married that the computers will not be in the lounge.

Synopsis
The Great Learning is comprised of two parts. The first is only a single page long and it is the text attributed to Confucius. The Second is the annotation of Tsang which expands upon the ideas given in the first. The First part was taken from The book of Rites which is more about ritual and is left to stand alone as a moral or philosophical work.
The main text lays out the foundations and ties the proper running of the state to knowledge. Knowledge allows sincerity of thought, allows rectified hearts, allows cultivation of the person, allows well regulated families, and allows states to be rightly governed. If any one fails the next level can not be attained.

Reflections
I find the order of foundations, from self cultivation down to Knowledge, a little different from how I see them. I would have gone with; sincerity allows knowledge, allows rectified hearts. But that is just a gut feeling. The annotation seems to just state the same thing over and over, which is the prerogative of an annotation, but I don't feel it had much to add. It also makes a lot of references, mainly to "The book of Poetry" which, from my research, is most likely to be the "Classic of Poetry" in the five classics that support Confucian thought. These references expand the length of the annotation but give very little substance.

Comparisons
I don't really feel I can draw any meaningful comparisons from such a short text and annotation.  It is clear though that the original text is likely to be of Confucius or one direct disciple but that the annotation was most likely written later.

Have you read The Great Learning? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read The Great Learning but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
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Confucius, The Doctrine of the Mean: A pillar text

So, I originally read this in February of 2017. No wonder I'm having a little trouble calling it to mind. Thankfully it is only 17 pages, so I can skim read it. This is going to be an ongoing challenge as I work through these backlogged texts.
My husband starts a new job tomorrow, which is super exciting. He's a truck driver and is going to be delivering roofing iron.

Synopsis
The Doctrine of the Mean is comprised of three real threads to the way of the Mean to be the Superior man.
Self cultivation, through self-education, self-discipline, and self-questioning. The idea that the self must grow, in order to walk the course of the Mean.
Understanding and forbearance of others, based on reciprocity. The idea that you serve the one above you as you would expect the one below you to serve you.
The development of Sincerity in your own character and to be an example of sincerity to those around you. And that being able to do that, you can then extend Sincerity to the animal and natural world.

Reflections
The use of the word mean in the English translation is a little tricky here because you must strive to follow the course of the Mean but the superior man is the one who follows it and the mean man is the one who does not.
Self-cultivation is something I can really get behind. Take this project for example, learning for learning's sake. In my case, not in order to follow the Mean, but to follow a more fulfilling journey.

Comparisons
The only thing to really compare this to is the Analects. Both use the idea and wording of the Superior man, and idea that is suggested should be striven for. The doctrine of the Mean seems to spend a little more time on the mean man, or the non-Superior man. But the basic ideas that are central to the Doctrine of the Mean are, though more subtlety, still there in the Analects.
Being a doctrine rather than a series of collected sayings of the master, the doctrine of the Mean is more structured and more linear than the Analects.

Have you read The Doctrine of the Mean? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read The Doctrine of the Mean but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of Doctrine of the Mean.

Confucius, The Analects: Chinese thought on how to live

So I have had an in depth look over my plan today, and Herodotus, that I've just finished reading, is not scheduled to post until the ninth of August. So there may be some slight changes to the plan coming. I'm not sure exactly what they are yet but it might be as simple as posting more often while we get through the back log. Nothing is set in stone yet and I have a lot of writing to do in the mean time. Watch this space.

Synopsis
The Analects is a brief collection of sayings and writings from Confucius and his disciples. It centers around the Superior Man and how he interacts with society around him. The focus is on "The Way" or the moral and good way under Heaven. The Chapters are told as conversations between the master and his disciples and are considered to be written by the disciples after Confucius' death. It covers, as part of "The Way", Virtue, Ritual and Goodness and how they enrich the Superior Man.

Reflections
We know that the Chinese have taught Confusionism and it shows. I found this an interesting window into why the Chinese are so big on respecting their parents. This text teaches that to do as your parents instruct is part of "The Way" of the superior man.
It is also interesting to see the basic threads of "keeping face" starting to tie themselves together, with its emphasis on acting the part no matter what. This is something we see strongly in a lot of Asian cultures, to differing degrees. There would be nothing worse than to bring dishonour on your family. It remind me a little of Mushu in Disneys Mulan "Dishonour on you, Dishonour on your cow, dishonour on your whole family".

Comparisons
There is not a whole lot to compare the Analects to as it is both my first text from an Asian view point as well as the first philosophical text. We won't see any western philosophy for quite sometime yet. The one way we can compare it is if we consider it a religious text. It has definitely been follow like a religion at times but it does not have a higher power  of any type or heaven. but like a lot of religious texts it does spend a lot of time on how you should live. It focuses on the morality of the Superiour man, while the advice itself is different it is similar to the book of proverbs in the bible in its short pithy statements on how best to live.

Have you read The Analects? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read The Analects but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of Analects.

The Upanishads: Hindu Brahma

It beat me, it totally beat me! It's not often I quit at something.

I had real trouble reading and understanding the Upanishads so, in the end, I didn’t actually finish it. To be fair, it had me stalled for over 2 years on this project, so in the end, it had to be passed over to get moving on the rest of the list. As such, this will be a much shorter post, and I will be using the power of the internet to complete my synopsis.

The Story
In a nutshell, the Upanishads is a Hindu text dealing with the concepts of Brahman, or truth, Atman, or self and the realisation of how these two can be joined into oneness or Bhakti. How this results in Karma, or our deeds, and the striving for Moksha the eternal bliss. It also introduces the concept of Om as the divine sound of cosmic energy.

Reflections
Brahma and Brahman have so many similar but nuanced meanings, you just start to get a handle on one and it changes.
Everything comes back to Brahman or Atman in the end. Every time there is a list of how things go together and what is based on what foundation, the final foundation is always either Brahman or Atman.

Comparisons
I found the Rig Veda easier to comprehend. It had fewer twists and turns. Both the Rig Veda and The Upanishads are collections of writings, that can mean the topic and the specific meanings of terms can vary slightly. And this can happen every time you change Upanishad or hymn in the Rig Veda.

Have you read the The Upanishads? If so what did you think?
Does this inspire you to read the Upanishads and succeed where I have failed? If so tell me what you think when your done!

Buy a copy of The Upanishads

Hesiod, Theogony: The Origons of the Greek gods

My husband read my blog so far and called it clinical, which wasn’t my intention. Today, I’m writing at work. I get a lot of down time, where I can do what I like while waiting for trucks. I test milk before the milk tankers pump it into the factory for processing. Today, I have an unexpected redirect of 25000L of milk, which, seeing as I was scheduled none but have to be here anyway, is a nice change.

Edition

As I said for Works and Days, I purchased a combined edition that also included Works and Days, Theogony and the Shield of Heracles. This was not a penguin classics edition as that only had Works and Days, and Theogony and I wanted to also look at The Shield of Heracles and I didn’t want to buy two editions. Heracles of course being also know as Hercules.

The Story

Theogony is an overview of the Greek creation story and the creation or birth of the gods. It starts with the god Chaos and then Gaia. From these two, come all the gods right down to the Olympians. First comes the likes of Night, Day, Space and Love. These are not the gods of love and space etc. But rather, these are the embodiment of the concept; so this is the creation of space and love etc. After that comes the Titans, the youngest of which is Kronos. After some monsters are birthed from Gaia and are hidden away from her. Kronos kills his father Ouranos and his blood gives birth to the Furies. He is killed by chopping off his genitals and through them in the ocean from this was birthed Aphrodite. More gods are born, mainly of physical features of land like rivers and also Poseidon. The Olympian gods are born, many of which are the children of Kronos and Rhea. Those that are not are given new jobs and titles when Zeus overthrows Kronos.

Pandora is a gift to men from Zeus who holds a jar that, when opened, gives to men all suffering but she manages to keep hope inside it.

Prometheus angers Zeus by stealing fire and giving it to man. To punish him Zeus chains him to a rock and has a bird come and eat out his liver, which regrows, daily.

Reflections

The first thing that really struck me is just how complicated the “creation”, or birth, of the gods is. There are multiple generation of, not just the gods, but also of men. There is a series of kings of the gods and they are killed by their sons; first Kronos kills Ouranos, then, in time, Zeus kills Kronos in the war between the Olympians and the Titans.

The second was, that I was unaware Kronos is a Titan. I knew he was Zeus’ father but did not realise his place in the greater scheme of things.

Not all of the Olympians are from the same generation, e.g. Aphrodite is in the same generation as Kronos not Zeus. Zeus raises all those who fight on his side in the war with the Titans to new positions in his court with new responsibilities, in so far as the Greek gods have responsibilities.

Zeus’ anger at Prometheus seems extreme, though in character with other things we see from Zeus, for it to have no specific end does not mean it will be truly endless. We see in later texts that Prometheus is killed ending his suffering. Prometheus is a very sympathetic character because of his love for mankind.

Comparisons

The creation story presented in this text is rather chaotic, with gods waring with each other. Compared with the Rig Veda which, while still pantheistic, is more ordered; we do not see power struggles. In contrast again, the Bible’s Old Testament is monotheistic and we see even more unity with God and his spirit working to make creation, though I guess it is a little hard to go to war with yourself.

While the Rig Veda is still pantheistic, it does not detail even half as many gods as Theogony lays out for the Greek. It seems, with the Rig Veda, like the amount of gods increase in later texts, where as Theogony is more of a definitive list and accounts for even the creation of the fates.

Have you read the Theogony? If so what did you think?
Does this inspire you to read the Theogony and succeed where I have failed? If so tell me what you think when your done!

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The Rig Veda: Early Hindu Hymns

Synopsis
To be clear, when I say Rig Veda I refer, as in the western traditional way, to the Rig Veda Samnita.
The Rig Veda is a collection of religious hymns and are the oldest, in what became, the Hindu religion. They were originally written in Sanskrit. It is broken into 10 Mandalas, or chapters, each containing a collection of hymns.
These hymns cover a multitude of subjects including:

• Creation by an unnamed creator
• The dividing of humans and the start of the caste system
• Death and Yama king of the dead
• Agni as the first human
• Introduction of the hallucinogen Soma
• Introduction of Indra the king of the gods
• Hymns to:
• storm gods
• sun gods
• sky and earth
• The place of women
• Spells and prayers for giving birth and for healing sickness.

Reflections
The Rig Veda showed me that Hindus revering cows goes right back to its infancy. One of the reasons they have such a view on cows, is that it relates to their creation myth and to one of their gods.
They also seem to have a very high place for heat and fire with it receiving direct praise in at least one of the hymns.
It seems a little odd to me that the last mandala deals in spells and invocations, as this feels like a tangent to the rest of the mandalas. These are focused around the gods and setting everything in its place where as the spells and invocations are more about what a human can do to try to achieve certain outcomes.

Comparisons
Reading the Rig Veda made me realise just how readable the Old testament of the Bible is. The Rig Veda took a fair bit of puzzling out and there were passages, I note, that even the translator didn't understand what was going on.
It is interesting to see a different creation myth and to see that both the Rig Veda and the Bible have an active creator. However the Rig Veda has an unnamed creator that is next to never mentioned, after the creation account.

Have you read the The Rig Veda? If so what did you think?
Does this inspire you to read the The Rig Veda? If so tell me what you think when your done!

Buy a copy of the Rig Veda

The Egyptian Book of the Dead: Not really a book

Edition
Although it is what I read, I would not really recommend the penguin classic edition or any edition translated by Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge. The problem is Wallis Budge thought that the King James version of the bibles sounded right for a religious text. So, when he wrote his translation he wrote it in a King James style. My project is all about reading and understanding and I feel for my purposes, that this edition is anything but ideal. That being said, it is considered the foremost work on the subject.

Synopsis
It is worth noting that The Egyptian Book of the Dead is not the translation of a single work but rather a collated series of prayers, ceremonies and other writings from the graves, coffins and burial ruins from a range of times.
The book teaches that life after death is achievable if the right procedures are followed at burial. The dead must be "identified" with the gods, by calling the deceased by the name of the god, to gain their attributes in getting to the afterlife and in the afterlife. The gods have multiple names are are associated with a given city. Though cities may have different names over time.
It also tells of the works of the gods in day to day life, how the day and the night are presided over and how the deceased can be ascribed with the power of the relevant gods in the afterlife.

Reflection
Because it is a collection of smaller works at different times in Egypt's history, there is a large amount of repetition or variations on a theme where the same ideas are covered in only marginally different texts.
Actually, my use of "prayers" before is a little bit misleading as they are often not addressed to any given god but are more like magic spells to give the deceased movement or speech in the after life.
You can see in the texts the slowly shifting culture and beliefs in Egypt, as parts of the ceremonies and spells fade from usage and others come to the fore.
In the vignettes, with each chapter, the gods are depicted both with human heads and the heads of animals depending on the god. It is hard to tell from this if the Egyptians thought the gods were like men or not. It does make it easier to recognise the more common gods in a scene.

Comparison
The obvious comparison, especially due to the language choice in the English translation, is to that of the Christian Bible. But beyond the choice of King James English, in the translation, they have very little in common. One of the few commonalities is the view of an afterlife and a final judgement. And although they agree on these events happening, their form is dramatically different.

Have you read the The Egyptian Book of the Dead? If so what did you think?
Does this inspire you to read the The Egyptian Book of the Dead ? If so tell me what you think when your done!


I am not posting a link for where to buy The Egyptian Book of the Dead because I don't think you should get the Penguin Classics edition and I haven't done the research as to what would be a good alternative.