Dante Book 1 Canto IV Scene 3

 

Scene 3

 

The walk was short and to the surprise of Dante, what was a listless terrain had then a clump of trees and was soon to be seen the huge castle. It was surrounded by a river that looked like a moat around it.

“This is most unusual. Is that a medieval castle? It must be ages ahead of your time?” Dante looked hard at the high walls of the castle.

“Castles are not new to us. We have castles then.” Lucan answered Dante. “But this castle is different. It housed greatness.”

The group approached the castle moat and then drawbridge was seen. It was lowered then and the group walked in. Dante was surprised that he was to walk past seven more gates with high walls before he reached the inner part of the castle. It was the small stream there unlike the wide river he encountered outside. Beyond the stream was a meadow and there were others seated there.

“Come meet greatness, Dante,” Homer told him. “There sat the great names that you may have read now meet them in person, rather their souls.”

“Cicero; Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher and Academic Skeptic.” The one addressed was dressed in the plain frock worn by Roman Consuls. The Roman looked over and frowned. “He is not too delicate towards strangers.”

“Seneca; Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work, satirist from the Silver Age of Latin literature.” Homer saw the other held the same expression. “They are … bah, I disliked them all. But not these few for they gave me questions to ponder on.”

“Socrates, Plato, and the master of those who know, Aristotle.” Homer motioned to the three figures standing by the bed of roses.

“Brothers and fellow poets.” Homer pulled Dante towards them. “This is Dante. He had arrived.”

“Dante, the one we have waited to meet for so long. Welcome to the Underworld, or rather a Limbo. We here become the great minds that only this place could hold us … together or rather if we move, we may create revolutions or even uprising to the realm.”

“Do see before you?” Aristotle then turned to the other two companions. “May I tell Dante here of our …world? Crappy place but I liked it.”

The other two men laughed at the selection of the word by Aristotle. They heard of the word from some passing souls who once swayed the world with his music until his death at the peak of his performance. He had said that life was crappy unless he was entertaining the audience.

“Let me give you the list of ‘metic’ (Greek for non-residents). There is Julius Caesar with Alexander the Great and Saladin. Nasty blokes, pardon the pun there. Another term I picked from another leader; Churchill was his name. He went on though as if we were both huddling in the bunker while the enemy was bombing the outside.  I could put up with his speeches but not with his cigar-puffing. I had put up with the opiate addictions that I have seen in those slanty eyes Mandarins but tobacco had me retched badly.”

“There is …” Dante was past listening and raised a question towards Aristotle.

“You wrote on the soul in theory then? Tell me what inspire you?” Dante looked at the man he considered as his idol. He then drew back and apologize. “I do apologize if I was too abrupt.”

“Abrupt? I like it more as keenness to know. Yes, I theorize on the Soul. I was offering a view to a question that was there among the learned, namely how precisely it is that the soul, which is agreed to be in some way or other responsible for a variety of things living creatures; in us too as the living person do and experience, also is the distinguishing mark of the animate.”

“The soul accounts for change and rest in the particular case of living bodies. The relation between soul and body is alike to the relation between form and matter: an ensouled, living body is a particular kind of in-formed matter. I lend form to our life. I lend my theory in my works on Anima.”

“The passage of De anima, Aristotle introduces a further distinction between two kinds of mind: one passive, which can “become all things,” and one active, which can “make all things.” The active mind, he says, is “separable, impassible, and unmixed.”

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle/Philosophy-of-mind.

“I had the liberty of discussing my theory here with many esteemed guests; some left but some stayed still pondering the theory. Till now, I have not the answer I want. Or the questions to take me forward.” Aristotle sighed. “I had a lifetime to do it but it was not enough.”

“Are you telling me my task here may be also be fruitless?” Dante asked.

“No, my young learner. You ought to go on. Don’t be taken in by my journey. I have a different motive to yours. I will say yours is more …. endearing and needed to have a conclusion.” Aristotle reached out to pat Dante’s left shoulder but the hand passed him.

“Oops, I forgot. I exist only in the form of soul, and it's not solid to touch you.” The master of those who know replied. “You must journey on. You have seen us at the First Circle now; it's Limbo and the next one as I was made to know it’s call Lust. A most unusual name but in the mind of the living, it’s one of the sins.”

“Those of you who choose to remain here in Limbo as part of the sin on unresolved issues in the mind. If you had resolved or acknowledged them, then you would had move on to face judgment but you wouldn’t. Hence all of you stayed on here. I can see that but my mind still ponders on your decision to remain here. Nothing is abstract not to have an answer.”

“If the answer can be found, it would not be abstract at all.” Homer replied. “We sought our answer by our methods and not driven or given to it. Do understand our plight. Please move on your journey. Your issues are not abstract but available through your mind.”

Dante was to ask more but Virgil asks to move on.

“We have a long journey ahead.” Virgil then appeared to be fatigued but insistent to move.

“Virgil, I know how you may be here but how much did you learn? Was any of these souls ever moved on after being here?” Dante asked.

“There was once. It was called the harrowing of Hell. It was an event when the almighty as it was named came and took some souls away.” Virgil replied. “I was not here then. We have to move on. Our new path will take us to the next Circle of Hell.”

“Lust.” Dante was to ask more but Virgil had moved on.