Why is that the English title, which has little to do with the story, when a literal translation would have been perfect?
Don't know, I guess because it sounds French-exotic and because all takes place on or near the Avenue, and "Orchestra Seats" seems more bland, generic, and un-French.
I choose to enter Hell via the Acheron rather than the Styx because that's the way it is set up in Dante's Inferno, where the Styx doesn't appear until later on and is located before the wall that separates upper-Inferno from lower-Inferno or the City of Dis. The ferryman there is Phlegyas and he takes Dante and Virgil over the river Styx to downtown hell.
re: How many entrances to Hell are there?gallianoparfaitMay 17 2007, 16:23:25 UTC
Just one, "Abandon all hope, etc." But in Dante there is also an inner fortified wall which separates upper hell from lower hell at Circle 6 and there is a gate there too. It is protected by evil angels, the Furies, and even Medusa. D & V have a hard time getting through until, at Virgil's request, a "heavenly messenger" is summoned, all the baddies disappear, the angel waves his wand and opens the gate to lower hell where they had been deposited by boatman Phlegyas. When I lectured high school students on the Inferno, I used to refer to the Heavenly Messenger as the Clint Eastwood of hell. There are really two hells in Dante's Inferno: upper and lower. In upper hell are punished sins of weakness (lust, greed, etc.). Lower hell (Dis) is for sins of malice in its various gradations.
Yeah, coming back to Providence was like entering a different continent. It was really nice in Newport, cool and breezy but sunny. Maybe this creature of cast-iron, seen in the Army Navy Surplus store on Thames Street, brought the better weather there:
( ... )
Comments 4
(The comment has been removed)
Don't know, I guess because it sounds French-exotic and because all takes place on or near the Avenue, and "Orchestra Seats" seems more bland, generic, and un-French.
I choose to enter Hell via the Acheron rather than the Styx because that's the way it is set up in Dante's Inferno, where the Styx doesn't appear until later on and is located before the wall that separates upper-Inferno from lower-Inferno or the City of Dis. The ferryman there is Phlegyas and he takes Dante and Virgil over the river Styx to downtown hell.
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
( ... )
Reply
Leave a comment