Question 3
I thought that the image of Geryon was strange, and I had a hard time picturing what he would look like. The closest image in my mind was that he looked somewhat like a centaur, except with a serpentine tail instead of a horse tail. However, even if I can't picture it exactly the way Dante describes it, he does a good job trying to paint a picture of the creature. "And that filthy image of fraud came over and/beached its head and chest, but did not draw up its/tail as far as the bank./Its face was that of a just man, so kindly seemed/its outer skin, and the rest of its torso was that of a serpent;/it had two paws, hairy to the armpits; it had back/and breast and both sides painted with knots and little wheels/.../its tail was wriggling, twisting/upward the poisoned fork that armed its tip like a scorpion's" (Canto 17, ln 7-15,25-27). I think that Geryon's variety of body parts symbolizes fraud. Those who committed fraud deceived someone else, and I believe that Geryon's body is meant to deceive those who see it. As Dante the pilgrim points out to us, "Its face was that of a just man". The monster is horrible, but it tricks Dante into seeing it as just and kind.
The point of fictional literature would, in a sense I suppose, be to trick the reader into believing something the author created. When we read works of fiction, we tend to lose ourselves in the world the author has formed. I myself get very absorbed in the books I read, and sometimes have a hard time coming back to reality, and remembering that the things I read do not exist in my actual life. Therefore, it is possible to say that Dante committed fraud by tricking people into immersing themselves into fictional worlds when they read his books. However, I don't really see this as fraud. It's not as if authors set out to intentionally harm people when they write. When I think of fraud, I think of taking money from people and things like that - that actually hurts people. Fictional literature is meant as an escape, where you can go for enjoyment and relaxation.
Question 5
Canto 19 is a very radical canto. Dante the pilgrim (and Dante the author) is clearly a devout Christian, as mentioned, with the whole point of his journey serving to put him back on the right path toward (eventual) salvation. However, Dante puts many church leaders and popes into this third subcircle. Dante starts out the canto addressing these sinners, and mentions their sins. "O Simon Magnus, O wretched followers, you who/the things of God, that should be brides of goodness,/rapaciously/adulterate for gold and silver..." (Canto 19, ln 1-4). As the canto progresses, Dante even mentions some of the condemned clergy by name, which is highly risky, given that he could be punished for his views. For example, he points out the sins of Boniface, who is Pope Boniface VIII and who was alive when the poem took place. "'Are you already standing/there, are you already standing there, Boniface? The/writing lied to me by several years./Are you so soon sated by the wealth for which/you did not fear to marry the lovely lady/fraudulently, and then to tear her apart?'" (Canto 19, ln 52-57).
I see this illumination of the flaws of the Church as part of Dante's "midlife crisis". I feel like while he loves the Church, he realises that its leaders aren't perfect but have flaws like everyone else. Obviously, if someone so looked up to and respected as a clergy member makes a mistake or commits a sin, it is looked down upon more severely than if an ordinary citizen did. I have been raised a Catholic, but I constantly question things that we are supposed to accept and go along with. It's not so much that I have questions with the Bible and Jesus' teachings as I do with the Catholic church as an organization. We, the parishioners, are expected to live a life free of sin, yet we constantly hear stories about how priests are abusing and molesting young children. Yes, they are given their punishment, but what kind of an example does that set for the people who look up to them? Also, I was under the impression that members of the clergy were supposed to take vows of poverty, yet each Sunday the church is continually asking for more and more money. I know the church needs money to be maintained, but I feel that asking for the money is going against the poverty pledge. I believe church leaders should live the life they preach, and I think that that is the point Dante is trying to make. If they lead a fraudulent and deceitful life, then they will receive a proper punishment for that, as shown by the upside-down sinners in baptismal fonts with their feet on fire.
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