dantealighierienjoyer

[dantealighierienjoyer]

i hate you shein. i hate you wish. i hate you temu. i hate you aliexpress. i hate you fast fashion. i hate you consumerism. i hate you planned obsolescence. i hate you plastics.

[dantealighierienjoyer]

Aphrodite and Ares

(Images found on Pinterest, all I did was arrange them)

[dantealighierienjoyer]

something about Dionysus' leopards being depicted eating grapes in contrast to the maenads who tear apart animals (and people)

[dantealighierienjoyer]

julia haig gassier, picturing catullus

[dantealighierienjoyer]

the picture of dorian gray (1890) - oscar wilde

"fuck my yaoi life"

[dantealighierienjoyer]

this vision came to me at like 2am, so now you must see it too

[dantealighierienjoyer]

my mutuals are so smart and talented i feel like that philosophy ogre

[dantealighierienjoyer]

YOU ONLY KEEP ONE BULL 

(Originally published in Comics For Choice)

[dantealighierienjoyer]

*sees a beloved mutual in the notes* hi honey

[dantealighierienjoyer]

shitty roman senator doodles be upon ye

[dantealighierienjoyer]

Bro İ hate being an academic they're making me write shit 😭 İ thought İ was just supposed to sit in an old chair smoke & say something french every now and then 😢

[dantealighierienjoyer]

heyy i was wondering if you heard this new hozier song "hymn to virgil" and what you think about it. it's supposed to be an alternate ending of the comedy where dante doesn't go on in his journey and stays with virgil (here's a better explanation from hozier himself)

It seems every time I log off tumblr I miss something unusual-

thanks for bringing it to my attention because I find it quite....interesting. From what Hozier said I gather he's never picked up the Commedia or at least (as usual, sigh) has not read beyond Inferno, seeing as he believes Virgil stopped in Hell? So the lyrics are technically necessarily screwed BUT. whenever a song fails to meet expectations and we have nothing to lose, the question is: can we bend the lyrics to make them work?

The first verse is acceptable because Dante did hold Virgil in high esteem and he was distraught when Virgil disappeared (totally not thinking of Virgil-Guido overlap as I write btw). So what he says about gold and Virgil's lips turning blue is all fine.

Then we have the pre-chorus: I would burn the world to bring some heat to you. Maybe it's a bit extreme for Dante, but if we make the traditional association faith=divine knowledge=sun=light=heat, then Dante is saying he would do anything to give faith to Virgil and save him from Limbo, to stay in his company. In this perspective, the action of burning the world can be interpreted as burning everything that deceived him in life — the premature times, the geographical place — and made him lose his salvation, and gathering from that action the heat, the faith.

The chorus is a bit tricky. Dante's journey was for himself, he got scared of the situation he was in in the woods and wanted to reach Beatrice. However, what convinced him was also the authority of and reverence for Virgil, and during the journey it was him who encouraged him in the various moments of fear and dejection. So "you are the reason I went through it" can stay. "The only meaning as I knew it": if we make a stretch, Dante was not exactly fully aware of his destiny and its meaning, seeing as it's Beatrice who will give him a full picture, which means during Inferno and Purgatorio Virgil was the only present figure who could attribute meaning to what they were doing, he was the only fixed point to whom he could turn to, Virgil "contained" within himself the meaning, and it's only with time that Dante learns he has to be able to go on without his authority. "And I can only do my best, I do not do this for myself/ I'd walk though hell on living feet for you": this can easily find meaning in all the moments in Inferno Dante wanted to stop, turn back etc and Virgil had to enourage him.

Finally, the second verse. The first two lines seem like a reference to the episode of the doors of Dis being closed in front of them, and Dante wouldn't dare go if Virgil himself was shut out so all's fine and dandy. The same goes for the other two lines, Dante does ask Virgil (I can't remember where exactly) if he'll ever be able to get out of Limbo, revealing that he hopes he will someday, so these lines are him contemplating Virgil's sad fate, wishing things were different.

Conclusion: in my mind I can make it work not as Dante wanting to stay but as him wanting to pull Virgil with him, the music is nice (except the chorus, in my humble opinion...), thus

I think it passes the vibe check ✅

[dantealighierienjoyer]

you see, the thing with hozier's hymn to virgil is that with all due respect it feels like he doesn't really get the divine comedy at large and specifically dante and virgilio's relationship.

the underlying, universal meaning of it is that in your life you will meet people that you admire, that will be there for you at your lowest, and you will be there for them too, whose presence in your life you get so used to you take it for granted, for whom you feel incredibly grateful, without whom you would never be the person you are, who have changed you profoundly... and at some point you lose them. they will part ways with you, sometimes through death. and no matter how much love you hold for them in your heart, it will never be enough to bring them back to life. and no matter how much it hurts and disorients us, we will have to keep going.

of course it's a nice feeling, imagining having the possibility of staying with our lost loved one forever, trading our own lives to be with them, perhaps even fantasize about bringing them back orpheus and eurydice style, it's only human. but there's a reason orpheus doesn't succeed, and it's exactly what dante is telling us: it is unjust, it is unfair, how could such a beautiful world allow such evil within it? but there's no way around it. we don't get to go back. we have to keep living, even if all we can do is treasure what this person has taught us while they were with us, and our love for them.

and i think that's incredibly more profound, intelligent, nuanced, emotional, modern and human than hozier's wattpad-ish fantasy. dante alighieri died seven whole centuries ago and he still proves to be aeons ahead of his time.

[dantealighierienjoyer]

STOP NOW I'M CRYING him trying his best to cover the smell and the dirt on his clothes...omg my beloved

I get so Cavalghieri pilled that I constantly think about what these men smelled like...

oh? 👁️👁️ great question... cavalghieri nation! fetch me and my anon some theories!

[dantealighierienjoyer]

yes exactly! Pino Silvestre has a pungent pine wood smell and the aftershave has a strong but sweet herbal scent (is the one my dad uses lmao)

I get so Cavalghieri pilled that I constantly think about what these men smelled like...

oh? 👁️👁️ great question... cavalghieri nation! fetch me and my anon some theories!

[dantealighierienjoyer]

Do you ever become mutuals with someone you share an intense interest with and it becomes this limbo of "I want to be your friend SO fucking bad but I'll eat a shoe before dm-ing first"

[dantealighierienjoyer]

I'VE REBLOGGED ON THE WRONG ACCOUNT LMAO but anyway dw, I've got you B)

they would both smell like absolute ass lmao (medieval times moment), but if we are talking about them in a modern timeline...

Dante: cigarettes, Pino Silvestre shampoo, Floïd aftershave, mint gum

Giudo: cigarettes, Felce Azzurra shower gel, cheep cologne, Mulino Bianco plumcakes +weed

I get so Cavalghieri pilled that I constantly think about what these men smelled like...

oh? 👁️👁️ great question... cavalghieri nation! fetch me and my anon some theories!