#Dante and the River of Lethe

[mysterious-secret-garden]

Gustave Doré - Dante and the River of Lethe, 1880. Illustration for "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri.

See Andrzej Masianis' version of this engraving, here.

[firestorm09890]

Hey what if the flow Vergillius talks about following is the flow of one of the rivers underneath the City or smth

thatd be pretty awesome. also I was a greek mythology kid, I know the other rivers.

Dante (author) has Charon ferry souls across Acheron in Inferno, and Virgil (also author) associates him with both the Acheron and the Styx. Acheron is also a real river, so it would make sense that people would say that it leads to the Underworld's entrance. Eventually, that changed to Styx, for some reason. Various poets say some of the other rivers came from/flow into this one.

Cocytus is the river of wailing- I wonder if that's the one that goes by Wuthering Heights, since Josephine could hear her dead mistress's voice because of the river and Every Catherine is the wailer of all time. Maybe it's not one of the big five at all, who knows. In Inferno, Cocytus is the 9th Circle of hell, treachery, and it's a big frozen lake instead of a river. Lament.

Phlegethon... surprisingly relevant. It is a river of fire, but in Inferno, it's a river of boiling blood in the 7th Circle (HMMM) for violence committed against neighbors, the self, and god/art/nature. Does Vergilius's EGO have anything to do with this one? Idk

Lethe is interesting. It's the river dead souls have to drink from before they can be reincarnated, so they would forget their past lives. You could call it the kindest river of the five, I guess. It's actually not in Inferno, but Purgatorio, and in that, it's within Earthly Paradise, which is a place on top of Mount Purgatory that represents the sort of innocence held by Adam and Eve before their fall. do with that information what you will

We've all heard of Styx, it's the river that people would swear their most grave and unbreakable oaths upon and is commonly known as the river that Charon ferries souls across to the Underworld. In Inferno, it's the 5th Circle, Wrath, where everyone is fighting each other on the water, and it's described as a swamp.

I have less info on which rivers appear in Virgil's Aeneid, though. Pretty sure Aeneas visited all of them, but I don't know if Virgil wrote about that or if it was someone else. He definitely mentions Lethe and Acheron, though.

I wonder which river spawned the abnormalities like the birds...

also fun thing you might want to know! there's a part of The Odyssey that involves Odysseus talking to a bunch of spirits from the Underworld! Scholars disagree on whether he actually went into the Underworld or if he was just on the very edge but :)

[fawnforevergone]

the "first time" lyric where he says "and the first time that you kissed me, i drank dry the river lethe." and, in greek mythology, the river lethe is one of the five rivers of the underworld and anyone who drank from it completely forgot everything, meaning that when hozier kissed this person, nothing else mattered and he forgot the rest of the world.

and how he's saying that the first time he got close to this person, he got a taste of the underworld (which is incorporated heavily in dante's inferno), so that's where the descent into hell begins. HE CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS.

the lyrics btw:

[dream-in-fall]

The theory of Lesley and Maud (the first part)

1.Lesley. Is Lesley the prototype or spirit of the Tigris River? The Tigris River is one of the most famous and significant in the world. It flows through several countries in the Middle East. The Tigris and Euphrates are biblical rivers. From the Bible, you can learn that the Garden of Eden was located between the Tigris and Euphrates. The Tigris River (from ancient Sumerian - fast water) had a fast flow, unlike the Euphrates - a smooth flow. For this reason, the Tigris River was of great importance in ancient times in terms of transport and trade. What is not an international means of communication, like the company Lesley works for?

2.Maud. How can the Maud be conceptually related to the Tigris River? Matelda (abbreviated Maud) is a character in Dante's Divine Comedy. Dante meets her when he visits the Garden of Eden. She stands near the Lethe River and collects flowers. Moreover, in some texts it is found that the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowed inside the Garden of Eden and were respectively the rivers of Lethe and Eunoe. Matelda acts as a mentor, she knows the answers to many questions and encourages Dante to ask her questions. Secondly, she is a priestess, she offers the soul to drink water first from the Lethe and then Eunoe (repentance and healing).

3.Symbols and hints. On the bedside table of the Maud are: -the apple (of Eden) -nightingale (symbol of love) -a glass of water (what Matelda brings to the souls in the garden) -books and glasses (symbol of knowledge) -flowers on the bed linen (like Dante, we first meet her near the Tiger and in flowers) -the painting on the wall (it is poorly visible, but obviously has African or Oriental motifs)

4.Another divine couple. There is a huge mirror opposite the bed, behind which there is darkness and no wall. I assume, Lesley and Maud are the prototypes not only of the Tiger and Matelda, but also of the Nile River and the goddess Maat. The Nile River is consonant with the name Neil Gaiman. Maat is the egyptian goddess of justice and divine law (about this and not only in more detail in the second part). Here I will once again mark the books on the bedside table. The bottom book is blue like a river. And on top there is a red and white book. Maat is often depicted in red and white clothes.

[f-arelos]

ophelia - friedrich wilhelm theodor / boot theory - richard siken / alyonushka - viktor vasnetsov (detail) / the river - daisy jones & the six / dante in the river lethe - ? (detail) / your love finds its way back - sierra demulder / nymphs finding the head of orpheus: the head of orpheus - john william waterhouse

[missingrache]

Okay okay BULLET POINTS Disco Elysium as katabasis/journey to the underworld because I have no idea how to organize this HERE WE GO!

-My big touchstones here are Hades & Persephone, Orpheus & Eurydice, and My Problematic Fave Odysseus, I know there's stuff I'm gonna miss, putting this here in hopes that other friends at the potluck will supply my deficiencies, hi @binomech hi @selfchiller hi everyone.

-Harry is half dead at our start of the game, post suicide-attempt, we're in purgatory/limbo/"you have to stay here in hell forever" awoken by Kim's Infernal Machine (tm)

-Do we need to bring Dante's Inferno into this I think maybe we do oops -That's also a katabasis -we gotta save that for later I can't start talking about Doralores and Beatrice right now that's a whole different tangent and I haven't read any of it since high school -But also Dante's hell is cold and so is Revachol and so is entropy/the Pale, so is the fimbulwinter that has destroyed the world in the Wirral Untethered game setting

-Anyway we are very firmly established as in An Underworld.

-Harry's amnesia/Drost's amnesia caused by drinking, caused by the Pale, caused by age and trauma, caused by the presence of the phasmid--forgetfulness, generally, regardless of the in-game cause, is Very Much A Thing, and the dead drink of the River Lethe which causes them to forget their past lives

-WATER CROSSINGS! The dead cross the River Styx to enter the underworld, to get to Revachol you gotta cross the bridge it's why there's a giant lorry jam etc, they raised the bridge. Two river crossings, the Styx (river of hatred--ledger of hatred? The one harry dumps his car and his past into probably.) and the Lethe (river of forgetfulness, borders Elysium), cross the bridge into Revachol, cross the channel on Lilienne's boat to the island, the forgotten and forgetting place.

-There are actually 5 rivers and I wonder if we can find the rest of them. (What if the flaming graffiti is the river Phlegethon WHAT IF.)

-My problematic fave Odysseus visits the underworld to speak to the dead/receive prophecies. Our man Harry has EXTENDED CONVERSATIONS with Lely's corpse and does in fact get future knowledge from him.

-But also we're in the underworld already so literally anyone he speaks with could also be interpreted as a ghost, a mirror, a prophecy, some piece of knowledge to take with him when he returns. (ie @selfchiller 's meta about Harry and Klaasje, dead woman walking, and Lely)

-Different sorts of underworld/different mythologies, different...values? Things that happen when you get there? Dante's hell and purgatory--punishment for sins/burning off impurities: SORRY COP Greek underworld/Elysium specifically, not for those who are VIRTUOUS but for those who are especially skilled and famous/possessed of kleos: SUPERSTAR COP

(These are the two copotypes I have played with so far MAYBE THE OTHERS ALSO HAVE THEIR OWN SPECIAL HELLS?)

-Orpheus: a performer of laments, beautiful enough that all the underworld stops to listen. Tragic flaw: looking back. -HDB: Says he loves disco and rock and roll but the only music we hear him choose is Sad FM for his boat ride over the pale/over the Lethe and his sad karaoke number, sung for the infernal court of the Whirling in Rags. A man who also has some trouble with looking back/moving forward.

-DORA: Young, beautiful, IN HER SPRING COAT at the bus stop in Harry's happier memories: PERSEPHONE, KORE, the young woman abducted by a cthonic figure--we could call that figure, that Hades stand in, Harry's rewriting of her memory as something Horrid and Terrifying, or we could call it Dolores Dei if you like the parasitic thought form possession theory. Either way Doralores from the final dream is Dread Queen Proserpine, the other mythological aspect of Persephone, who iirc had her own cult? (Apricots, pomegranates, same thing right?)

-Something something Harry and Dionysus and theater/partying/wine/madness and Dionysus also doing a katabasis to go visit Semele in the underworld? Speaking of Greek gods with their own mystery cults.

-Final fun side note unless I remember more things: GILGAMESH. Entirely different epic tradition, but we descend to the underworld in search of a flower of immortality. Peaches of immortality anyone?

-That's it that's what I've got!

[bigboobyhalo]

just something interesting, in dante’s inferno, atop the mountain of purgatory there is the Lethe, a river that causes those who drink it to be wiped of their sins. it was believed that the newly dead who drank from it would lose their memory !

O_O ……..

[zukotheartist]

There are people out there who can articulate this better than me and I just woke up and barely slept because I was listening to Unreal Unearth (and i could be wrong about a lot of this stuff, we all interpret songs differently) but

Hozier assigning circles of Dante's Inferno to the songs and putting First Time in the First circle which is Limbo (brief rundown: where pagans like Virgilio, Dante's guide in Hell, and unbaptised infants end up - doesn't have a punishment like the following circles except for the souls there having the desire to meet God) is making me go Feral.

Because immediately as the song starts we have:

I love the fact that you can read this in multiple ways because according to Greek Mythology and The Aeneid (with Virgilio) the River Lethe is situated in the Underworld, around Hypnos' (god of sleep) cave (which lures you to sleep/makes you drowsy in its presence), and it's where souls about to be reincarnated go to forget their past life so they can move on to the next.

But in Dante's Divine Comedy he actually places the River Lethe in the terrestrial Purgatory and souls that enter Paradise have to be dipped there first, to be clean when they enter the realm of God.

Yet either way it keeps these forgetfulness-past life-reborn themes going.

Then, right after the "And the first time that you kissed me / I drank dry the River Lethe"

"Some part of me must have died" = the forgetfulness from drinking (dry) the River Lethe.

"And some part of me came alive" = because of the rebirth/reincarnation post drinking from the River Lethe (i also love that, unlike the other line, it starts with an "And" because it underlines the plot of continuity>rebirth imo).

Then

This whole part about mothers and flowers and death and again re-birth being important because we're in the circle of hell where unbaptised babies end up.

And finally

Because the Lethe was not just a river but also a Goddess whose description is literally "Goddess of forgetfulness and oblivion".

I'm actually gonna be sick over this whole song ajaksksksks Hozier do I need to pull out my Divine Comedy and high school textbooks for this??? Cause I will.

[strangefellows]

okay sapling of light anon back, so there are two possible theories on bari:

1. Bari is an alt timeline/mirror version of the Bookhunter.

Evidence-their clothes are different, Bari has a bow, Limbus obviously takes place post good ending and the Bookhunter appears in Angela’s bad end

2. Bari is the Bookhunter we see in Ruina

Evidence-La Manchaland came into existence 200 years ago, anything could happen between those time periods. During her search for the River, she could’ve wound up in a different world and heard of the Library and its endless knowledge and gone there searching for a book on the River. She could’ve lost her bow and had an outfit change, who knows, PM lore is wacky

crack theory 3 Bari is Dante and thats why they knew about Cantos 5 and 6 because they were seeing into the future using Lethe

dfgfsgfh

sorry it took me a bit to get to this but yeah i think these are the best theory options yep yep yep yep

(LMAO @ the crack theory tho-- )

[catsconflictscopicsandchamomile]

Yall I Managed To Make Coffee Theory Work

I'm four months late but found something

(apologies in advance for the coherence, or lack there of, in this post. stressful week, brain is now ground meat patty)

DANTE'S PURGATORIO

After ascending every level of Purgatory, Dante ends up in the Garden of Eden (which stands between Purgatory and Paradise/Heaven). A lot of crazy stuff goes down there, and there are some hot girls, but none of that is relevant.

What is relevant are the two rivers that Dante finds there.

One of them, Lethe, is taken directly from Greco-Roman myth. In the myths, the river Lethe flows through the underworld, and cleanses the dead's memory of their lives before their passage into the underworld and/or reincarnation. It is unclear whether Dante keeps to the original myths here, or if the Lethe in Purgatorio only cleanses memories of sin.

(quote from Purgatorio re: Lethe's power to erase specifically memories of unhappiness and sin)

The second river is the Eunoe (translation: new mind/good memory???), which either:

-(if the Lethe wipes ALL memories) restores the dead's memory of their life on earth, but only memories of good & godly actions

-(if the Lethe only removes memories of sin) strengthens "good" memories.

(Full-ish description of both rivers)

Once the dead person/soul/(oh I give up, idk) drinks from first the Lethe, and then the Eunoe, THEN they are ready to go to Heaven.

if The Metatron put ANYthing in the coffee, its this. Water from these rivers. Both of them.

no it did not have anything, aside from the spiritual/religious symbolism that people have already pointed out, to do with the almonds.

and lastly,

could I interest you in some

~*~*~Agonizing Thematic Parallels~*~*~

...anyway uh yeah tldr I don't like the Coffee Theory, I don't believe it, but the angst potential was so good and also I will really just lore-deep-dive ANYTHING.

also thanks to Prof Graham, my Medieval Studies prof this year, for FINALLY pointing out to me that Eunoe and Mnemosyne (the river, not the Goddess) are NOT THE SAME THING.

[vesvius]

DANTE | "TARTAREAN PHLEGETHON"

"TARTAREAN PHLEGETHON" by BASTIAN S.S.

"He sinned his way to hell, yet no one told Emilio he would encounter his dreams in the afterlife, paddling his way to him, as if water and fire could merge without a doubt. "Damn me," he sighed."

In the heat of the Underworld, where rivers of fire and forgotten souls intertwine, Emilio is a man whose past is nothing but mystery and sin. Cast into Phlegethon, the river of fire where the tormented pay for their transgressions, he is about to face eternal damnation.

Emilio was once a charismatic figure of questionable morals, his descent into this infernal realm unveils a tapestry of deceit, betrayal, and forbidden desires. Each step through hell brings him closer to confronting the wrongdoings that haunt him, sins that even he cannot fully admit.

Amidst the chaos, the Boater of Lethe, the new guardian of the river of forgetfulness, offers a chance for absolution or oblivion, and Emilio needs all the forgetfulness he can get to avoid his death by flames.

In a realm where every shadow hides a secret and every trial demands a price, can Emilio unravel the enigma of his own damnation before the fires of Phlegethon consume him forever? Or will he succumb to the temptations of the Boater of Lethe whose intentions show nothing but selfishness? Not that Emilio was a better man to begin with.

"Tartarean Phlegethon" is a steaming tale of sin and mercy falling in (or out of) love. Bastian S.S.'s 14th published book and the sequel of "Peccadilloes in Lethe" brought back memories to fans all around the world. The sequel became a hit in his first week.

© @mustdies

[that-blue-spren]

Comments on Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

After re-reading Ninth House in order to be ready for the next book, I can understand some points in both parts.

The reason the two students in Lethe are called Virgil and Dante like the characters in the Divine Comedy.

The reason the secret organization is called Lethe... the river with water that makes you forget your past.

Alex spent all time feeling bad because she has no remorse for her actions, but, she was sorry for Hellie and the bunny. She knew the gang were cheap people, but Hellie and her pet were out of place there. Alex recognizes that Turner, Dawes, Mercy, Tripp and Darlington are her found family and she cares about them.

Alex relationship with Darlington: she thinks he is attractive, but, she admires him because he is a knight and an intellectual. Darlington took seriously his role as Alex's mentor. When he is not there any more, she remembers all their conversations and try to act like him. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness”.

Alex and Daniel are very different: Alex has a natural power but low self-esteem. She hasn't receive special help to deal with her problems that were confused with a mental disease. Daniel was raised with the best education, everyone respects him but he dies for touching some kind of magic.

Dawes the witch and Turnes the human lies detector.

Ninth House is more like a police novel with secret societies and macabre rites. But, Hell Bent is more like Charmed tv series.

[fawnforevergone]

Dante's Inferno References in Hozier's song "First Time" (+ a lil' song explanation) !!

Guys, I know I did the whole "Dante's Inferno references in 'Unreal Unearth'" already but I have thought of more things particularly with "First Time" and it's context of being in circle one, 'Limbo'.

Firstly, important context that 'Limbo' isn't so much a punishment as it is a placeholder in Inferno. It's for the unbaptized and virtuous pagans, essentially those who did not believe in God and therefore could not enter heaven, but also didn't do anything bad enough to be punished in the other eight circles. The punishment is to live eternally in circle one whilst feeling an infinite sensation of emptiness that is meant to represent the lack of God in their lives.

Now, moving onto the song and the GENIUS that it is.

"And the soul, if that's what you'd call it, uneasy ally of the body, felt as nameless as a river, undiscovered underground." The lost souls of Inferno find their way to their assigned circle by using the 'transportation system' of the five rivers of the Underworld. The first river that Dante and Virgil encounter is the river Acheron that Charon, the Greek psychopomp that transported souls through the underworld, delivers them down to arrive at Limbo.

Another one of the five rivers of the Underworld is the well-known river Styx that souls had to cross over in order to enter the afterlife. All of these things are referenced in this one lyric.

"And the first time that you kissed me I drank dry the river Lethe." Here, Hozier mentions another one of the five rivers. Those who drank from the Lethe would experience mental oblivion, unable to remember anything. Souls who were to be reincarnated usually drank from this river in order to forget their past lives. Hozier is also referencing the idea of being reborn, as he does throughout this whole song, but instead he's reborn by the relationship he has with his partner.

"As it was, and ever shall be, unearth without a name." This lyric seems to be a reference to the 'Glory Be' prayer - "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." As aforementioned, Limbo's punishment is a never-ending emptiness; It's described as sorrow without torment, something so deprived that rational minds couldn't comprehend it. Hozier's "unearth without a name" mirrors the prayer's "world without end", showing that Limbo has the same infinity that God intends the world to have, but Hozier cannot even put a name to the feeling of Limbo, only that it is underground.

"Some part of me must have died/Some part of me came alive the first time that you called me 'Baby'." This lyric repeats throughout the whole song with minor changes, and references back to that idea of being reborn that Hozier establishes from the very start of the album with "De selby (Part 1)". The album compares Hozier's relationship with his partner to the journey of 'Inferno', and here we see Hozier effectively 'dying' as the relationship begins, allowing him to enter Limbo reborn as who his lover made him.

"These days I think I owe my life to flowers that were left here by my mother. Ain't that like them, gifting life to you again?" Since we have the context that Hozier is now 'dead', this lyric can be seen as his mother leaving flowers on his grave, literally gifting his body life. In the following lyrics, Hozier compares his life in Limbo to the life of the flowers gifted to him.

"This life life lived mostly underground, unknowin' either sight nor sound, 'til reaching up for sunlight just to be ripped out by the stem." Flowers are birthed beneath the soil on Earth, as Hozier has been reborn beneath the world in Hell, both lives lived underground. The theme of darkness that is regularly visited in both 'Inferno' and the album is shown here "unknowin'...sight", where the darkness of Inferno simulates a sort of blindness. The second half of the lyric references that loss of hope in Limbo, mirroring it to the idea of a flower being torn away from its only purpose of growing - similarly to how a soul is torn from its only purpose of living.

"Sensing only now it's dyin', drying out then drowning blindly, bloomin' forth its every colours in the moments it has left." The literal meaning of this lyric is the act of pulling flowers from their roots to simply put them in vases of water. The metaphorical meaning is Hozier attempting to hold up hope in Limbo. "Unreal Unearth" is very clearly a breakup album, and "First Time" tells us the compressed story of the relationship from beginning to end. We can take this song as Hozier beginning to lose faith in his relationship but desperately holding on, the way flowers know they're dying in a vase but continue blooming nevertheless.

"To share the space with simple living things, infinitely suffering, but fighting off, like all creation, the absence of itself. Anyway." Again, this references the ideas of flowers dying in a vase whilst trying to live cut off from their roots. The idea of "infinitely suffering" gives us that imagery of Limbo, but "fighting off...the absence of itself" also emphasises Hozier's attempts to rekindle this relationship the way flowers ignore the prospect of death in the hopes of living for a few moments longer. This little "anyway" at the end gives us the impression that, like Limbo, this is hopeless, and, as the flowers will, Hozier's relationship will die.

"When I was young I used to guess, 'Are there limits to any emptiness'?" The whole third verse shows us the final breaking of the relationship, but this lyric shows us that specific hopelessness that is felt in the decay of love. It really wraps up the idea of Limbo in this relationship; this soft acceptance that their love has died no matter how hollow it makes Hozier feel.

I personally think he is once again a MASTERMIND. Relating the death of a relationship to the wilting of flowers, especially flowers forced to stay alive, is perfect, like are you kidding me. Anyway, yes! That's my extra fathoming of "First Time" because there is simply too much to say.

If anyone else has anything to say, please lmk because there's nothing more I love than a Hozier deep dive :]

[raayllum]

Because I have mythological references-TDP brainrot and @kradogsrats did some excellent sleuthing and put together that the Sea of the Cast Out was specifically created to be Aaravos’ prison and that there are five rivers leading to it (just like how there are five primal sources other than Star) 

And my monkey brain (because I was already thinking about oaths in TDP and the River Styx today for some reason??) went, “Hey, aren’t there five rivers in the Grecian underworld?” and there are, so let’s list ‘em, shall we? 

1) Acheron was portrayed as the entrance to the underworld and is mentioned both as a river and a lake / seen as the greatest of the five even if it’s not the most famous today. This is the river/lake the ferryman, Charon, would take the dead across the other day in return for a coin or other payment. This has always been interesting to me given TDP’s phrasing of “paying the price,” how closely it’s been linked to death throughout the show, and of course the Moon fam in the coins.

Acheron is also a real river in Greece and it was cited in ancient works (hi Homer) that there was a temple of Necromancy on the banks where you could converse with the dead. This makes me think loosely of the Oracles of Ophidia mentioned in the Book 2 novelization who presumably practiced dark magic, using the same true sight serum that Viren does long before the fall of Elarion to see through the illusions of the world.

2) The River Styx, by far the most famous, both for the fact swearing an oath on it was unbreakable, it’s seen as the most dreadful of the rivers, and featuring in the famous story of Achilles once the invulnerability / heel aspect was added. Sometimes the River Styx has also been depicted as the river to cross to gain entry to the underworld. If you didn’t have a coin or payment to give, some stories featured souls wandering the banks for 100 years before they would be let into the underworld proper

3) Phlegethon, the River of Fire, where people who had committed kin-slaying (specifically matricide or patricide) would be thrown if they did not have their souls accordingly cleansed. (Poor almost Soren). This myth specifically inspired the Inferno part of Dante’s Inferno. It ran parallel to

4) Cocytus, the River of Wailing, where people who committed spur of the moment / non pre-meditated homicide would be thrown. 

5) Lethe, being one of the other more famous rivers, and known as the River of Oblivion. If you achieved Elysium and chose to have another go of things up on earth and be reincarnated, you would drink from the river to have your memories wiped so you would not remember your past life. However, certain Orphic traditions advised you to drink from he waters of Mnemosyne, the Pool of Memory instead. The River Lethe does not identify with a specific river in modern-day Greece. 

[auricularesconcable]

UNREAL UNEARTH: a deep dive into Hozier's brand new PIECE OF ART.

si llegaste hasta acá, holi

UNREAL UNEARTH es el tercer álbum de Hozier y SIN LUGAR A DUDAS mi favorito de este año. Buckle the fuck up porque esto es mi mejor intento de ser objetiva y analítica sobre lo que creo que es el trabajo más completo de uno de mis artistas favoritos del planeta tierra. 

Unreal Unearth es publicado el 18 de agosto de 2023 y es un álbum que sigue la temática y narrativa de Infierno, el primer canto de La Divina Comedia de Dante Alighieri. Las 16 canciones corresponden al descenso, los 9 círculos del Infierno, y posteriormente el ascenso. 

En el descenso se encuentran De Selby Part 1 & 2

Limbo: First Time

Lujuria: I, Carrion (Icarian) y Francesca

Gula: Eat Your Young 

Avaricia: Damage Gets Done (ft. Brandi Carlile) 

Ira: Who We are

Herejía: All Things End 

Transición: Son of Nyx 

Violencia: To Someone From a Warm Climate y Butchered Tongue

Fraude: Abstract (psychopomp) 

Traición: Unknown/Nth

Y finalmente, el ascenso con First Light. 

Hozier explica que al momento de escribir, algunas de las canciones fueron compuestas específicamente para corresponder con alguno de los círculos, mientras que otras simplemente fluyeron y posteriormente encontraron su lugar.  La categoría que más tuvo que acotar fue Herejía, ya que menciona que en su momento estaba escribiendo muchas canciones que se ajustaban a la temática y tuvieron que ser descartadas (las cuales podrían llegar a conformar una versión deluxe del disco). 

El proyecto comienza con De Selby (Part 1), una introducción perfecta a la coherencia del disco, el cual se presenta con alta profundidad, etéreo y envolvente.  Este descenso hace referencia a un personaje llamado “De Selby”, del libro “The Third Policeman”. Este filósofo tiene una perspectiva del mundo en donde entiende a la oscuridad como liberadora. El segundo verso es cantado en gaélico irlandés (si), en donde retoma lo planteado inicialmente de vivir a través de la oscuridad. A mi entender, Hozier usa la perspectiva de De Selby para explorar literalmente el descenso tanto a los círculos como lo introspectivo. 

Este REY de hombre usa un segue para transicionar a De Selby (Part 2), que es uno de los singles del proyecto.  Este pasaje entre pista a pista tiene componentes mayormente de distorsión, sintetizadores y bajos, que incluso transmiten la sensación física de ir hacia abajo. En esta segunda canción, continúa expandiendo el concepto de la oscuridad en múltiples instancias: “your heart has such darkness I feel it in the corners of the room” // “outpace the dawn” // “I wanna run so far, I’d beat the morning // ¨before the dawn has come, I’d block the sun”// “let all time slow, let all light go” // “I wanna kill the lights”. ANYWAY.

La temática de Infierno no solo se ve reflejada en el concepto de las canciones, sino que también se hacen menciones específicas.  En First Time (podio) Hozier hace referencia al Río Lethe, conocido como el Río del Olvido en Mitología Griega, también mencionado por Dante. “and the first time that you kissed me, I drank dry the River Lethe” puede referirse a querer borrar el recuerdo, entretejiendo con el estribillo “some part of me must have died the first time that you called me baby, and some part of me came alive the first time that you called me baby”. 

Este verso se hila con una mención al Río Liffey, que atraviesa Dublín, pudiendo ser un paralelismo entre lo real (su experiencia) y lo simbólico (la literatura). 

Otra mención puntual es Francesca de Rímini, una de las referencias más claras del círculo de la Lujuria. Francesca es un personaje que fue asesinada por su esposo, una vez que se entera de su infidelidad con su hermano Paolo, a quien también mata. La canción narra la historia de dos amantes, cuya devoción es superior a cualquier otra cosa, en donde ellos mismos reconocen la dimensión de los actos, tanto del adulterio como del asesinato, "if I could hold you for a minute, I would do it again" // "heaven is not fit to house a love like you and I". Este fue el tercer single del proyecto y es de mis canciones preferidas. 

Es imposible pasar por alto el tercer círculo, donde reside Eat Your Young, una clara crítica hacia lo político. Esta canción le da el nombre al EP previo al disco, el cual contiene Eat Your Young, All Things End y Through Me (The Flood), la cual no logra entrar en el proyecto. 

A modo de transición, Unreal Unearth tiene una pista instrumental llamada Son of Nyx, que auspicia como conexión entre dos bloques de los círculos. Para la Mitología, Nyx es la diosa de la noche y junto a su hijo Charon conducen la barca que transporta a quienes fallecieron a través del río Styx y Acheron, hacia el inframundo.  Otra referencia a la Mitología puede verse en Abstract (psychopomp). Esta canción narra dos encuentros de Hozier con la muerte, tanto en su infancia como en la adultez. En ella, refleja ambos episodios que tienen cierta similaridad, ambas suceden con animales y ambos son vividos desde la inocencia. La referencia está en la palabra psychopomp, quienes son seres que se encargan de guiar a las almas fallecidas al más allá, como por ejemplo Charon.

Característico a la escritura de Hozier, Butchered Tongue narra la historia de los rebeldes Irlandeses en 1798 y como las fuerzas Británicas cortaban partes de sus cuerpos a modo de castigo y tortura. La canción finaliza con ¨a butchered tongue still singin' here above the ground¨, posicionándose como un igual de quienes lucharon, y aún narra sus historias. Asimismo, también comparte historias personales de amor y p��rdida, como ¨To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe)¨. H menciona que ¨ [It’s about] the significance of something so mundane but so remarkable—to experience a bed that has been warmed by somebody else in a space that you now share now with somebody new. It’s a love song.¨ . Personalmente, creo que es una canción más de pérdida que de amor.

Hozier cierra el proyecto ascendiendo con First Light, decisión más que acertada. H interpreta esta canción como una reconciliación y descubrimiento de que incluso el infierno tiene salida. En cuanto a composición, First Light me resulta liviana con las melodías y coros, pero en su justo equilibrio con la batería y la orquesta que acompaña. 

Para ser un álbum de concepto, creo que Unreal Unearth alcanza todas y cada una de las expectativas. Tiene una coherencia impresionante y las letras son de otro nivel.

SE ME HACE IMPOSIBLE y considerando que el disco salió hace 4 días, mis canciones favoritas (creo) son De Selby (Part 2), Francesca, First Light. 

[cookie-de-baunilha]

new hozier album just dropped and with it another song for my john/percy playlist 🫣

Remember once I told you about How before I heard it from your mouth My name would always hit my ears As such an awful sound And the soul, if that’s what you’d call it Uneasy ally of the body It felt nameless as a river undiscovered underground And the first time that you kissed me I drank dry the river Lethe The Liffey would have been softer on my stomach all the same But you spoke some quick new music That went so far to soothe this soul As it was And ever shall be Unearth without a name

HMM EXCUSE ME???

The overall theme of Hozier’s Unreal Unearth is Dante’s Inferno. The song First Time represents the first circle of hell, Limbo, where the non-Christians and the unbaptized are punished.

In my interpretation of the song, the narrator is (re)discovering their identity through love and heartbreak and the way their lover calls (names) them. The idea of name and identity being connected to Limbo (the unbaptized souls).

In the pre-chorus when he says “And the first time that you kissed me I drank dry the river Lethe” he’s saying that his lover made him forget about his past life/past damage and made him a new person, with a new life and identity.

It reminds me so much of Percy and his relationship with John 😭

Like, all the name references: “My name would always hit my ears / As such an awful sound”; “[the soul] It felt nameless as a river undiscovered underground”; “Unearth without a name”.

Percy’s oppressive religious background and the fact that he hates his real name, so he never told it to anyone but John. And the first time that he heard his real name being spoken by John was perhaps the first time in his life that his name didn’t sound “awful” to him.

Some part of me must have died The first time you called me “baby” And some part of me came alive The first time you called me “baby”

Percy's relationship with John was something very important and significant to him. It changed him, like "drinking the waters of the Lethe": letting go of a past life and becoming a new person (some part of me must have died / and some part of me came alive).

Of course, Percy never forgets his childhood trauma, that's not how it works. But he is able to share a personal secret, one that he had never shared before, one that was deeply tied to his identity. When he tells John his name, he is also opening himself to the possibility of resignifying it (which, again, fits the theme of dying and coming alive at the same moment - losing something to gain something).

John calls Percy's act of sharing his name a "gift". He knows the importance of it.

Percy also has a sense of unworthiness to him, but he tries to do better because he wants to be with John (even though it doesn't work in the end). He breaks the affair with Mr. A. before he starts his relationship with John. He also denies Michael's first offer.

Also Percy’s name is something that is constantly changing, which relates to him rebranding himself, especially after his relationship with John is over.

Perseverance Wainwright (his real name, tied to his childhood trauma) -> Percy/Percival Wainwright (the name he chose for himself before exile) -> Percy/Percival Beauchamp (the name he “chose”, by marriage, after exile, becoming a French nobleman).

Some part of me must have died The final time you called me “baby” And some part of me came alive The final time you called me “baby

The heartbreak was painful, but again, is representative of “drinking the waters of the Lethe” to Percy. He changes a lot, too, after the break up. Again, a new person.

He is a different man in Echo, both because of his relationship with John and because of the way it ended.

The song being thematically linked to Dante’s first circle of hell is also something that reminds me of Percy. His religious trauma strayed him from Christianity, so he is not a religious person but he still fears damnation because of his conservative religious upbringing. The first circle (Limbo) is where the virtuous non-Christians are punished in a “lesser” version of Heaven.