#virgil's tomb

[artemlegere]

Virgil's Tomb

Artist: Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734–1797)

Date: 1779

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, United States

Description

Wright painted many versions of this composition, one of his most popular subjects. It represents Silius Italicus, a Roman consul under the Emperor Nero who devoted his later life to the study of literature. His passionate admiration for Vergil led him to buy the poet's estate and tomb at Posillipo, near Naples. Each year he recited Vergil’s poetry inside the tomb on the anniversary of the poet’s death. Wright shows him inside the tomb by candlelight, declaiming Vergil's verses aloud as though trying to raise his spirit.

[illustratus]

Virgil's Tomb by Moonlight, with Silius Italicus Declaiming by Joseph Wright of Derby

[mayasaura]

In canto ix (9) of dante's inferno (the same canto where we encounter alecto) an angel appears while Dante is loitering outside the City of Dis (whose gates were marred in the harrowing of hell) to swipe its holy clearance passto let Dante into the Sixth circle.

Which is to say: If Dulcinea appears to help Harrow out in the Harrow in Hell portion of alecto the ninth I am going to lose what few shits I still have

[yurithusiast]

I'm going to tell tlt tumblr (you guys) one of the biggest reasons why I started reading tlt series..

(Yes, "lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!" plastered on the cover of GtN is the main reason why but that's not the point!)

It's because I got really excited when I saw that one of the books is called Alecto the Ninth. Why? I shall tell you why. I had to read Virgil's Aeneid for my course and this is relevant because when I read book 7 of The Aeneid I became enamored with the character Allecto.

Allecto is one of the Furies and her title in David West's translation of the epic (the one I read) is "The Bringer of Grief". HOW BADASS IS THAT??????

I feel as though this was intentional on TazMuir's part and I, for one, am excited to see what kind of grief Alecto is going to bring upon John.

[suspiciousgold]

I am sure others have pointed this out but I am rereading, The divine comedy, after finishing, The unwanted guest, and the amount of parallels between Beatrice and Dulcinea Septimus is just getting bigger and bigger and it's making me want to scream :D

[mysterious-secret-garden]

Jean Bruno Gassies - Horace at the tomb of virgil.

[spoondrifts]

can't believe i forgot to post this! welcome to my quick gideon the ninth/sanders sides fusion fic featuring all your favorite things: brotherly soul cannibalism, angsty logicality, necromancer virgil and he's Really Bad At It, janus committing heinous heinous crimes, and c!thomas being Actually God

[moonchild-in-blue]

Show Me How To Dance Forever info dump

Alright, I'm joining the research team side of tumblr and going through every element of the website / new information. A lot of what's here has been posted by others, so this is more of a compilation of things and me thinking out loud.

The Code - D O U O S V A V V M

The Shugborough Inscription is a sequence of letters – O U O S V A V V, between the letters D M on a lower plane – carved on the 18th-century Shepherd's Monument in the grounds of Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire, England, below a mirror image of Nicolas Poussin's painting the Shepherds of Arcadia (...) [about the relief] On the tomb is carved the Latin text Et in arcadia ego ("I am also in Arcadia" or "I am, even in Arcadia") The letters on the second line, D M, were commonly used on Roman tombs to stand for Dis Manibus, meaning "dedicated to the shades". (from wikipedia page)

I'm not gonna go into much detail about the whole Holy Grail thing, bevause you've all probably read this article by now. I do wanna point point out the obvious Arcadia = Eden connection:

Arcadia (Greek: Αρκαδία) refers to a vision of pastoralism and harmony with nature. The term is derived from the Greek province of the same name which dates to antiquity; the province's mountainous topography and sparse population of pastoralists later caused the word Arcadia to develop into a poetic byword for an idyllic vision of unspoiled wilderness. Arcadia is a poetic term associated with bountiful natural splendor and harmony. The 'Garden' is often inhabited by shepherds. The concept also figures in Renaissance mythology. Although commonly thought of as being in line with Utopian ideals, Arcadia differs from that tradition in that it is more often specifically regarded as unattainable. Furthermore, it is seen as a lost, Edenic form of life, contrasting to the progressive nature of Utopian desires. Greek mythology and the poetry of Theocritus inspired the Roman poet Virgil to write his Eclogues, a series of poems with references to Arcadia as the home of Pan, pipes and singing. (from wikipedia page)

And to point put what the shades in "dis manibus" mean:

In ancient Roman religion, the Manes (/ˈmeɪniːz/, Latin: mānēs, Classical Latin: [ˈmaː.neːs̠]) or Di Manes are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the Lares, Lemures, Genii, and Di Penates as deities (di) that pertained to domestic, local, and personal cult. They belonged broadly to the category of di inferi, "those who dwell below", the undifferentiated collective of divine dead. (from wikipedia page)

POINTING OUT that the Lares are viewed as guardians (sacred guardians if you will -> see Chokehold (I come as a blade, a sacred guardian) and the TOG poem (I am the teeth of God).

The Divide / The Choices

SPEAKING OF the TOG poem, the first email that prompts the choice of house reads "Behold, a Divide", which is very similar to " I am the line between" verse of the poem.

We are presented with two images (which I will get into it later) - House Veridian (crossed swords) and Feathered Host (a feather)

House Veridian: The House Must Endure Feathered Host: The Cycle Must Be Broken

House Veridian

Veridian is probably a reference to the colour viridian, given the symbol is green. Interestingly enough, this pigment is a "hydrated chromium(III) oxide", os an HEXAGONAL SHAPE (the same shape of the images we see on the email. ALSO. OMG YOU GUYSSSS LOOK:

It is antiferromagnetic up to 307 K, the Néel temperature

What's that you ask? WELL:

In materials that exhibit antiferromagnetism, the magnetic moments of atoms or molecules, usually related to the spins of electrons, align in a regular pattern with neighboring spins (on different sublattices) pointing in opposite directions.

THIS IS BLOODSPORT AND ALKALINE ALL OVER AGAIN, I'M GONNA THROW UP. VESSEL YOU BEAUTIFUL BASTARD NERD. MORE:

Chromium(III) oxide is amphoteric AKA In chemistry, an amphoteric compound (from Greek amphoteros 'both') is a molecule or ion that can react both as an acid and as a base

BITCH.

It is also used to polish BLADES! SWORDS! HMMMM!!!!!

If we think of The House as A Vessel for a god (which is basically what they are, mortal houses of worship), we can definitely see it as "I, the guardian, the fighter, the blade, must endure" . See Chokehold and Higher especially for this.

Feathered Host

I think the connection with thw TNDNBTG/ Euclid is pretty obvious. The constant imagery of angels and heaven in his lyrics, the "cycle" that is completed and repeated with those two songs. The cycle is broken, but it loops again.

You live with angels vs your wings won't find you heaven. You are the garden vs I will go back to Eden. You are far away where I can't reach you vs I will bring down heaven myself for you. Gods vs mortals vs angels. Beginning and End. Like F. Ocean said, "it's a loop. the other side of a loop it's a loop".

I think both of these choices are a very clear representation of the story that has been presented in the trilogy, but even more so in TMBTE. The dichotomy between continuing to fight, to spill blood, to be a hones and well polished tool, and the realisation of the enormity of the violence that persists. The desire for peace, the longing for simpler, more innocent times, for Eden, for Arcadia. A utopia that may only exist in dreams, long forgotten. The fields of elation now barren and sealed off.

Euclid marks the moment of breach, where there's finally a clear thread of hope. The break of the bough, the killing of the self, of the ego. But even then, there is still some attachment for the past weaved between the frayed ends. It's still the autumns leaves, do you remember me? And the final callback to TNDNBTG, the loop. An everlasting ouroboros, the venomous serpent biting its own tail, Even and The Tempter one and the same.

I find it interesting how the double-swords can mean so much. In tarot, it represents an impasse, a stalemate (the card is a blindfolded woman - see the Rain guardian - under the moon holding the two swords). It's used as a battlefield marker. In chemistry, double daggers are used to indicate the Transition State of a chemical reaction. Much to think about.

Show Me How To Dance Forever

Right so, I already made a half-assed post about the Nothing Lasts Forever to Show Me How To Dance Forever pipeline, but I'm keeping it here anyways. They have mentioned dance many times before, in the WH cover, in Aqua Regia and Ascensionism, in the interludes (where they say something about dancing with life and death both if I'm not mistaken).

Now, Aqua Regia makes a reference to Dark Signs . I'm done dancing to alarm bells // (...) I could see dark signs, alarm bells in your eyes. AND, Dark Signs has one of my most favourite lyrics, which goes: I might bend and break to my basic needs to be loved and close to somebody. WHICH WE CAN CONNECT to I Wanna Dance With Somebody (who loves me).

Which poses the question: WHAT are we dancing to? Are we giving in yet again to the need for love, and reveling in what it is a flawed and broken cadence of pleasure and pain alike? Or are we asking to be shown how to dance instead of fight, how to turn despair into tenderness. How to live this new life, a new beginning? Are we forever doomed to waltz with Death, to balance fire in the earth, or are sailing away to new ports, leaving funeral pyres behind towards a new shore, to Arcadia? MANY SUCH QUESTIONS!

The Black Flamingo

I don't know dawg. Is he Vessel? Black and tall and elegant and kinda weird?? Ridiculous wingspan??? Jk. I know some people have already talked about it, and it's potentially connected to the TOG novel (which I haven't read yet), so I'll leave that to you.

I might be missing some things but this is what I have for now. My brain hurts lmao.

[hopeslastkiss]

'bad ending' solas and rook (pt.i)

an oresteia tr. by anne carson / hriscia / more and more by margaret atwood / detail from 'dante and virgil in hell' (1850) by william-adolphe bouguereau / 'ten of swords' by david palumbo / we will not be lovers by the waterboys / 'chains' (2024) by konstantin korobov / hey by the pixies / detail from 'dante and virgil in hell' (1850) / 'bradamante at merlin's tomb' (ca. 1820) by alexandre-evariste fragonard / the truth about grief by fortesa latifi

(pt.ii) (pt.iii)

[mcaelius]

some ghosts i've been thinking about lately

sappho, 'stung with love' , trans. aaron poochigian // lucan, pharsalia 9.983-987, trans. jane wilson joyce // horace, odes 3.30, trans. terry walsh // ovid, amores 1.15, trans. a. s. klein // john donne, the relic // catullus 1, trans. a. s. klein // shakespeare, sonnet 55 // robert harris, dictator // virgil, eclogues 10, trans. a. s. klein // ovid, metamorphoses 15.877-879, trans. a. s. klein // phillip larkin, an arundel tomb

[coolancientstuff]

Virgil's tomb (Italian: Tomba di Virgilio) is a Roman burial vault in Naples, said to be the tomb of the poet Virgil (70–19 BCE). He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid.

Virgil was the object of literary admiration and veneration before his death. In the following centuries and particularly in the Middle Ages his name became associated with legends of miraculous powers and his tomb the object of pilgrimages and pagan veneration.

At the time of Virgil's death, a large bay tree was near the entrance. According to a local legend, it died when Dante died, and Petrarch planted a new one; because visitors took branches as souvenirs the second tree died as well.

When Virgil died at Brindisi in 19 BCE, he asked that his ashes be taken back to his villa just outside Naples. There a shrine was created for him, and sacred rites were held every year on his birthday. He was given the rites of a hero, at whose tomb the devout may find protection and counsel. Virgil's tomb became a place of pilgrimage for many centuries, with Petrarch and Boccaccio being among those who visited the tomb.

The tomb still contains a tripod burner originally dedicated to Apollo. There are no human remains in the tomb, however, as Virgil's ashes were lost while being moved during the Middle Ages.

[starman-john-tracy]

Straightforward [RP]

with @scramjettracy

It was supposed to be a straightforward rescue, John will think later, when the rubble dust has cleared and the blood has been soaked up by the snow. And maybe he should have known, should have suspected, because from the start the whole thing had just felt a little... off.

The; we have a situation, had been Alan's voice, not his own. John's only down here because he's supposed to be flying to England for a Lecture in twelve hours, and he's a little too easily persuaded by; come lend a hand while Alan's on rotation, we could use you out there, it'll be a quick in and out, no sweat. If he were any more superstitious, John would think they jinxed it. Gordon's pulled his hamstring, so suit up Johnny, you're with us.

Turns out, it takes him an embarrassingly long time to go from civvies to spacesuit outside of microgravity. He's only just ready by the time Virgil is giving him a lead rope and dropping him out of Thunderbird Two to meet Scott on the ground. John may or may not have nearly fallen flat on his face on landing, but he really hopes none of them saw that...

Then Alan laughs in his ear.

Damn it.

Outside of Thunderbird Five, outside of space, John finds his job a lot tougher than he'd like to admit... and neither the damn gravity or the heavy pack of metal ceiling props slung across his back really help.

The sight of the high altitude research station they're supposed to be rescuing the two scientists from feels jarringly real as well, without his scans and screens and blue-toned holograms of the structure. It's all cracked, bland concrete. Three stories of crumbling floors and twisted metal girders. It looks to have been built so haphazardly into the mountainside that, to International Rescue, it's collapse seemed inevitable. One side has fully caved in under the weight of the snow, and a cascade of rubble and debris has slid for maybe thirty kilometers down the slope. The other side of the structure looks not far behind it.

There's not one Tracy that hates avalanches more than any other type of rescue. That hates snow.

"You warm enough?" He asks Scott, fully aware that his brother's suit regulates his body temperature just as well as his own spacesuit does, but John's surprisingly anxious for a verbal confirmation of that. "Do we have the hypothermia kit?"

They near a dangerously angled doorway. Under the pressure, the wall has buckled in around it's frame and the glass in all the windows has shattered. The ripping wind absolutely howls through them, but stepping inside does eerily muffle the raging storm outside.

The quiet becomes only broken by the sound of John's breath and the crunch of snow beneath their boots. It makes the scrape as the astronaut slides a pair of the green metal ceiling props out his pack - ready to start adding some stability to this structure - obscenely loud.

"Let's get this ceiling supported." He recommends, keen to keep their evacuation route accessible. "I- argh, damn it-" The thick layer of snow that's blown in is making the job sensationally slippery.

It also, if John takes a moment to be honest with himself, makes the wreckage feel more like a cold, desolate tomb than anything they're actually going to find people inside; even if the little red GPS pin from Alan insists otherwise.

It's making all the fine hairs on the back of John's neck prickle.

[godsspecialestlittleguyskirmish]

The bracket is here! Full list of matches under the cut! If there is any information that would disqualify a contestant, please let me know!

Furina [Focalors] (Genshin Impact) vs Neku Sakuraba [Joshua/Yoshiya Kiryu] (The World Ends With You)

Rand al'Thor [The Creator] (The Wheel of Time) vs Hua Cheng [Xie Lian] (Heaven Official's Blessing)

Waxillium Ladrian [Harmony] (Mistborn) vs Rei/Akari [Arceus] (Pokémon Legends: Arceus)

Jonathan Sims [The Ceaseless Watcher/The Eye] (The Magnus Archives) vs Anakin Skywalker [The Force] (Star Wars)

Kirby [Kirby] (Kirby) vs Jayfeather [Starclan] (Warrior Cats)

Scout [Christian God] (Team Fortress 2) vs Mobei-Jun [Shang Qinghua/Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky] (The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System)

Temenos Mistral [Aelfric the Flamebringer] (Octopath Traveler 2) vs The Hollow Knight [The Pale King] (Hollow Knight)

Optimus Prime [Primus] (Transformers) vs Eugenides [Eugenides] (The Queen's Thief)

Yoo Joonghyuk [The Oldest Dream/Kim Dokja] (Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint) vs Xie Lian [Jun Wu] (Heaven Official's Blessing)

Kiriona Gaia [John Gaius] (The Locked Tomb) vs Dean Winchester [Chuck/Christian God] (Supernatural)

Link [Hylia] (The Legend of Zelda) vs Simon Petrikov [Golb/Golbetty] (Fionna and Cake)

Aeneas [Venus] (Virgil's Aeneid/Homer's Iliad) vs Kim Dokja [tls123 + Uriel] (Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint)

Harrowhark Nonagesimus [John Gaius] (The Locked Tomb) vs The Dark Urge [Bhaal + Jergal] (Baldur's Gate 3)

Cecil Gershwin Palmer [Huntokar] (Welcome to Night Vale) vs Ezra Bridger [The Force] (Star Wars Rebels)

Joker/Akira Kurusu/Ren Amamiya [Yaldabaoth] (Persona 5) vs Jesus Christ [Christian God/his dad] (The Bible)

Shadowheart [Lady Shar] (Baldur's Gate 3) vs The Penitent One [The Twisted One] (Blasphemous)

[classicalcanvas]

Franz Ludwig Catel (1778 - 1856)

-Virgil's Tomb, Naples-

-View of Amalfi from the Gulf of Salerno-

-Carthusian monks in Certosa di San Giacomo on Capri-

-Garden of the Villa Doria Pamphili in Rome-

[the-swan-sequence]

“Do the gods light this fire in our hearts or does each man's mad desire become his god?”

Virgil, The Aeneid

Art: The Empty Tomb by Mikhail Nesterov (1889)

[roseeycreates-blog]

Imagine Tenzin, consumed by grief after Lin's passing, deciding to follow her into the afterlife.

After reading the bittersweet fanfic "Meant To Be" by @risingsoleil (check her ao3 page if you are a linzin fan. She's an amazing writer. I love her works!), an idea came to me: what if Tenzin journeyed through the 9 circles of Hell before reuniting with Lin in Paradise? Drawing from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, specifically Dante's Inferno, Tenzin would confront his deepest fears and regrets in each circle, leading to a powerful and emotional reunion with Lin in the afterlife.

So here's Tenzin:

(Sorry about the arrow, I just added that detail because Picrew doesn't have that option.)

I chose a red arrow instead of blue to symbolize that he took his own life, which is why he's in Hell (all life is sacred). I dressed him in a red robe and added a golden choker. Finally, he has an earring with Lin's eye color, given to him by his guide.

His guide, Iroh:

In this story, He is Tenzin's Virgil, guiding him through the 9 circles of Hell. Lin asks Iroh to help Tenzin on his journey and gives him the earring that Tenzin wears. It's a symbol of Lin's presence with him throughout the journey.

Lastly, Lin:

(Can I just say she looks so pretty, I also added the scars)

Tenzin's Beatrice is waiting for him in Paradise. he’s also wearing an earring with Tenzin’s eye color, showing that she’s waiting for him on the other side.

( Picrew link male | female )

9 Circles of Hell:

The First Circle: Limbo

He comes across an unborn child and learns that Lin had a miscarriage after they broke up. He then sees a vision of what their life might have been if the child had lived. When he snaps out of this illusion, he finds himself holding a deformed baby.

The Second Circle: Lust

He reflects on his own desires and the complicated nature of his love for Lin. Temptations hit hard with visions of women pampering him, including an illusion of Pema. Just as he's about to give in, he sees Lin watching him, which snaps him back to his true goal: to be with her.

The Third Circle: Gluttony

He witnesses wealthy high-ranking figures, some from the Earth Kingdom, being devoured by beasts. They endlessly heal and suffer, showing the impact of their excessive wealth on others. This makes him rethink his own lifestyle.

The Fourth Circle: Greed

He sees greedy souls, including mercenaries and assassins like the combustion bender who hunted his parents, being crushed by boulders of gold. This makes him reflect on his own struggles—not for money, but the selfishness that came from the pressure to repopulate the Air Nation after his father’s death.

The Fifth Circle: Wrath

He encounters fallen soldiers from endless wars, especially Fire Nation armies from the Hundred Year War, stuck in muddy rivers that act like quicksand. This scene stirs up memories of the conflicts he and Lin faced before their breakup.

The Sixth Circle: Heresy

He sees people consumed by evil spirits. Unalaq is burning in a fiery tomb as punishment for his dark deeds. It makes him think about whether his own followers, who idolize airbenders, might end up suffering the same way.

The Seventh Circle: Violence

He sees the spirits of Fire Nation leaders who committed violence against innocents. One of them is the person who killed his grandmother. He realizes he belongs in this circle too, as he committed violence by taking his own life.

The Eighth Circle: Fraud

He sees scammers, manipulators, and impostors who deceive others for their gain. Hama, the first bloodbender, pretends to be a helpless old woman to trick people like Katara into helping her get revenge. He also sees an illusion of himself saying he's a fraud, struggling to be himself while trying to meet others’ expectations.

The Ninth Circle: Treachery

Finally, he sees betrayers, including Firelord Sozin and Ozai, frozen in icy pits. One of them accuses him, saying, “You also betrayed Lin—remember, you cheated!” The crowd roars, but as he’s overwhelmed by darkness, the earring starts to glow. Iroh steps in to guide him to the exit.

Reaching Paradise:

After everything that happened, Lin hugged him tightly. They stood there for a moment, just holding each other, overwhelmed by the joy of being reunited. Their smiles said it all—despite the pain and challenges, they were together again, and that made everything worthwhile.

"I died," Lin said quietly. "And you weren’t there."

"I know," he replied, looking down. "I heard from Akna about your last words..."

"Shhh," Lin cut him off gently, her voice softening. "No need to dwell on that."

"But I came here," he said earnestly, his eyes meeting hers.

"You came to find me," Lin said, her eyes shining with happiness.

"Of course I did," he said with a tender smile. "I couldn’t do anything else."

Then Lin gave him a bit of a lecture about his actions.

(lines from Castlevania)