Jenn DeLuca                                                           Back to Showcase

Mr. Steen

AP Literature

29 March 2005

Canto X.V: Circle VI.V - The Suppressors of Christianity

            Virgil leads Jenn away from the Heretics and into the next circle.  This is the circle of THE SUPPRESSORS OF CHRISTIANITY.  The sinners here are crushed beneath huge flaming boulders.  As they tried to suppress Christ in life, so they themselves are compressed in Hell.  Following the anguished cries of ALP ARSLAN, Virgil and Jenn meet DIOCLETIAN, who names NERO as a fellow sinner.  Both are Roman Emperors who persecuted early Christians.  Jenn asks Virgil why Mahomet, the founder of Islam, is not in this circle, and Virgil scolds her for questioning God’s judgment.  The pair then comes upon MADELINE O’HARE, who explains that all the sinners around her are her followers.  She also prophesizes the arrival of MICHAEL NEUDAU.  Jenn is tempted to strike Madeline, but resists, which leads Virgil to lecture her about righteous anger.  After seeing all the American sinners in this circle, Jenn laments for her sin-wrought country.  Finally, Virgil draws Jenn away from the Suppressors of Christianity and tells her to remain focused on the present and the task at hand.

I trailed behind my guide through the deepened rut,

  breathing the fetid air until at last we emerged

  on the edge of a broad plain

whose borders east or west I could not see.

  My guide stopped, unsure of our path,                                                                            5

  and as I looked up, the visage my eyes beheld did overwhelm me.

As Khufu’s eternal stone tomb

  and all the lesser resting places

  seated in its shadow loom

over golden desert sands                                                                                                 10

  and the fiery sphere, with its burning heat,

  does make the high stones look to shimmer,

so the great boulders before me,

  surely no less in size or awe-inspiring power,

  quivered with fever from the licking flames.                                                                   15

We approached the boulder nearest our path,

  and O, what feelings of horror overcame me

  to find that sinners were crushed beneath

those rocks of fire –

  some were placed in head first, others lengthwise,                                                     20

  and few were free from neck to crown and angled for speech.

What range of snow – capped peaks could equal

  in magnitude the sea of boulders before me?

  What earthly music could drown out the moans of this choir of anguished people?

Should Atlas’ great burden have been set down                                                             25

  amidst this fiery granite field,

  it would be swallowed as Badenweiler’s trees engulf their town.

“Master, what souls are these here,

  so compressed by formidable stone as to push from them

  every breath ever to pass through their lips?”                                                               30

And my master, in his supreme virtue and wisdom,

  said to me: “Those who made it their life’s work to suppress

  the son of the divine light and all who kneel before Him.”

Though I wished to question my guide further,

  our conversation halted at the louder cries of a nearby shade.                                    35

  “Deus lo vult!  Deus lo vult!  Deus lo vult!”

We moved closer to the orator’s rocky domain,

  and I knelt beside my guide to better see his pained face.

  “Speak, sinner, tell us who you are and why you impose upon

            our ears this refrain.”

my guide commanded, as I could not speak to him.                                                    40

  “He can speak naught but what you have heard already –

  he is one who in the name of Persia stole Jerusalem

and purged the city of all followers of the one who

  caused the massive tremor when pure good met pure evil.”

  This was offered by a shade behind us, whose head from the rock did                      45

            alone protrude.

“Then who are you, O sinner, who so willingly

  gives up his fellow shade’s identity and speaks in my

  native tongue?” asked my master.

“Though I would not say this before any soul who would

  walk again bathed in solar rays, I tell you                                                                        50

  I am Diocletian, Emperor of the Romans.

I bear this weight alone, for my sin, though by definition the same,

  is greater than all the rest lying here.  This stone is equal,

  pound for pound, to every person persecuted in my name.

And my master, translating all this for me,                                                                         55

  said “Ask what you will of this man, for I believe he will answer.

  But bear in mind his lost title, and treat him respectfully.”

As instructed, I carefully thought how best to ask -

  I began, “O fallen Emperor, tell me who else lies beneath these boulders,

  if is not too difficult a task.”                                                                                               60

“I know only one other: those legs behind you belong to

  he who blamed the great fire of Rome on those I later persecuted.”

  The shade let out a cry of agony, as if the rock atop him pushed

            suddenly with renewed force.

We left him to his pain, and skirted about the other rocks.

  As we walked, my guide turned to me and said:  “If a question                                     65

  lies in your heart, better you ask it than try to hide your thoughts.”

So I, to him: “O master, it is not my intent to conceal or hold

  my thoughts from you.  I know I cannot do so.  Tell me then,

  Virtuous One, why does not Mahomet lie among these tortured souls?”

“Mark you, it is not yours to question judgment,                                                               70

  for even when you stand before the divine, purged of imperfections,

  His wisdom will be infinitely greater than yours.”

My guide’s sharp words wounded me as the sting

  of the whip across the galloping horse’s flank.

  But as the mother, who slaps her child                                                                                   75

to keep him from touching a hot stove, and then,

  seeing her action has had its effect and her young one is safe,

  quickly turns from anger to calm relief,

so did my guide’s voice soften, seeing I was ashamed,

  his worried anger fading with the rouge color of my cheeks,                                               80

  and he answered my query beyond my satisfaction.                                                  

“Mahomet lies in blackness further below,

  for his sin was far worse than mere suppression.

  His was the creation of enemies where none before were known.”

I turned my gaze to the ground then, and followed where he led.                                         85

  We soon came upon a shade whose countenance I recalled,

  even dressed in such a contorted expression.

Crouching before her, I declared “You are Madeline O’Hare,

  leader of the fight against worship in schools.  You are the reason

  in all my years of education I was never allowed a public prayer.”                                   90

And as a sow, when she has sat in mud without food for too long,

  will grunt and squeal in short spurts from the pain of starvation,

  so did Madeline speak in brief surges, strained from the weight atop her.

“Though you recognize only my face, know that I am not here alone.

  All the others beneath my slab were my followers or successors.                               95

  It is because of the work that they have done

you were cheated of scholarly Christmas joys,

  and have no Easter but rather spring.

  Because of them, young girls and boys

mature blissfully blind of the cross and nails.”                                                                  100

  At that I realized my foot was poised to deliver a swift

  blow to this harridan, and I felt my face pale.

With much restraint, I steeled my foot back down,

  remembering I had been taught to love my enemies,

  and let this woman speak on, though I saw my master frown.                                      105

“You who are living, and yet walk among the dead,

  if indeed you ever find yourself with those of flesh and blood again,

  tell the one who would pledge

his allegiance to man – that a place under

  this forsaken stone waits for him alone.”                                                                        110

  As she uttered this last prophecy, I felt my guide take hold of my shoulder.

We began to trace our way back to the outer rim of the ditch,

  and my master said tersely: “Remember your readings well, but know also

  that some anger is righteous, not all is wrath as in the boiling blood.”

O melting pot of culture, O land of fruited plain –                                                             115

  this place is so full of your people, the great Circus Maximus

  could not contain them all, were its capacity two-fold.

My heart aches to think of all those who, in the name of my dear

  red, white, and blue, try to hide away

  the foundation, the rock, of so many righteous lives.                                                   120

Certainly, my deep lamentation could not have been

  painted more plainly on my face by the very brush that

  gave the Mona Lisa her smile,

for my guide drew me further then, from the fiery pit, saying:

  “Think not long on what you have just seen.                                                               125

  Greater lamentations lie ahead of you.

Do not focus on what is past, and waste no more time.

There is a much larger mountain yet to climb.”

 Notes:

7-8. Khufu’s eternal stone tomb…: The Great Pyramid in Egypt was built as a tomb for the Pharaoh Khufu.  There are three other smaller pyramids in next to it, and several nearby.

25. Atlas’ great burden: In Greek mythology, Atlas held the earth on his shoulders.  Jenn makes this reference as hyperbole to better convey the monstrous size of the boulders.

27. Badenweiler’s trees engulf their town: Badenweiler is a small town in the middle of the Black Forest in Germany.  Thus, the town’s own trees literally hide it. 

33. the son of the divine light and all who kneel before Him: Christ and Christians

THE SUPPRESSORS OF CHRISTIANITY: In life, these sinners tried to suppress Christ and the Church, so in death they are literally suppressed by enormous boulders.  The boulders also bring to mind the familiar symbolism of the Church as “the rock” of Christian life, so symbolically, in Hell theses shades are suppressed by the very thing they fought to repress in life.

36. Deus lo vult: God wills it.  This was the battle cry during the first Crusade.

40. I could not speak to him: Jenn does not speak Latin.

42. he is one who in the name of Persia stole Jerusalem: Alp Arslan, Sultan of Persia, who captured Jerusalem in A.D. 1070 and immediately ordered the murder of Christians and suppression of anything to do with Christianity.

 44. the massive tremor when pure good met pure evil: The earthquake when Christ entered Hell.

 48. my native tongue: Virgil, a Roman, spoke Latin.

DIOCLETIAN: A Roman Emperor highly regarded for his political reforms.  In A.D. 303 he ordered the persecution and/or murder of Christians.

62. he who blamed the great fire of Rome: Nero, a Roman Emperor who tried to blame the Great fire of Rome on the Christians, and had a crowd of them killed.

62. those I later persecuted: Christians.

65-66. If a question lies in your heart…: As in previous Cantos, Virgil can read Jenn’s thoughts.

69. Mahomet: the founder of Islam.  Jenn feels he belongs in this circle because he refused to allow the spread of Christianity on his territory.

70-72. Mark you, it is not yours…: Virgil scolds Jenn for questioning God’s judgment.

82. Mahomet lies in blackness further below: See Canto XXVIII.

MADELINE O’HARE: Brought suits against the United States to have prayer, the Bible, the Ten Commandments, and all religious symbols removed from public schools.

97. cheated of scholarly Christmas joys: Most public schools must refer to celebration during the Christmas season as “Holiday” parties or assemblies rather than “Christmas.”

98. have no Easter but rather spring: What was previously called “Easter break” must now be referred to as “spring break” due to rampant political correctness.

104. I had been taught to love my enemies: Luke 6:27.

108-109. one who would pledge his allegiance to man: Michael Neudau, who brought suit against the government to have the word “God” removed from the United States pledge of allegiance.

114. wrath as in the boiling blood: See Canto XII.

115. O melting pot of culture, O land of fruited plain: America.

116: Circus Maximus: A chariot racetrack in Ancient Rome, with room to hold 250,000.  Jenn supposes that even if it could hold 500,000 there still would not be enough room for all the Americans in this circle.

122-123. the very brush that gave the Mona Lisa her smile: Leonardo Da Vinci.

128: a much larger mountain: Literally, Jenn and Virgil still have to climb down most of Hell, but allegorically, Jenn will have to climb the mountain of Purgatory.