So Dante and Virgil descended, down, down, down, further into the levels of Hell. They stepped to the edge of a cliff and warily peered into the Seventh Circle. There seemed to be no easy way to travel down the steep, craggy hill.
"How shall we continue our journey, Virgil?" Dante asked. "This cliff is far too steep for either of us to go down, and I don't see another way down."
At that moment, Virgil spied a set of particularly worn-out steps etched out of the side of the cliff. They appeared to have been used quite a bit at some point in time, although they were completely abandoned now.
"I think I've spotted our pathway into the Seventh Circle," Virgil explained as he directed Dante's vision towards the staircase. "There appears to be a bit of blockade we'll have to deal with once we have reached flatter ground."
Dante squinted his eyes to see what Virgil was talking about. Through the ash floating around, which took up almost all the available air, Dante made out a large, looming figure. It looked oddly familiar, but he couldn't quite tell what it was.
"Virgil, your eyes work better than mine down here. What is that creature?"
"Tis the Minotaur, the foul beast Theseus slew all those years ago," Virgil explained. "He blocks all entry into the Seventh Circle. But for now, we must first worry about the daunting task at hand -- making it down the stairway."
So Dante and Virgil began their slow descent. They clung tightly to the wall, grabbing whatever handholds they could find to keep balance. The steps seemed to go forever. There were hundreds, possibly as many as a thousand. After what felt like hours, the pair found solid footing, and unfortunately, the Minotaur.
"Step aside, Minotaur!" Virgil cried passionately. "None have stopped us thus far, and you certainly won't either!"
The Minotaur had been in Hell for quite some time. He could sense living souls, smell their breath. When he noticed Dante, his eyes burned with rage. Not for any particular thing Dante had done, but simply by being alive. He longed for the days when he wasn't trapped in a lifeless world.
He did the only thing he could thing of. He charged Dante at full speed. Dante barely dove out of the way as the Minotaur's horns came inches from his chest. Virgil began flailing his arms wildly to draw the monster's attention.
"When he charges me, head to the passageway that leads down, Dante! We only have one chance!"
Virgil finally caught the Minotaur's attention just as he was preparing to launch himself at Dante one more time. Once he was turned around, Dante sprinted towards the road that led to the Seventh Circle. Virgil ran to meet him, and they continued on their quest as the Minotaur watched them walk away.
Author's Note: I used the Minotaur and Centaurs section from the Dante's Inferno unit. This section about their descent into the Seventh Circle is not very long, so I wanted to extend it to display just how much difficulty I think they might have faced along the way. Pretty much everything in this story, minus the key parts, was made up by me.
Bibliography:
Dante's Divine Comedy: Dante Alighieri, 1320. Translated by Tony Kline, 2002.
"How shall we continue our journey, Virgil?" Dante asked. "This cliff is far too steep for either of us to go down, and I don't see another way down."
At that moment, Virgil spied a set of particularly worn-out steps etched out of the side of the cliff. They appeared to have been used quite a bit at some point in time, although they were completely abandoned now.
"I think I've spotted our pathway into the Seventh Circle," Virgil explained as he directed Dante's vision towards the staircase. "There appears to be a bit of blockade we'll have to deal with once we have reached flatter ground."
Dante squinted his eyes to see what Virgil was talking about. Through the ash floating around, which took up almost all the available air, Dante made out a large, looming figure. It looked oddly familiar, but he couldn't quite tell what it was.
"Virgil, your eyes work better than mine down here. What is that creature?"
"Tis the Minotaur, the foul beast Theseus slew all those years ago," Virgil explained. "He blocks all entry into the Seventh Circle. But for now, we must first worry about the daunting task at hand -- making it down the stairway."
The Minotaur waiting on flat ground.
Credit: Johannes Holm
So Dante and Virgil began their slow descent. They clung tightly to the wall, grabbing whatever handholds they could find to keep balance. The steps seemed to go forever. There were hundreds, possibly as many as a thousand. After what felt like hours, the pair found solid footing, and unfortunately, the Minotaur.
"Step aside, Minotaur!" Virgil cried passionately. "None have stopped us thus far, and you certainly won't either!"
The Minotaur had been in Hell for quite some time. He could sense living souls, smell their breath. When he noticed Dante, his eyes burned with rage. Not for any particular thing Dante had done, but simply by being alive. He longed for the days when he wasn't trapped in a lifeless world.
He did the only thing he could thing of. He charged Dante at full speed. Dante barely dove out of the way as the Minotaur's horns came inches from his chest. Virgil began flailing his arms wildly to draw the monster's attention.
"When he charges me, head to the passageway that leads down, Dante! We only have one chance!"
Virgil finally caught the Minotaur's attention just as he was preparing to launch himself at Dante one more time. Once he was turned around, Dante sprinted towards the road that led to the Seventh Circle. Virgil ran to meet him, and they continued on their quest as the Minotaur watched them walk away.
Author's Note: I used the Minotaur and Centaurs section from the Dante's Inferno unit. This section about their descent into the Seventh Circle is not very long, so I wanted to extend it to display just how much difficulty I think they might have faced along the way. Pretty much everything in this story, minus the key parts, was made up by me.
Bibliography:
Dante's Divine Comedy: Dante Alighieri, 1320. Translated by Tony Kline, 2002.
Patrick,
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely an interesting story. I read Dante’s Inferno in English my sophomore year of high school and I took Latin for five years, so this story was right up my alley. I liked how you combined the two different inspirations in order to create your story. I also liked the picture that you chose as well. The minotaur is certainly a terrifying looking animal.
Patrick, I like what you did with the story! I also read Dante's Inferno this week, and I had such a hard time thinking up what to write that I just gave up and didn't write anything. I like that you added so much detail to the story! It definitely made Dante's journey even more chilling and unpleasant. I thought your use of dialogue was a good move, too!
ReplyDeleteWhat a very cool story. I thought you did a great job writing it, and it had a very nice flow throughout the whole thing. This was a very interesting story and I liked it better than the original. I really liked all of the detail you added. Detail is the most important part of stories in my opinion. Great work.
ReplyDeletePatrick, what a cool story! I was so impressed by home accessible you made a classical story like Dante's Inferno. You added so many little details that really made the story unique. I like that you used the original story as a skeleton and then added your own story into the mix. Great work!
ReplyDelete