Medieval History – Page 9 – The View From Sari's World

First I was enamored with my iPod. I was thrilled with the idea of being able to listen to podcasts or music at work. When I was a receptionist listening to history podcasts kept me sane. Next, I fell in love with my iPhone; oh how I loved the apps the touch screen keyboard, which was so easy on my middle age eyes, and having books on the go. I was awed by all the things this small handheld device could do. As a child of the original Star Trek era, the future seemed to be in my hand. Now it is the iPad that blows my mind. I have reading choices without having to carry multiple books in my already overflowing purse. Being able to look at exhibits from the British Museum and science videos from several sites is something I am not sure I will ever get over. I can take Facebook and Twitter with me, and can be entertained by Angry Birds when I find myself waiting at the doctor’s or DMV. No, this is not a commercial for Apple, I just happen to have Apple products. I am just as amazed at a co-worker’s Koby. She is the one that turned me on to a radio app that allows me to finally listen to radio without static interference (which may say more about my house, than my radios). I am amazed by our current technology for two reasons. I grew up in the pre-DVD and cell phone era. I can remember not that long ago we did not have anything close to this technology. Hell, I remember when we got our first answering machine. My mother was so excited to know she would never miss another phone call, now we take our phones with us. The other reason I am amazed is because having lived in the country where the power went out every winter, I know how to live with the basics. I understand what we really need in order to live comfortably. Everything else is pure magic!

I love reading a good time traveling book in which the main character(s) find themselves thrust into the past. I want to know how they will react to being without the comforts of modern living. I am disappointed when an author ignores this obvious plot point. This I think would be the most interesting part of the book.

Take the popular novel Outlander for example, for a book that is about a million pages long, Gabaldon, hardly mentions anything that Claire may miss. She easily adapts to her environment without even a glance back to her former life. Being a nurse, you would think she would be obsessed with personal hygiene. The first thing I would miss and try to re-create? A toothbrush would be number one on my list of must haves, nope, can’t do without.

During the middle ages teeth were cleaned with a rough cloth dipped in an herbal mixture. The wealthy chewed on cloves, cinnamon and mint. As nice as this may be, I would quickly develop Mac Gyver like skills to come up with some type of toothbrush.

A change of clothing would be next. When I was doing research on medieval garments I was shocked to learn that even royalty wore the same chemise ( or tunic, depending on what scholar’s work you are reading) to bed that that they wore under their mantle during the day. For many women, this undergarment was worn days on end, for the poor this may have gone on for years. Could you imagine wearing the same thing day in and day out? I can’t, which is why one of the first things I would want learn is how to sew. The idea of wearing the same sweaty cloths day after day makes me want to go take a shower right now.

I could go on, but you get the point, there are some basic things that we take for granted, that I cannot live without. Yes, I love my toys but they are not things I need. These are not things that are necessary for survival (though admittedly I would miss being able to do a Google search on “how to”). Maybe this is why I am still awed by them; I understand they are designed to make our comfortable life fun.

So dear Reader, what is that you could not live without? What would be on your list of must haves for all time travelers?

I finally finished Dante’s Comedy the fourth and final book for the Really Old Classics Read challenge http://reallyoldclassics.wordpress.com/join-the-challenge. Thank you to rebeccareid of http://reviews.rebeccareid.com for hosting the event.

This was a great excuse to brush off some older books I have been meaning to read but never got around to.
As part of the challenge we were asked to not only pick books written before the 1400s but to find a retelling of a classic. I choose to read To Hell and Back, a Modern Reader’s Guide to the Divine Comedy along with my favorite translation by Robert Pinsky.

I fell in love with Dante back in college when I took an introduction course in humanities. The class should have been titled A journey with Dante as most of the course centered on his epic poem. My professor Mr. Hubart was one of those rare teachers who not only taught old text but also taught his students to love old works, especially Dante. We took field trips to old Catholic Churches in order to understand the symbolism in Dante’s words. We were lucky enough to see a Dante exhibit at the San Francisco De Young Museum. The exhibit included paintings and sculptures all based on the 9 circles of hell. Each piece of work hit me in different ways, ways I cannot fully articulate. As a young impressible girl I studied the pieces trying to understand the beauty and sadness in each. I had hoped that someday I would be able to own a few of the pieces but try as I might; I have never seen them again. 20 something years later I can still vision them in my head.
Over the years I have collected translations of Dante’s work as well as a very old biography on the poet. The poem and its deep meaning are always with me. Now that I am middle age and struggling with my identity the beginning passage “Midway on our life’s journey, I found myself in dark woods, the right road lost” hits me more than it did when I was 19. I am now at the midway point in my life and feel more connected to the poet and poem than at any other time in my life. I felt now would be a good time to not only re-read the poem but read a modern guide to help me better understand it.

Joseph Gallaher writes in the preface that he wrote To Hell and Back “to help modern readers master Dante’s masterpiece”. I had hoped this would be the case, but sadly I feel this guide is lacking in spark and well, guidance. Gallaher said he spent 17 years studying the poem yet the guide is a quick rundown of each Canto (like a chapter but shorter) much like Cliffnotes or Sparknotes would do. What I was hoping for was an analysis into the poem’s deeper meaning, much like Professor Hubart would give. I was disappointed with the lack of depth in the guide, because in order to fully appreciate the poem one has to look beyond the written words.

For those of you who do not know much about the poem let me explain. The poem is a fictional account of Dante’s journey into hell, purgatory and finally the lower part of heaven. Dante is middle age and seems to be “lost”. A woman named Beatrice (the love of this life) sees him from heaven and taking pity on him, asks the Greek poet Virgil to be Dante’s guide through the otherworlds. This journey is Beatrice’s way of saving Dante and allowing him to attain grace. Along the journey Dante meets people from his home town of Florence, long dead poets, famous sinners and a few biblical prophets. Almost every word in the poem has been carefully chosen and has more than one meaning. Dante quotes the bible in order to drive a point home. If one does not understand the biblical passage, the point is lost.

In order to fully understand the poem the reader must learn something about these people, otherwise their punishment or reward will make little sense. Understanding Catholic symbolism is a must, as well as old Christianity dogma. Gallagher does explain the basic premise of each Canto and introduces the modern reader to the characters in the poem, but never explains why Dante choose these people or why he chose certain biblical passages as part of his poem. Reading Gallagher’s guide did offer some help but honestly just made me miss my old professor even more.
I will recommend the book to those who have never read Dante’s work but would like to try. Just be warned, that though Gallagher tells us this is one of the greatest pieces of works ever written, he lacks the talent that would have the first time reader coming away fully understanding why this is so.

For a very poetic translation of Dante’s Inferno I would recommend Robert Pinksy. I had always hoped he would have done the whole poem as his talent for poetry and Dante is the best I have read to date. The American poet Longfellow has a translation out that I would recommend for first time readers. My son bought me a newly republished Longfellow version that he found at Barnes and Nobel. It is a very nice looking book and contains the famous Gustave Dore illustrations. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Divine-Comedy/Dante/e/9781435103849/?itm=1&usri=dante+s+divine+comedy+hell+purgatory+paradise

Category: Medieval History

What would you miss if you were to travel back in time?

During the middle ages teeth were cleaned with a rough cloth dipped in an herbal mixture. The wealthy chewed on cloves, cinnamon and mint. As nice as this may be, I would quickly develop Mac Gyver like skills to come up with some type of toothbrush.

So dear Reader, what is that you could not live without? What would be on your list of must haves for all time travelers?

Dante’s Comedy and Joseph Gallagher’s Modern Guide

During the middle ages teeth were cleaned with a rough cloth dipped in an herbal mixture. The wealthy chewed on cloves, cinnamon and mint. As nice as this may be, I would quickly develop Mac Gyver like skills to come up with some type of toothbrush.

So dear Reader, what is that you could not live without? What would be on your list of must haves for all time travelers?

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