-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, May 17, 2002 12:25 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: Unix to Unix Translators & Rosetta Stones


For those who enjoy Gary Larson's depictions of Hell in The Far Side, or
Phil, Prince of Insufficient Lighting in Scott Adam's Dilbert, this is
precisely why Dante's "Divina Comedia" (Divine Comedy) is worth reading,
even if or especially if one uses Cliff Notes to guide them (Virgillian
jokes not intended). Whether you agree with his conceptions of the afterlife
or not (I do not), Western thought and culture have found his ideas worthy
of consideration for some centuries. Dante cleverly paired those guilty of
certain sins together in Purgatory, where, in many cases, their own
punishments added to the punishments of their counterparts within the same
rings. So spenders and tightwads, both of whom served mammon but in opposite
ways, work off their guilt, by rolling huge boulders in opposite directions,
much as they did in life.
--------------------------------

For those who found Dante's version difficult to get through, and even more
so for those who didn't, I'd like to recommend "Inferno", by Jerry Pournelle
and Larry Niven. I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable retelling of
Dante's story.

Steve

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *