Identity Beyond Death

Love and despair stand on the same level, for they are known by their fruits.
They live hidden in our lives and manifest themselves when they ripen into actions and thoughts.

What is a man, if he be not love and despair?

Dante Alighieri, in his journey through the otherworld, explores these sentiments through his ongoing dialogue with the dead, who still retain within themselves what they were and did in their earthly life.
Indeed, what among the blasphemers does Capaneus declare?

Qual io fui vivo, tal son morto

"What I was alive, so am I dead"
(Divina commedia - Inferno,14.51)

Not only in life are we defined by our actions and thoughts; even in the afterlife, we remain what we were in life. This affirms a continuity between life and death. Dante, in fact, denies any rupture between the two:

"Suo cimitero da questa parte hanno

con Epicuro tutt' i suoi seguaci,

che l'anima col corpo morta fanno."

"Within this region is the cemetery

of Epicurus and his followers,

all those who say the soul dies with the body."

(Divina Commedia - Inferno, 10.13-15)

Comments

Fasting to reconnect your "Self" to your body

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