1.) An anti-hero that emerges in Canto XIII are the Harpies. "They have broad wings, a human neck and face, clawed feet, and swollen, feathered bellies" (13.11-12).
2.) The Harpies are one of the scariest demons readers have encountered so far in Dante's Inferno. "They caw their lamentations in the eerie trees" (13.12-13). "Eager as greyhounds off the leash, Black bitches filled the woods, avid and quick. They set their teeth on the one who stopped to crouch, and tore his limbs apart" (13.118-121). The Harpies are violent creatures, who's eerie caws fill the 2nd ring of the 7th circle. They deliver pain to all souls which reside there with a vicious eagerness, acting as a machine to serve punishment to those who have sinned.
3.) Like other demons such as the centaurs which keep souls from escaping the boiling blood they are sentenced to spend eternity in and Minos, the demon who judges and assigns the souls their proper place, the Harpies serve a purpose in Hell. "Feeding on the foliage [souls], [they] create Pain, and an outlet for the pain as well" (13.94-95). Every ring in Hell has its respective entity to carry out that ring's punishment. In the 2nd ring of the 7th circle of Hell, we see that the Harpies are that entity.
4.) The Harpies are truly not heroes. Residing as a deliverer of punishment in Hell, they do not fulfill any defining traits which make a hero. They are not humble, self-sacrificing, noble, brave, or any other hero like quality. The Harpies are anti-heroes because they are truly evil entities, which exist for the sole purpose of delivering Pain.
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4 comments:
I disagree with this statement because the Harpies were sent to Hell by God to do God's bidding. they are there to do their job. Maybe they are not heroic to normal society but to the society of Hell, for the furies to do their jobs and follow Divine Law, they are doing something right.
I have to agree with Kimmy. Although they are not doing general good, noble,or any other of the characteristics we have given to heroes, they are "true to task". Also let us remember that they are not punishing good people, they are punishing sinners sinners and are following what is mandated by Divine justice.
I agree that the Harpies are not heros but not because of their current positions in hell, but because of the lives they live on earth. If they were truly heroic while they were alive, A divine power wouldnt have deemed hell as a suitable place for their punishment. In hell, the Harpies "create pain" (13.94). In their former lives, they may have afflicted pain on themselves or other people on emotional, spiritual, or physical level with means that they were heroic.
Along with the harpies, the demons in cantos 21 and 22 are anti- heroes. Even though they help Dante and Virgil, they do cruel things to the sinners in the fifth pouch. Every monster assigned to watch and punish the sinners are anti- heroes.
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