Hi folks,
Wow!!! Interesting
thread.
Yes, it probably is God. But I can't
help but wonder...
As some of you already know, I've been helping my niece with her homework for the past few years. She is taking a history/humanities course this semester. Just this past week, she
had to read some of Dante's works ("Inferno", etc.) and write an essay about it. Since she asked me for advice and some
help, I read it too. It was the first time I
had ever read any of
his works. Back in the 1980s, my high school
Italian language teacher (a
Roman Catholic priest of Italian/Neapolitan descent) always talked about Dante and
his works. He loved Dante. Now that I've finally read some of
his works, I see what he meant. I loved it too. Dante's descriptions of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory are fascinating and descriptive in a sick and eerie kind of way.
Anyway, he describes Satan as having 3 heads, one
red, one yellow, and one not described. He also has 6 eyes and 3 mouths, which he uses to eat sinners.
I'm not saying that the figure in that painting is Satan. It probably is God. But I thought of all of this in light of just recently reading Dante's "Inferno" a few days ago.
And there is another interesting piece of information with regard to
Medieval interpretation of
Janus. The city of Genoa,
Italy was founded during the Dark Ages. It really flourished and came into its own during the Middle Ages and Renaissance period. Genoa was originally called (in Latin) "Ianva", which translates into "Janua" (in English). Of course, this is a variation of "
Janus". The city of Genoa was named after the
Roman god
Janus. And this was done during a
Christian period in Genoa's
history. So, apparently, Christians in
Italy continued to worship
Janus during the Middle Ages.
Meepzorp