More Mythology in Geass

[inulovinkit.livejournal.com]

While re-watching Turn 1 again, I noticed that Lelouch was reading the Divine Comedy (I have to say, that along with The Prince and Hamlet...Lelouch is quite well read, isn't he?) so, being like I am, I went and looked it up.

And I found something interesting...You know how we're always seeing Jupiter pop up randomly whenever we get those freakout!Geass scenes?

According to Wikipedia:

Sixth Sphere of Heaven. The sphere of Jupiter is that of souls who personified justice, something of great concern to Dante (Cantos XVIII through XX). The souls here spell out the Latin for "Love justice, ye that judge the earth," and then arrange themselves into the shape of an imperial eagle.

Jupiter, justice, eagle...I see a pattern here.

Which brought me to another thought...When C.C. says her name in that episode (was it 11? 12? I can't remember. D: ) Lelouch instantly recognized it. Given the hints, could we suppose perhaps she's someone from the Divine Comedy?

So, along with Celtic mythology (geis), Arthurian Legends, and Norse mythology (Ragnarok and Yggdrasil) and probably a little more interspersed here and there that I can't think of, now we're bringing medieval texts into it. Sunrise really did their research.

Comments

[lavaliere]

It's been forever since I've read the Divine Comedy, so forgive me for inconsistancies

You know, I remember the frequently used scene of two worlds nearly touching, and it reminds me of the way the world is set up with the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. In the series, the underworld, or the Inferno is situated below the earth (below ground). Directly above it, on the earth's surface, is situated Purgatorio which spirals upwards towards Paradiso, almost but not quite touching. Perhaps the formation of the two worlds and the formation of the world according to Dante are somehow related?

As for whether C.C is someone from the Divine Comedy, I'd be willing to think that she's possibly from the cicles of hell, since she's considered a witch. She was constantly persecuted and her personality is rather cold. She could, however, be a version of Beatrice, though I have a little bit of a hard time with this. Dante glorifies Beatrice, while Lelouch only sees C.C. as an acomplice and means to his ends (disregarding any possible romantic interest, of course). If C.C. were like Beatrice, I'd be inclined to think that Lelouch would, likewise, be Dante.

C.C. could also represent Virgil, guiding Lelouch through "hell" as they seek divine retribution the greater good. The way she also seems to communicate with Leleouch's mother (who could also possibly be Lelouch's Beatrice) would be similar to how Beatrice sent Virgil to guide Dante.

Of course, that's all a bit of a stretch, I think. Especially since I haven't read Dante's work for nearly 4 years.

Finally, in regards to Lelouch's reading choices, I think he reads such novels because they suit his analytical mind. Like how Seto Kaiba reads Nietzche, and Yagami Light is a genius. All three characters share that high intelligence trait and therefore seek literature that would not often be read by normal people.