The only exception I take here is the abuse of Virgil (Aeneid) and Dante (Divine Comedy) in the Phelan thread and the same puling, miserable little post here. In the vain hope of educating the unwashed, I offer the following for contemplation. I have avoided using the original text, that may be a bit too much on a Monday morning.
Dante.
Gate of Hell, canto 3. Cowards.
This idea of a marginal place--inside the gate of hell but before the river Acheron--for souls neither good enough for heaven nor evil enough for hell proper is a product of Dante's imagination, pure and simple. Possible theological justification for Dante's invention may be found in Apocalypse (Revelation) 3:16: "But because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth." Included among these cowardly souls--also known as fence-sitters, wafflers, opportunists, and neutrals--are the angels who refused to choose between God and Lucifer.
Courtesy University of Texas.
And my favourite line from the that epic:-
Kharon: A slave? I take no slave, unless he has fought for his bodyrights [freedom from slavery] at sea.