Living at the Edges of the World: The Antipodeans and their Deadly Sins
Abstract
This paper explores the possible connections between the monstrous inhabitants of the 'fourth' continent or Antipodean Land and the tormented spirits of Purgatory, as they are represented in three of the most famous thirteenth century mappae mundi: the Hereford Map, the Ebstorf Map, and the Psalter Map. Addressing all the peculiar species resulting from diverse body hybridization, this 'continent' situated at the age of the oikoumene could accommodate all the exotic peoples or polymorphic creatures of the classical imagination and infuse them with a Christian spirit. As a land with an excessively hot climate that was incongruous with human survival, this land was also perfect for housing repentant sinners on their path toward final absolution. Hence, as I will argue, the liminality of the Antipodean Land and the ambiguous anthropomorphism of those who inhabited it may demonstrate an early Purgatorial localization in the southern hemisphere, opaque to human inspection, and identify the monstra populating it as the impure souls who hoped the cleansing fires would burn off their sins and restore their likeness to God.
