Life, 1917-11-22 · page 23 of 44
Life — November 22, 1917 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a classical allegorical illustration rather than political satire. The image depicts an underground scene with numerous figures, fortifications, and activity—consistent with the quoted excerpt from Virgil about Pluto (the Roman god of the underworld) and the difficulty of the "upper air." The illustration likely represents the underworld or Hell, a common subject in classical literature and artistic tradition. The quote attributes the text to Virgil, the Roman poet, suggesting this relates to classical mythology rather than contemporary political commentary. Without additional context or captions identifying specific figures or events, the page appears to be educational or literary in nature, illustrating classical concepts rather than delivering modern satirical commentary. The "Life" magazine attribution and "comicbooks.com" reference indicate this is an archived historical document.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
te of Pluto stands open night and day. But upper air—that is the toil—that the difficulty. —Virgil. comicbooks.com