Inferno And Odyssey Similarities

Perception Dante Alighieri’s in The Inferno In The Inferno, Dante Alighieri, the poet, places a strong emphasis on perception; it is through sight that Dante the pilgrim can acknowledge and learn from his experience in hell. Sight plays an especially crucial role in the work because Dante, the pilgrim, is often captivated by an image of some kind. The sight of the sinners transfixes Dante; and the sinners are, in turn, captivated with Dante and Virgil. It would seem that everything Dante observes through his journey would be enlightening. However, through the admonishments of Virgil, it becomes apparent that there exist two distinct ways of perceiving: practical, active observation and unreceptive, disadvantageous perception.

Afterlife is deeply addressed in "Dante's Inferno by Dante Alighieri, where we encounter a man wishing to reach the gates of heaven to meet with his beloved wife. However, prior to reaching heaven, Dante travels through the stages of hell and experiences how each unique soul is punished based on the complexity of their sins. Dante describes the relationship between sins and their resulting consequences in hell. In Sir Gawain and the green knight the young Gawain is put to the test by the green knight. Sir Gawain stroke a blow to the green knight which cut his head off, yet the green knight survived.

As he approaches Friar Alberigo, he is cautious about wiping away his icy tears but after hearing his story about killing his relatives inside his own house he states to the man, “To be mean to him was a generous reward” (Cantos XXXIII 507)
 Through symbolizing and allegory, Dante the poet is able to show his views of religious and politics through the journey of Dante the Pilgrim. As the journey began, Dante the Pilgrim was heavenly sympathetic towards all sinners in the beginning circles of hell but as the number of circles grew higher his compassion towards the sinners decreased as he gained a strong belief of divine justice.

This is not time to tire!’ my master cried.” (Pg.207 line 46) Dante has ventured a long way into the pits of hell. ... ... middle of paper ... ...to order and command my will, called to me.’” (Pg. 36 lines51-54) Virgil explains to Dante why he is to be guide through the underworld. So when Dante decides he is going to give up and venture no further into Hell, Virgil is angry. He doesn’t want Dante to waste the gift he has been given by one who loves him.

According to Dante's poem “Inferno”, he incorporated many elements, ideas and personalities from the ancient world, and synthesized these ideas into christian world. In Inferno, the author also known as the main character was traveling through a dark wood and lost his path. At this time, he met three beasts that were leopard ( represented lust), lion (represented violence), and she-wolf ( represented fraud), then they blocked his way. Also, Dante met a ghost of Virgil who was a great poet in ancient Rome world, then Virgil began to guide Dante to go back to his path through the hell and through the heaven. The reason that Virgil helped Dante was because of the woman in heaven who was Beatrice Dante’s departed love.

In Dante’s Inferno, Dante portrays the protagonist as he is guided by his ghostly friend Virgil the poet through the nine chambers of Hell. The transition from one circle to another is very shocking and graphic at what he witnesses through each circle. Dante uncovers where each sin will lead people to once the sinners souls face death. He faces many trials and tribulations through the beginning to end of the Inferno. Dante felt impelled to write the Inferno because he was going through his own personal struggles at the time.

Religious people always fear that they will not make it to Heaven or the place their God resides. The bible and other religious text give advice on how to avoid the pain of Hell. Dante Alighieri, a famous Italian poet, wrote about the physical description of Hell and the punishments each sinner would receive for their sins. Although The Divine Comedy chronicles Dante's journey from the depths of Hell to the glory of Heaven it contains a deeper meaning. Dante reveals the true meaning of the Inferno through his leading motif, his interactions between the sinners, and the intertwining of other literary works into the Inferno.

Dante relates to the reader because he too chose sin over God, but finds redemption as the poem suggests the reader can also. The Inferno is a message to the readers of God’s punishment to sinners and that redemption is obtainable if they repent.

Finally, in Canto four when Dante meets the great poets of all time including Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan, who helped him to enter the Citadel of Human Reason in the first circle of hell. In Canto two, during a conversation between Dante and Virgil, it is revealed that Beatrice is the one that sent Virgil to help Dante through hell. This example shows that Minos warning was unnecessary. At the beginning of the inferno, Dante found out by Virgil, who is a dead soul that he will have to go to hell in order to get to the Mount of Joy. Consequently, Dante agrees to go on the journey with Virgil as his guide and throughout Dante’s journey towards hell, Virgil helped him and have not deceived Dante in any way.

Differences and Similarities in The Odyssey and Inferno When going through the stories The Odyssey by Homer and Inferno by Dante, you get the feeling of how diverse, yet similar the two stories are. When reading The Odyssey, you find Ulysses trying to get home to his love, Penelope. He has been gone for twenty years, and through those years, he has struggled with good and evil, just like Dante in Inferno. Ulysses finds himself time after time fighting off gods and their children. Dante, struggling with good and evil, works his way through the nine levels of hell.