The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri

The Divine Comedy uses classical references that Dante uses as guises and interpretation into his inferno as an effective use of Roman and Greek paganism to tie mythos to a Medieval Christian sight. Using such classical references as a tie into the epic brings premise to the same outlook and approach the church used to draw in more supporters as an appearance of values and views to their cause. Using figures in the Comedy like Cerberus and the boatmen combined with elements found like Styx and gorgons you can find that there is extensive linking to classical literature and the figures found within. Whereas I believe Dante chose classical sources for purely explanative elements within his first canticle, I seem to also find that Dante chooses such reference as an important element to explain the significance of, for further interpretation of both punishment and background within the circles of hell as a style of Roman Myth through his eyes.

As the Poet Dante travels through hell you find that the first large source of mythology peers through the veil after limbo as Dante enters the sixth canto and is found to be at the paws of the Greek and Roman underworld guardian, Cerberus. Whereas the first examination of the Kerberos, Dante uses the hound as a lamenting explanation for the gluttonous as the beast personifies the earth in which the dead are buried, and its purpose as the devourer of corpses, but using the beast at an earlier circle of hell perhaps leaves a further mythological significance. In mythology, the hound of hounds is kept at the gates of Hades, or in other accounts the banks of the Acheron, to withhold souls from escaping the clutches of hell. However it’s interesting to note how Dante uses examples such as the Ae...

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...find is not readily defined in the bible but as a pit of fire, creates a world in which there is a mechanical demeanor in which sins are both accounted for and punished. Dante with Classical tradition and monsters, such as Kerberos or the Furies, attempts to take the reader with him on his journey, while going far beyond his own Christian and Roman Catholic tradition. Dante choosing classical sources for such reference is important to explain the significance of Dante’s journey and to show further interpretation of both punishment and background within the circles of hell. Whereas I believe Dante used Roman and Greek mythology as a greater guide to his story, allegorically the poem significantly takes on a more explanative view of Hell for those who have sinned and because of its style in the form of roman myth creates a greater eeriness and teaching to its plot.