Variations of Hell in Classical Literature

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Everyone has different perspectives and ideas about what Hell is. This is especially true in The Odyssey, The Aeneid, and The Inferno. First, in The Odyssey, Homer’s explanation of Hell was very basic and contained the dead and was very dark and sad. Then, in The Aeneid, Virgil offered a more vivid and descriptive explanation of Hell that also explained that the souls of those who pass are being punished for their sins on Earth. Finally, in The Inferno, Dante presented a disturbing version of Hell and expressed how Hell was divided into sections; each section was dedicated to a certain type of sin. Dante then described the different punishments presented at each different level. While all three epics have different ideas of what describes Hell, there is no doubt that all three epics reiterate the same message that sins expressed on Earth do not go unnoticed. Though Homer’s The Odyssey, Virgil’s The Aeneid, and Dante’s The Inferno all shared the same characteristic of being epic poems and having a Hell or Underworld involved, each book offered different views of what exactly ‘Hell’ was.
Homer’s explanation of the Underworld in The Odyssey was described as an immense land of grief and sorrow. Odysseus referred to the residents of the Underworld as, “listless spirits of their ghosts” (Homer 250), and “the nations of the dead” (Homer 250), which gives off an image of crowds of souls congregating in one open area. There are no separations amongst the dead in the Underworld; young girls stand next to old men as well as fallen warriors. There are no distinctions between sinners and virtuous souls; all are shades, shadows, and spirits. In book eleven, Odysseus ventures to the Underworld and came across his mother and tried to embrace he...

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...future. In contrast, Dante was lured into Hell by a guide, Virgil, who was sent by Lady Beatrice.
I asked my roommate, Jessica, what her personal interpretation of Hell was. Jessica said she wasn’t sure whether she believes in an afterlife, but she said that if she did, she believes it would be like reliving your life but everything you feared would happen to you. She thinks that Hell would mean being forced to live all of your worst fears, as if you’re trapped in your own head. Next, she said that she believes that the inability to forgive oneself is what would condemn one to Hell. In short, no, Jessica’s version of Hell does not mirror one of the versions in the texts from class.

Works Cited

Dante, Alighieri. The Inferno. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 2009. Print.
Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1997. Print.

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