Essay about Comparing the Underworlds in Dante’s Inferno...

Dante’s Inferno is a narrative poem, with a very complicated rhyme scheme, originally written in Italian. It documents the author’s, Dante, trip through hell, where he learns how hell is organized and the way in which sinners are punished. Dante is guided by the great poet Virgil, who leads him throughout hell. The Odyssey, is an epic authored by the Greek, Homer. The epics centers on Odysseus’ protracted journey home. The protagonist, Odysseus, visits the underworld for a very short amount of time. The two literary works contain many common elements, such as characters being punished, the protagonists interacting with those in the underworld, repeating characters, and the misery of the underworlds. There are also differences†¦show more content†¦who allows it?/ I am not Aeneas, nor am I Paul./ Neither I nor any think me fit for this.† (Canto II: 31-33). His nerves are eased when Virgil tells him that he was sent by Beatrice, Dante’ s love. â€Å"I who bid you go am Beatrice./I come from where I most desire to return. The love that moved me makes me speak.†(Canto II: 70-72). Odysseus has a very sexual relationship with Circe. While Beatrice and Dante do not have sexual relationship, Beatrice is his love. Minos, Zeus’ son and the king of the underworld, judges and decides the fate of all those that enter hell and the House of Death, in both Dante’s Inferno and The Odyssey, respectively. In The Odyssey, Minos is described as, â€Å"firmly enthroned, holding his golden scepter, judging all the dead†¦.† (268). Similarily in Dante’s Inferno, Minos is an â€Å"accomplished judge of sins/decides what place in Hell is fit for it† (Canto V: 9-10). Both Odysseus and Dante have encounters with relatives while visiting the underworlds, although Dante does not speak with his family member. Odysseus’ mother is also not being punished, unlike Dante’s kin. Dante spots â€Å"someone of my own blood lament/the sin that cost so dear down there† (Canto XXIX: 20-21). Odysseus encounters his mother and they briefly catch up on lost time, exchanging information about Odysseus’ family and Odysseus’ ill fate throughout his attempt to reach home. Both Hell and the House of DeathShow MoreRelatedThe Divine Comedy1705 Words   |  7 PagesComedy can be broken down to a epic that expresses a global message of human life. I. To understand The Divine Comedy and its impact, an understanding of Dante Alighieri’s life of tragic love and civil war can assist in unraveling the truth on Dante’s philosophical epic. Alighieri’s grief of a lost love and his involvement in a civil war led to his philosophical masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, influenced by classical writers like Homer and Virgil, using a distinct style and use of language thatRead MoreThings That Go Bump In the Night: Why They Are Scary2198 Words   |  9 Pagesevil, and greed. Jesus says to his disciples, â€Å"Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves as he sends them out to spread his word and do good deeds (Matthew 10:16). It states that the disciples will be scorned and may encounter dangers, comparing them to sheep among their predator, the wolf. Cannibalism is obviously something that scares humans. In Greek literature, we see that the House of Atreus was cursed for generations due to cannibalism. Werewolves ar e creatures that were once human