The Odyssey, By Homer, And The Inferno - 1005 Words

Ulysses in Hell The two epics The Odyssey, by Homer, and The Inferno, by Dante, both works have two different perspectives of the character Ulysses. The Odyssey is told from the ancient Greek perspective around 700BC, and The Inferno is told from a Christian point of view in 1300AD. Both epics are written nearly 2000 years apart from each other. What set apart the ideals of both epics are the Pagan warrior perspective in Homer’s epic and the Christian Europe perspective in Dante’s epic. The controversial topic is what makes Ulysses a hero in The Odyssey and what makes him one of the world’s greatest sinners in The Inferno? In The Odyssey, Odysseus or Ulysses, is considered a hero. Odysseus portrays all the qualities of a hero in this epic. He portrays courage, wisdom, and endurance throughout the work, which makes up the qualities of a Pagan warrior’s idea of a hero. Zeus says â€Å"Great Odysseus who excels all men in wisdom, excels in offerings too he g ives the immortal gods who rule the vaulting skies?† (Ody. 1.78-80). When speaking about Odysseus, he describes him as wise. Odysseus uses wisdom in the various obstacles he crosses on his journey home. Wisdom is all about knowing who you truly are and where you are going. This means denying temptation and not forgetting where you are going. On his journey home, he must turn down, possibly one of the greatest temptations, which is immortality. In hopes of keeping Odysseus with her, and not leaving to return home she says â€Å"Show MoreRelatedThe Odyssey and Dantes Inferno1300 Words   |  5 Pagesthan Homer and Dante. The epic tales of The Odyssey and Inferno, respectively, were seemingly written along a parallel train of thought when describing their characters journey, easily engaging the creative functions of the reader with adventurous tales of hope and adventure. Their characters, Odysseus and Dante himself, reflect upon their like and equal struggles in the quest t o return home and the help that they received along the way that helped them make the return possible. The Odyssey beginsRead MoreOdysseus and Dante1517 Words   |  7 PagesThe two stories or myths, The Inferno written by Durante Alighieri published in 1314 and the Odyssey by Homer in 800 B.C.E. are about true love, great journeys that are different but in some ways parallel and end with them back with their true love. Both Dante and Odysseus have a woman who waits for them and in their travels must search themselves and make the right choices to get back to them. Odysseus longs to be with his wife Penelope and Dante to be with the woman he wants to marry BeatriceRead MoreDifferences and Similarities in The Odyssey and Inferno When going through the stories The Odyssey600 Words   |  3 PagesDifferences 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, strugglingRead MoreAthena in the Odyssey vs. Virgil in the Inferno Essay1500 Words   |  6 PagesAthena in the Odyssey VS. Virgil in the Inferno Two of the greatest works ever written, The Odyssey by Homer and The Inferno by Dante, are detailed, multi-sectioned poems about the journey’s of two men. In each story, the main character is given some sort of guidance by another character in order to aid them in their travels. In The Odyssey, Athena is portrayed as the protector to Odysseus on his journey back home from the Trojan War to his family in Ithaca. In The Inferno, Virgil is requestedRead MoreDantes Inferno Ulysses777 Words   |  4 PagesUlysses in Dante’s The Inferno Dante places many figures of Greek mythology, Roman antiquity, and some political enemies in Hell. For some of these people his reasoning suits their punishment, for others it doesn’t, and for some we don’t know enough about them to verify their placement. Ulysses is placed in the eighth circle of Hell and in the eighth bolgia with the evil counselors for his acts in the Trojan War. Dante’s reasoning behind his placement was unjust and Ulysses does not deserve theRead More1. The Russian-American sociologist Pitirim Sorokin categories three cyclical waxing and waning1800 Words   |  8 Pagesthe sensate category belongs Dante’s Inferno, in the ideational category belongs both of the Gospels, and in the idealistic category belongs the Odyssey. I chose Dante’s Inferno for the sensate category because it is our sense perception that shows the truth and the Inferno is all about Dante’s idea of how people should pay for their sins. I chose the Go spel’s for the ideational category because it was different versions of how people saw Jesus. I chose the Odyssey for the idealistic category becauseRead MoreEssay about Comparing the Underworlds in Dante’s Inferno and The Odyssey2108 Words   |  9 PagesDante’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 amountRead More God and Man in Homer’s Iliad, Virgil’s Aeneid, and Dante’s Inferno1228 Words   |  5 PagesGod and Man in Homer’s Iliad, Virgil’s Aeneid, and Dante’s I nferno The truest of man’s goals is to create art. Art is a by-product of the gift of man over the animals, creativity. Truly, creativity is a replication of God in man and a very possible interpretation of the Genesis 1:27 phrase â€Å"in his own image,† along with others—the possession of an immortal soul or the ability to speak. And creativity’s ultimate end product is art. And art more often than not in the history of man has led manRead MoreWhy Is Humanities Important?3163 Words   |  13 Pagesup. These works are continuously referenced. Another reason that humanities is taught is because it helps people express themselves better, and have a broader base from which to do so. If most of us have read and memorized the punishments in the Inferno than most people would understand. But the basic idea is that by studying humanities we ll communicate and understand each other better. And while memorizing these infernal punishments may seem tedious, if looked at p ragmatically it s really notRead MoreThe Divine Comedy And Dantes Inferno1079 Words   |  5 PagesIn the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is viewed as a brave and virtuous hero by most people, especially the Greeks. However, the poet Dante Alighieri shares a much different view within his book The Divine Comedy: Inferno. Dante was born and raised in Italy and therefore had a natural hate for everything Greek related. The Inferno was written thousands of years after the Trojan war, and yet Dante still had a burning grudge against the Greeks for the way in which they defeated the Romans. Dante also validated