Comparing Dante 's Inferno And Virgil 's The Aeneid

In both Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid, the heroes make the dauntless adventure into the underworld. Both of theses visits occur around the middle of the stories, and they bring information about the lives of heroes ' loved ones. The heroes also get very important information from these loved ones; information that they require to continue on their journeys. However these are not the only things that are similar about the heroes visits. The influence of the Homeric writings of the Iliad and the Odyssey on Virgil’s writings is clear - especially in Book VI of the Aeneid. Throughout this paper we will talk about the similarities that occur throughout the two poems, and how the two authors beliefs shine through. These beliefs are two very different views on the idea of death. Homer’s Iliad depicts death as something that is something souls do not enjoy. Whereas Virgil’s Aeneid depict it more as a final rest for souls – something that relieves them of the troubles of life.

Aeneas is son of Anchises, the prince of Dardaria and Venus, goddess of beauty and love. Aeneas was a Trojan military leader during the Trojan War. Aeneas was also one of the lone survivors after the siege of Troy. After the fall of Troy, Aeneas is divinely lead to Carthage by Juno because she has a grudge against the Trojans. While in Carthage, queen Dido falls deeply in love with Aeneas. Jupiter afraid that Aeneas is abandoning his destiny sends Mercury to order Aeneas to leave Carthage and travel to Italy. Once he arrives in Italy he is visited by his father’s ghost which tells him he needs to travel to the Underworld. Aeneas ends up going to the Underworld to

The Inferno is a tale of cautionary advice. In each circle, Dante the pilgrim speaks to one of the shades that reside there and the readers learn how and why the damned have become the damned. As Dante learns from the mistakes of the damned, so do the readers. And as Dante feels the impacts of human suffering, so do the readers. Virgil constantly encourages Dante the pilgrim to learn why the shades are in Hell and what were their transgressions while on Earth. This work’s purpose is to educate the reader. The work’s assertions on the nature of human suffering are mostly admonition, with each shade teaching Dante the pilgrim and by extension the reader not to make the same mistakes. Dante views his journey through hell as a learning experience and that is why he made it out alive.

Dante’s work Inferno is a vivid walkthrough the depths of hell and invokes much imagery, contemplation and feeling. Dante’s work beautifully constructs a full sensory depiction of hell and the souls he encounters along the journey. In many instances within the work the reader arrives at a crossroads for interpretation and discussion. Canto XI offers one such crux in which Dante asks the question of why there is a separation between the upper levels of hell and the lower levels of hell. By discussing the text, examining its implications and interpretations, conclusions can be drawn about why there is delineation between the upper and lower levels and the rationale behind the separation.

As humans, we are always imagining what our lives will be like when we die. While the depictions of what hell or heaven may be from the ancient times and now, what has stayed consist is the idea of an afterlife altogether.

The gods have an effect on the way people live on earth. When Inferno was written by Dante, Christianity was being spread rapidly as majority of the people had embraced it as depicted in today’s world. Dante regards that polytheistic divine beliefs of ancient times were referred as sin against God. This is best reflected in Inferno when hero Odysseus and poet Virgil live in hell due to their anti-Christ

The role of religion, ancestry, and nationality are crucial in forming one’s identity. These items and more come together to create a sense of security for an individual. The narrative epic poem, The Inferno, by Dante Alighieri takes the reader with Dante on his journey through Hell and rediscovery of his identity. Dante’s journey commenced as a result to him falling into temptations whilst falling away from God. This led him to travel through the Dark Wood of Error which symbolizes the worldliness that occurs when one strays from the True Way, or God’s Way. The spirit of the poet Virgil, symbolizing Human Reason, appears and leads Dante away from the Dark Wood of Error and to the Divine Illumination with a journey through Hell. The need

Shakespeare’s King Lear and Dante’s inferno touch on several major points that was important in the past but is still just as important in today's society. Although they differ in nature they both have the same understanding and perspective when it comes to human suffering. Suffering is inevitable because we are subject to the human condition therefore almost making it impossible to make the right choices. Shakespeare and Dante agree that the reason for suffering is a result of making wrongful decisions due to the human conditions of imperfection, both assertions speak truth about the human condition however inferno transmits an aspect of hope that king Lear does not.

Throughout the Aeneid there are several recurring themes that shape the story. One of the biggest themes is family. Without the idea of family Aeneas has less motivation to go on his journey. The gods use this against him when attempting to persuade Aeneas to continue embarking on the quest he has been on. Anchises, Aeneas’ father meets with Aeneas as well and gives his perspective on Aeneas’ journey and includes a lot of arguments about family. Anchises has a strong concern for family as well, and it is evident in the underworld when Aeneas and Anchises meet.

The historical relationship between the Aeneid and the Inferno originates with Dante’s own definition of the former as “the canonic epic model” (Jacoff 3). By definition an “epic model” dramatizes events of historical or legendary importance (Webster). Thus Dante, who “had no direct access to Homer” and the first epic models of Western literature--The Illiad and The Odyssey--chose Rome’s national epic, The Aeneid, as his historical inspiration (Jacoff 3). Specifically, the Inferno finds its overarching structural and thematic antecedent in Book VI of The Aeneid, where Aeneas descends into the realm of the shades. Here among hell’s carnage Aeneas finds his idea of eternal beauty embodied within the shade of his father, Anchises, who has survived in the heaven-like Elysian Fields. In the Inferno, the pilgrim undertakes the same journey as his historical prototype but instead searches for spiritual absolution in a Christian heaven. The motif of the journey remains, but the specific religious overtones of hell become slippery from the time of Aeneas to the pilgrim. For example, in his essay entitled "Imagination and Thought in the Middle Ages," Umberto Eco notes that “the medieval period was a prolongation of the mythopoetic dimension of the Classical period, though

In Dante’s Inferno, the relationship between Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil the Guide is an ever-evolving one. By analyzing the transformation of this relationship as the two sojourn through the circles of hell, one is able to learn more about the mindset of Dante the Poet.  At the outset, Dante is clearly subservient to Virgil, whom he holds in high esteem for his literary genius. However, as the work progresses, Virgil facilitates Dante’s spiritual enlightenment, so that by the end, Dante has ascended to Virgil’s spiritual level and has in many respects surpassed him. In Dante’s journey with respect to Virgil, one can see

Dante’s descent into Hell in Inferno, the first part of his Divine Comedy, tells of the author’s experiences in Hades as he is guided through the abyss by the Roman author, Virgil. The text is broken into cantos that coincide with the different circles and sub-circles of Hell that Dante and Virgil witness and experience. Inferno is heavily influenced by classic Greek and Roman texts and Dante makes references to a myriad of characters, myths, and legends that take place in Virgil’s Aeneid, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Some of the most important references, however, are the most obvious ones that are easily overlooked simply because of the fact that they are so blatant. Dante is being escorted through Hell by the

In the note to Canto V regarding Francesca and Paulo, the Hollanders exclaim that “Sympathy for the damned, in the Inferno, is nearly always and nearly certainly the sign of a wavering moral disposition” (112). Indeed, many of the touching, emotional, or indignation rousing tales told by the souls in Hell can evoke pity, but in the telling of the tales, it is always possible to derive the reasons for the damned souls’ placement in Hell. However, there is a knee-jerk reaction to separate Virgil and, arguably, some of the other souls in limbo from this group of the damned, though, with careful perusal of the text, the thoughtful reader can discern the machinations behind their damnation.

While St. Thomas Aquinas established himself as the New Aristotle of the 13th century, Dante Alighieri established himself the new Virgil. The two men made an immense impact in their respective fields (poetry and philosophy). Yet surprisingly, the two share common ideals. In each of their respective literary and philosophical views, they establish the importance of the relationship between nature and grace. In Dante’s Inferno the unique relationship of grace and nature is made apparent and reflects the writings of Aquinas’ “Summa Theologica”. Dante’s pilgrimage through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise exhibit and reflect St. Thomas’ understanding of the relationship of nature and grace. Dante

Aeneas next goes to Cumae in Campania to gain access to the underworld from the Sibyl, or priestess of Apollo, and succeeds. He does so in order to ask his dead father about the future of their race.