Dante's Inferno and Homer's The Iliad

This study will compare and contrast Dante's Inferno with Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, focusing on the writing styles of the authors, but also covering other issues (point of view, moral messages, the role of memory, and heroism) which are often affected by and effect style. Not surprisingly, the fact that the three works are epics similarly shapes their author's styles to some degree, calling for a solemn, rhythmic approach to the most serious of themes--war and hell. Nevertheless, important and substantial differences exist in those styles, some based on the authors' intended audiences, some based on the authors' intentions, and some based on the contents of the tales. In general, Homer's style reflects the fact that his works are meant to delivered aloud to a live audience, as part of the oral tradition of storytelling. Dante, on the other hand, has written an epic poem with more rigid requirements with respect to rhyme scheme, length of line, and other poetic factors. Both authors mean to educate, or at least influence their audience morally and behaviorally, which inevitably adds to the formality of their styles. Even the latter generalization must be amended, however, for there are important thematic differences between Homer's two works (Iliad being more pessimistic and tragic, and Odyssey being more traditional and romantic, almost with a modern novel's approach, and a happy ending), and these thematic differences create differences in styles. On the other hand

Related Essays

Dante Literary Sensibility In this passage from Dante's Inferno (XXII, 25-30), we see .... particular poetic technique is obvious "ma come s'appressava Barbariccia" (Dante XXII, 29 .... (955 4 )

Don Quixote & Dante .... This is also why Francesca tells Dante that Caina waits .... deal in common in both Alighieri's Inferno and de .... that, if breeched, damns the breecher(s) and sends .... (1664 7 )

Dante Alighieri's poem The Divine Comedy .... In the Inferno Dante does not offer extensive explanations of .... since Fortune "at her discretion shift[s] the world's .... this raises are ignored by Dante and the .... (3043 12 )

Punishment & Transgression in Medieval Literature .... part of Sheherezade, there nothing to compare it to in Dante's Inferno. .... P., Wellek, R., Douglas, K., and Lawall, S. (1992). .... The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri .... (997 4 )

The books of the Bible .... In a way the Inferno can be seen as a .... Dante cites Simon Magus, the eponymous magician of the apostolic .... 3). The "trump[et] of judgment sound[s]" the everlasting .... (3401 14 )

Beat Generation .... William S. Burroughs was another Beat writer instrumental in the formation .... the world is more horrific than anything Dante imagined in his Inferno: The Word .... (2459 10 )

ther than a romance requires a figure such as Achilles to contrast with the idealism of Odysseus. One may favor Odysseus over Achilles as a heroic type, but Odysseus needed Achilles for victory over the Trojans. Homer's stylistic choice with respect to the characters' speaking for themselves allows the reader to draw his own conclusions about the action and characters, in contrast to the ongoing commentary of the first-person speaker in Dante. Human memory in Homer's tales plays an important role in shaping his distancing style. With Dante, one feels that the action is happening in the moment, despite the use of past tense. With Homer, who also uses past tense, the reader feels that the events being described have happened long ago and in a land far distant. The Homeric style in its grandness suggests myth and folklore, whereas Dante's style seems to create an intimate reality which includes the reader. The use of memory by Homer in The Odyssey helps the poet show the individual's movement from memory of events and experiences to the recognition of the moral and spiritual message behind those events and experiences. Memory in the story of Odysseus serves as a tool working the protagonist and his fellows toward the recogniti

Category: Literature - D