There are also other specific situations that demonstrate Virgil’s ignorance of Catholicism, which relates to his placement in hell. Virgil not only aids Dante as the guiding character in the Inferno, but also aids Dante in his writing of the Inferno as a poet. Dante calls Virgil his "master and author (Canto I)," which emphasizes how important Virgil has been for Dante as a poet and a philosopher. “Dante borrowed as well from Virgil the poet much of his language, style, and content.” Because Virgil is made out to be an atheist, Dante being Christian could not copy Virgil’s exact outline but instead created a hell distinct from, yet still reminiscent of Virgil’s Underworld of Book VI. Dante’s interpretation resembled a more Catholic understanding of what hell should be like and modernizes Virgil’s perspective into what sort of people and crimes are deserving of hell’s occupancy.
However, the book Inferno only focuses on his travels through the circles of Hell. As Dante views punishments in Hell, he often faints from the gruesomeness of them. Over time, his reaction to torture changes as he reflects them as a justice for sins. Another main character, Virgil, is a ghost that guides Dante through the depths of Hell. Virgil receives orders from an angel to lead Dante through Hell on a spiritual journey.
65). Dante states, “I do not write it; words would not suffice” when Virgil leads him to face Lucifer in the abyss of Hell (Dante. Canto 34. 27). The sinners’ incontinent actions of betrayal have no penance, resulting in the loss of speech, “the gift which distinguishes man from other creatures” (The Relation of Speech to Sin in the Inferno).
Specifically, Dante’s reactions with the spirits also gain new worth where they are no longer mere responses from the poet, but rather emulative reactions of the Pilgrim to the specific ambiance of each depth of Hell and his symbolic involvement in their sins. In essence, a comprehensive criterion is needed to prevent any myopic understandings of each canticle; the Inferno must not be weighed with its own scale but in terms of its relationship to Purgatorio and Paradiso. For it is in the obscurity of the perfect souls in Paradise that the spirits in Hell gain meaning, just as it is with the Pilgrim’s progressive enlightenment in the Purgatorio and
These two works, chapter four “The Search for Everlasting Life” in the Epic of Gilgamesh (Epic) and “Ecclesiastes” from the Old Testament (Testament) are great examples of literary works with far more complex meaning than the text conveys. The comparisons I found between the two would be vanity and the permanence of death, and the contrast to be the tone in which it was represented. In the Testament it is evident throughout that all man’s endeavors are in vain, and regardless if the acts are righteous or wicked they were done out of vanity. This relates to the Epic because Gilgamesh endures all the trials and tribulations to reach Utnapishtim to ultimately have eternal life. Gilgamesh also continually defends his appearance with the same speech to every important person he meets, worrying so much about how he is perceived instead of what needs to be done.
So he sets forth on a journey to avenge them. While on this journey he discovers that his blood father is a God, thus making him out to be a Semi-God, or half man half god. Although his journey isn’t equivalent to Gilgamesh’s epic, the quality and characteristic traits in these characters are much similar. They both are subjected to being harmed and death; and although they both know this fact it doesn’t stop them from continuing on, onto their journeys to get to where they are destined to be. As I picture both characters in my head I can see the courage and bravery in their eyes, defeating each demon that crosses their paths.
Comparing Achilles then and him now, I found that he is a complete opposite of himself. Before he is characterized as a hero: fire, rage, red, hurtful. And now he is a man: water, sadness, blue, soft. Not only are there opposites in Achilles but in the mood and tone of the poem as well. In the beginning, when Achilles is the hero, there is a very angry and harsh, almost scary, tone when reading the poem.
“Whichever one death fells must deem it a just judgment by God. (440-441)” The poet of Beowulf constantly emphasizes that death comes to everyone whenever God decides it’s time; there is nothing mortal man can do to avoid this eventual fate. Beowulf doesn't enter into his battle with Grendel expecting to triumph over the demon. Instead, he is able to fight Grendel with courage because he's already accepted that he will most likely die in the attempt. This morose attitude releases him from the fear of death.
Unlike many tales, Gilgamesh chooses his companion. Enraged by Gilgamesh’s decision, Ishtar, “in revenge, she takes Enkidu’s life” (“From the Epic” 21; 14-15). Similarly, in The Book of Job, the main protagonist, Job was a “sound and honest man”, from the land of Uz, who worshiped Yahweh, the primary deity of the Jewish faith (“From the Hebrew” 34; Job 1.1-2). Yahweh and his adversary, Satan, using their divine powers, test Job’s devotion to God. Satan says, “Have you not put a wall around him and his house and all his domain?” and that he was “blessed [with] all he undertakes, and
He explained that Dante’s Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri’s poem from the fourteenth-century called Divine Comedy. It is about the journey of Dante through hell, or the medieval version of hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is shown as nine circles of suffering located within the earth. Through symbolism, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul towards God, with the Inferno (Italian for Hell) describing the recognition and the rejection of sin. Overall I thought that whole presentation was extremely boring and hard to follow.