Homer's Odysseus and Dante's Ulysses - Essay Example

Homer's Odysseus and Dante's Ulysses Introduction Ulysses is also called Odysseus in Homer’s poem called odyssey. This epic poem explains Odysseus’ long journey from the Trojan War through his way home. Homer states that Odysseus had one more journey to make after arriving but he does not explain whether the Odysseus went for it. Dante comes to describe this journey in his Inferno, which narrates the journey through hell. Dante introduces a slight difference in his version by stating that Odysseus never returns to Ithaca, his home but decides to continue sailing, behaviour that Dante refers to as irresponsible on Dante’s part. Comparative analysis Homer’s depiction of Odysseus in the Odyssey represents a typical mythology of ancient times. Odysseus who is also referred to as Ulysses in the Inferno by Dante gets firsthand experience of the Greek mythology throughout his voyage. In his journey, he encounters many people who belong to the gangland. His journey takes him through Achilles, Sisyphus, and Agamemnon. This man goes through hell and survives. This qualifies him as part of mythology in a bigger way since he believes that the ultimate respect for a man comes from his conquest of the world and undergoing the Kleos. Odysseus is a member of the real world and occupies higher status, which he demonstrates by entering Hades. All these are views that Homer holds of Odysseus. Dante however, dismisses the views that characterize Odysseus as a hero. Whereas Homer claims that Odysseus and his men returned home to Ithaca, Dante narrates in his poem that together with his men, Odysseus runs into a whirlpool that sucks them in his effort to complete one voyage that remains ahead once he gets home as mentioned by Homer (Bittlestone, Diggle, and Underhill 23). Therefore, he does not ever return to Ithaca. In his Odyssey, Homer does not explain the purpose of what he mentions that Odysseus had one more voyage to make after arriving at home. Dante on his part shows that Odysseus wanted to demonstrate to his warriors who also referred to as his men the most violent warriors worship gods and goddesses of the land instead of a true God. This forms the basis of controversies raised by Dante and Homer. Dante considers people who lived during the times of Homer as pagans. He uses this argument to disprove the reference to Odysseus as being heroic and having a larger than life status in the society. Dante analyses the Kleos motions explained by Homer and disputes them as form of getting glory. It is worth noting that Kleos is a process that people who bring glory to the community are given honour. It is during this process that Odysseus wanted to show to other people that he blindfolded Polyphemus. Dante dismisses this cultural ceremony and instead prefers that people should seek individual spirituality so that they rise to heaven. He fights for restoration of the glory of God among people. According to him, people such as Odysseus are pagans and people should stop glorifying them as heroes. Dante is against these people and portrays them as them as being superstitious and violent. He demystifies mythology that was upheld by Homer yet in the process he develops his new form of mythology albeit unconsciously. Dante uses different ways to drive his single message of serving God and glorifying his name to get to heaven. People who do not worship and glorify God such as Homer and Odysseus will not go to heaven but to hell. Life is journey and both Dante and Homer agree on this as they explain that Odysseus was on a journey. However, though Homer shows that Odysseus and his men returned home to a sumptuous reception when Odysseus goes through the Kleos to his glorification for conjuring the world, Dante refutes this assertion (Bittlestone, Diggle, and Underhill 41). In his account, he demonstrates that Odysseus and his warriors never got back to Ithaca because they proceeded to go see how gods and goddesses were worship only to encounter the whirlpool that swept them. The punishment they receive denotes the punishment that people who do not glorify God will receive when they die. Ironically, Dante stops short of mentioning that the glorious reception given to Odysseus in Homer’s version represents the reception that those who worship the true God will get as he says that they will enter heaven. In the Inferno, Dante begins by giving a clear introduction of Virgil. He develops the character of Virgil in a way that makes the reader to visualize who Virgil is and draw the relationship between the Inferno and Aeneid. The silence exhibited by Virgil in the first canto makes his appearance to look faint. Dante uses this character to guide authoritatively the reader through the Inferno. Dante and Homer borrow a lot from Virgil in the two poems of Odysseus and Inferno. The poems are told through flashbacks at some point. The background of both Homer’s and Odysseus’ audiences are given. The Odyssean cunning, some who are rich and celebrities speak more of the importance of the poet. The poet uses Odysseus’ voice to bring out a wholesome picture of the wanderings of a character he believes is heroic (Bittlestone, Diggle, and Underhill 63). The prediction by Odysseus on his way to the cave guides to him in choosing to carry wine. This however, foreshadows his eminent encounter with Polyphemus and develops the need for being tricky to enhance survival. Among the tricks, Homer develops an escape plan to save Odysseus once he discovers that Odysseus and Polyphemus are at loggerhead. The execution of the plan is slow but subtle. The reason why Odysseus blinds Polyphemus becomes clear the next day in the morning when Polyphemus lets out his flock to graze. At this point, the relevance of blinding is evident. In the same case, Odysseus curiously lies to other people about his name and this seems foolish. However, the humour and brightness behind the trick is clear when Homer and Odysseus are executing their escape mission. The lie helps in restraining the Cyclopes from rescuing Polyphemus. Odysseus shows two extremes of characters that are complete opposites. The cunning prudence displayed when he draws the escape plan from the cave disappears and he appears foolish when he finally reveals his identity to Polyphemus. Polyphemus devours shipmates and Odysseus in angry with him over this and the whole episode taunts him unnecessarily. Odysseus’s revelation to Polyphemus put his moral resentment directly against the divine vengeance of Poseidon. This action is foolish because it makes him excessively proud as such; he destined to suffer great consequences. His ultimate punishment that entails Poseidon’s anger sweeping everything that Odysseus gains by simply hiding his name. It was important that Odysseus men are safe yet this is what he lost. The cultural values of ancient Greece come on board through the approach that Odysseus employs to reveal his name. The process includes attaching his name to a descriptive title that the poem refers to as an epithet and his immediate paternal descent with clear reference to his homeland (Bittlestone, Diggle, and Underhill 37). It is good to remember at this point that Odysseus chooses his home as Ithaca. Homer makes the reader to understand that at the time of his writing, the Greeks formalized this type of introduction that was also evident in Iliad. Another cultural aspect is seen when Odysseus undergoes the confirmation process of Kleos. Odysseus earns the glory since the community regards him to have accomplished great deeds. He strives through the motions to explain to everybody that indeed blindfolded Polyphemus. He directs Polyphemus to make personal submissions of his deed to the entire community. Odysseus believes that spreading his name overseas by doing great things is the ultimate glory that a man can get. In spite of all the foolishness exhibited by Odysseus as he seeks personal glory, Polyphemus comes out as a sympathetic character. The qualities that best describe Polyphemus’ sympathy include the remorseful he offers to Poseidon, his father, the care he gives to his beloved flock though Odysseus and his men want to devour them. The care he shows catches the emotions of the reader as he caresses individual sheep and gives special attention to his lead ram. As Homer notes, he murmurs to his loyal ram questioning why it should be the last of the flock to leave the cave. Analysis of the same brings out Polyphemus as being hearty. His question to the ram, which is stated poetically depicts the gently nature of Polyphemus. He transfers the human emotions of sympathy to the ram as he interrogates the ram further (Bittlestone, Diggle, and Underhill 79). Though this put him across as a tender character, he is very ignorant. He is not aware of Odysseus’s cunning prudence. Homer and Dante differ over what Homer adores of Odysseus as being cunning. He calls this a perfect quality character while Dante admonishes the same. In his Inferno, Dante characterizes Odysseus as being cunning, dishonest, sly, and cowardly. Conclusion The comparative analysis above brings to the fold a fact that both poets are discussing the aspects of good and evil though through different means. The Inferno and the Odyssey bring out elements of mythology. Dante claims that he demystifying mythology though by doing that he is creating his own mythology unknowingly. The main difference between the two is to associate characteristics to whomever they feel is a hero. Homer uses the Kleos process to demonstrate how a hero behaves, what constitutes a hero, and the befitting status that a hero receives from the community. He takes the celebration to explain heroism and glory. Dante dismisses these as misplaced and dwells more on spirituality and worshiping the true God as done by Christians. He uses Ulysses to transform his warriors. Dante feels and explains that people with bad deeds people perish and that Odysseus went to hell because of his deeds. While Odysseus in Odyssey believes that glory is the ultimate success, Ulysses in the Inferno believes otherwise that there is more to life than glory. Works Cited Bittlestone, Robert, Diggle James, & Underhill John. Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer’s Ithaca. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2005. Print Read More