In this paper, I will look at the themes in The Odyssey and Inferno. The theme I will look at first is journeys. In the Odyssey, Odysseus struggles to return to his home and family. His journey takes ten years to complete. Unlike Odysseus, whose journey is physical in the Inferno, Dante’s journey encompasses the struggle between good and evil within himself. Dante see’s the afterlife as consisting of three level heaven, purgatory and hell. In the Odyssey as Odysseus is traveling back to Ithaca he encounters a number of mythological and supernatural creatures like Poseidon, Circe, and Polyphemus that he has to defeat using his cunning and guile. Odysseus fight against external forces is where he differs from Dante.
Dante has been cast out because of his political beliefs and because of this his journey is spiritual as he tries to ascertain if he has made the correct ones. Dante looks at his choice as an allegory between good and evil. This is shown in how at the beginning of the book Dante becomes lost in the woods. When he attempts to climb a mountain he finds his way blocked by a lion, leopard and a she-wolf (Dante Alighieri and Musa pg.49). Each of these animals obviously representing something about the struggles of human nature. This is a struggle regarding humanity the nearly all humans face. Upon returning to the forest Dante meets up with Virgil, who takes him on a journey to the nine levels of Hell. During Dante’s sojourn into Hell his tests have nothing to do with physical strength, but with having the inner strength to do the moral and just thing at all times. Dante must maintain his inner strength as he travels through the nine circles of Hell, each circle becoming more horrible and dangerous.
Even though their journeys are different as one is spiritual and the other is physical. There are a number of similarities in that (1) in both the stories they end up in the underworld. Odysseus to ask his mother about Penelope and Dante so that he can understand the nature of sin and redemption (2) both Odysseus and Dante obtain guidance from the dead (3) they both long to reunite with the women that they loved, Odysseus with Penelope, who is in Ithaca with their son Telemachus and Dante with Beatrice, who is dead and in Heaven (Dante Alighieri and Musa pg.45).
The big difference between the books is the concept of religion. Odysseus lived in Ancient Greece during a time were the people worshiped a pantheon of gods and goddesses. In his journey he encounters a number of these gods such as (1) Poseidon, who throws many obstacles in his way to prevent him from returning home. This was because Odysseus took the eye of his son Polyphemus of which Homer says, “Poseidon, unappeased, /forever fuming against him for the Cyclops/ whose giant eye he blinded: godlike Polyphemus” (Homer. and Fagles pg.4). (2) Athena, who helps Odysseus by circumventing the actions of Poseidon. She does this by preventing Odysseus’ ship from crashing during Poseidon’s storm and causing him to shipwreck at Scheria. Unfortunately, Odysseus runs into some trouble here, when the king’s daughter falls for him. (3) Zeus helps Odysseus escape from Calypso’s island, by sending Hermes to convince Calypso to allow Odysseus to leave.
During Dante’s time people were becoming obsessed with Christianity and the idea of a heaven and hell that were based on sin and redemption. The people of Dante’s time would have viewed the polytheistic individuals of the past as destined for Hell, which is something that Dante depicts when he runs into both Virgil, who is his tour guide and Odysseus, who he meets in one of the levels because Odysseus did not know God, since Christianity did not exist at the time that Odysseus had lived.
The second theme that will be examined is justice. In Inferno and the Odyssey both there is a sense of divine justice. The gods of the Odyssey seek to punish people who anger them, for example, Poseidon and his desire for revenge on Odysseus, and Athena, who put an arrow in the heart of a man and his father because he had thrown something at a beggar. (Homer. and Fagles pg.359) This is because the polytheistic people of Ancient Greece believed that while they did have laws and a justice system. The gods were the ultimate judges of someone’s actions. The ancient gods, however did not punish people for their actions against each other (unless asked), but their actions against the gods. On the other hand, in Inferno punishment is more karmic, in that it must fit the crime for which they are in Hell. As with the gods and goddesses in the Odyssey, Dante’s god is not really concerned with the injustices people put on each other. He punishes those who break his commandments or the laws of the church.
The final theme is deceit and lies. In the Odyssey everyone lies and it is okay because they are the good guys. Lies are seen as a way to keep the villains from achieving their goals. For example, despite the fact that she has no agency and is hardly given any attention in the poem, except as Odysseus’ motivation. Penelope is powerful in her ability to deceive. Penelope has said that she cannot choose a suitor until she completes a shroud that she is working on. She works on it during the day and unravels it at night. She is able to achieve this because none of her suitors would believe that she would be inclined to lie or that she would have the intellect to do so. Odysseus lies numerous times. Once when he tells Polyphemus his name is “Nobody” which leads to Polyphemus shouting “Nobody’s killing me now by fraud and not by force.” (Homer. and Fagles pg.149) after Odysseus took his eye. Athena is constantly in disguise, even though she is a goddess.
One of the times that Athena utilizes her penchant for disguises is when one of Penelope’s suitors Antinous seeks to kill Telemachus, Penelope and Odysseus’ son, so that he would have no rival for the throne (Homer. and Fagles pgs.303-310) Athena helps Telemachus by dressing up as a friend of Telemachus grandfather Laertes and convincing the prince to call a meeting (Homer. and Fagles pg.324). Telemachus does this and he proceeds to reproach Penelope’s suitors even if it means lying to Penelope about his actions. In the Inferno Dante depicts lying as something that is contemptuous and sinful (Dante Alighieri and Musa pg.282). This is because to him lying undermines the gift of language that god has given mankind and enables one not only to deceive one another, but to deceive their communities and churches.
In conclusion, the biggest similarity between the two books is that both of the protagonists seek things that they cannot achieve on their own. They must seek the help and guidance of god/ the gods. In Odysseus’ case the gods are either friend, foe or ambivalent, like Zeus. Either way, many of the events that happen to Odyssey happen in direct response to the actions of the gods. In Dante’s view, god is not constantly meddling in human affairs. Although he believes that god is there to help if he is called upon.
Works Cited
Dante Alighieri, and Mark Musa. Dante's Inferno. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995. Print.
Homer., and Robert Fagles. The Odyssey. New York: Viking, 1996. Print.
