This paper considers the shared ideas among Homer, Dante Alighieri, Virgil, and the anonymous writer of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The idea of paradise and hell, right, and wrong, retribution, and reward are evident in the texts with some of them bearing a close resemblance to each other. For the conclusion, there will be an analysis of how the authors’ perceptions echo in present-day societies.
Perhaps the most common theme availed in all the reading is pride. In the texts, pride dominates the actions of the heroes and even propels some to act irrationally for the sake of self-preservation. In the Iliad, Agamemnon’s arrogance urges him to spite the god-like warrior Achilles only to have the man retaliate with his self-importance and demand the aid of the gods for revenge. By that logic, pride in the Iliad takes the form of both culture and military prowess. Agamemnon is the king and for that reason, he has the right to exercise authority over his soldiers and every plunder they gain in the Trojan War. Now, the fact that he is traditionally the superior power, he seeks to protect that perception by demanding to have Briseis after returning Chryseis to her father. Subsequently, his actions pave the way for Achilles to exhibit his prowess as a warrior and connections with the deities, another depiction of pride. Notably, it was Achilles’ need to out stage King Agamemnon that encouraged him to pull his men from the ongoing war and unleash the powers of Zeus on the unsuspecting Achaeans. The words “He cheated me, Wronged me, Never again” give a perfect illustration to the claims presented above it was all about Achilles (Homer 9.386). Achilles pride is also evident in the Odyssey where readers become aware of the fact that Odysseus' primary desire to return home is to claim his possessions and punish whoever dared to lust after his wife and properties. The problem is, one would think for a warrior, his enthusiasm to go home would be so he could be with his entire family, but that is not so. Thus, Odysseus murders the suitors of his wife and leaves their souls to make their way into Hades (Homer, 24.8-30).
Another prominent theme is that of punishment. In all works, the need to punish a wrongdoer for one reason or another defines particular scenes that go on to create either the foundations or the climax of the entire tale. In the Iliad, Achilles sought to punish Agamemnon and used a military tactic to do so as he endorsed Zeus to thwart the advancements of the Achaean Army. In the Odyssey, Odysseus’ desire to return home not a matter of needing to be with his family; rather, he only sought to kill Penelope’s suitors for his sake. Subsequently, the entire plot of Dante Alighieri’s Inferno stems from the ideologies of punishment for sins. Drawing heavily from religious teachings on life after death, Inferno depicts hell as divided into different portions to punish a particular sin in each one. The intricate detail that goes into defining sin and what deserves punishment is also worth mentioning. For example, although anger may be the cause of murder, whoever kills another person would receive a penalty meant for murderers, not thieves (Dante, XXXI.19-127). Subsequently, the book Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is also subject to the theme of retribution as the Green Knight’s appearance in Camelot sought to test the Knights of the Round Table and punish them if there was a need.
The final prominent theme is the one of the ideas of an underworld, where all persons must atone for their sins. In the Odyssey and the Aeneid, hell serves as a critical turning point in the journeys of the protagonists. In fact, one can even consider them as a communication channel where one can gain information. In the Odyssey, Odysseus gets information about his home by talking to the spirit of his dead mother. In the Aeneid, Aeneas enters the Land of the Dead in search of information that would aid him in his task, and he also gets information about his journey. In the Inferno, the underworld is also present as it depicts the souls of the dead suffering for their earthly transgressions. Notably, while Dante’s hell does not give a palpable appearance of there being communication, there is no need for the same just because his explanations of sin and the punishing methods of hell communicate to the reader correctly. In other words, the book is a word of caution to anybody who reads it: there is a place in hell for every mistake.
In conclusion, the mentioned aspects of the class readings are not different from the societal perceptions of good begets good and bad warrants some punishment. Accordingly, religious understandings of life after death also have a correlation with Inferno and in most cases people would react just as Achilles did in the Iliad. By that logic, the authors are not wrong in their representation of relationships within the texts and the fact that they have so many similarities highlight the possibility of modern say societies being similar to those of medieval times. The main difference revolves around the fact that today individuals do not seek vengeance but are lawfully compelled to allow the government and the police to do their work.
Works Cited
"The Norton Anthology of Western Literature." Ed. Lawall Sarah, Patterson Lee, Spacks Patricia Meyer, Thalmann William G., and James Heather. Trans. Mark Musa. 9. Vol. 1. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. 1465-1576. Print.
