How Is Ovid Similar To Dante's Inferno

The similarities between The Metamorphoses of Ovid, a latin narrative poem from the creation of the world to the deification of Julius Caesar, and Dante’s Inferno, an epic poem about the journey of Dante through Hell, are not obvious right away. Both pieces use different approaches to attempt to arrive at a truth regarding the essence of human existence, with Dante relying more on a Christian worldview while Ovid took the more paganistic approach. Both works of literature are considered their magnum opus and both poets garnered mixed reactions of both praise and criticism alike. Despite Ovid’s Metamorphoses coming nearly 1300 years before Dante’s Purgatorio, both Ovid and Dante have similar experiences of being exiled and it comes as no surprise

that Ovid exerts so much influence on Dante’s writing. Throughout Dante’s work, the number of times he alludes to Ovid’s work is only exceeded by Virgil.
In Dante’s work, not only do we see the similarities to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, but we also see direct references to Ovid’s work. In particular, we see Dante reappropriating Ovid’s myth of Pyramus and Thisbe. This myth, found in Book Four of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, describe a pair of Babylonian lovers who are forbidden to see each other by their parents. While separated, they communicate through a chink in the wall and make plans to escape and run away together. Thisbe arrives at their agreed meeting spot first, under a mulberry tree by Ninus’ tomb. However, she flees after encountering a lioness, leaving behind her veil, which the lion tears. When Pyramus arrives and sees the torn up veil, he assumes that Thisbe had been killed by a wild animal. Overcome with grief, he stabs himself. When Thisbe returns and sees his dead body, she likewise kills herself.
We first see Dante’s allusions to the myth in Purgatorio III, “Don’t be astonished; rest assured that he/ would not attempt to cross this wall without/ a force that Heaven sent to him as support” (Purgatorio. III. 94-99). According to Virgil, Dante is unable to cross the wall of broken sunlight “without/ a force that Heaven sent him as support”, referencing the wall that also keeps Pyramus and Thisbe separate in Babylon. “You spiteful wall! ...Why stand in the way of poor lovers?” (Metamorphoses. 4.73). Ovid’s wall forced the lovers to resort to disobeying their parents and violating their rules, while Dante’s wall can only be crossed through the help and blessing of a divine being.
Another instance in which we see Dante refer to the Pyramus and Thisbe story is when he compares himself to Pyramus directly: “When he saw me still halting, obstinate,/ he said, somewhat perplexed: “Now see, son:/ this was stands between you and your Beatrice.”/ As, at the name of Thisbe, Pyramus,/ about to die, opened his eyes, and saw her/ (when then the mulberry became bloodred),/ so, when my stubbornness had softened, I,/ hearing the name that’s always flowering/ within my mind, turned to my knowing guide” (Purgatorio. XXVII. 34-42). Unlike Pyramus, who jumped to conclusions and foolishly kills himself, Dante turns to his “knowing guide”. The difference here between Ovid’s myth and Dante’s poem is apparent in that Pyramus commits a human folly while Dante has divine protection in the form of a guide. Dante’s reaction to Beatrice’s name is reminiscent of Pyramus’ reaction to Thisbe’s name. Dante claims that Beatrice’s name is “always flowering within my mind”, remaining both pure and virginal. In Ovid, however, the fact that “the mulberry became bloodred” points to the spilled blood of a newly lost virginity.
We can find even more instances in which the story of Pyramus and Thisbe influenced Dante’s work.

When Dante realizes that Virgil had disappeared, he laments “But Virgil had deprived us of himself, / Virgil, the gentlest father, Virgil, he / to whom I gave myself for my salvation” ( Purgatorio. XXX. 49-51). These verses seem to be modeled after Ovid’s version of Thisbe’s farewell after the death of Pyramus. “Pyramus! What dread change has taken you from me?” she wailed, / “Pyramus, answer! It’s Thisbe, your dearest beloved, calling / your dear name. Listen, please, and raise your head from the ground!” / Pyramus’ eyes were heavy with death, but they flickered at Thisbe’s / name. He looked once more at his love, then closed them forever” (Metamorphoses. 4.142-46). Both are emotional goodbyes and Dante’s repetition of Virgil’s name three times matches Thisbe’s calling of Pyramus’ name. “And if, like waters of the Elsa, your / vain thoughts did not encrust your mind; if your / delight in them were not like Pyramus / staining the mulberry, you’d recognize / in that tree’s form and height the moral sense / God’s justice had when He forbade trespass” (Purgatorio. 27.37-42). In the ending of Pyramus’ and Thisbe’s story, the gods grant Thisbe’s wish of turning the white fruits of the mulberry tree to red in order to commemorate the two lovers (Metamorphoses. 4.147-66). Beatrice uses Pyramus’ death to depict the idea of love- described as “vain thoughts” that “encrust[ed]” the mind and distracted from

God.
Another Ovidian myth that could also be found in Dante’s work is the myth of Narcissus, found in Book 3 of Metamorphoses, in which a beautiful boy who is so in love with his own reflection that he forgets to eat and drink and eventually wastes away. In Dante’s work however, Narcissus is transformed from a figure of beauty, arrogance, and elusiveness to a symbol representing the rejection of sensory pleasure. We first see hints of Ovid’s Narcissus in the last few cantos of Dante’s Inferno.
The very first appearance of Narcissus is in Canto 30 of Inferno. Dante becomes fascinated with the argument between two souls, Sinon and Master Adam. “...thou ’dst not stand in need of many words/ bidding thee lick the mirror of Narcissus.”/ On listening to them I was all intent,/ when “Now be careful there!” my Teacher said,/ “for I’m not far from quarrelling with thee” (Inferno. XXX. 377-381). Here, Virgil scolds Dante for becoming entranced at the exact moment Master Adam brings up Narcissus, highlighting the allusion. Virgil is angered by Dante being more interested in Sinon and Master Adam’s petty squabble instead of reflecting on their punishment, “for vulgar is the wish to hear such things”(Inferno. XXX. 97). Like Narcissus, Dante becomes focused only on the image before him and had forgotten his purpose.