Ulysses Alighieri
In Dante’s “Inferno”, among many other sins, in Canto XXVI the “counselors of fraud” are being punished. These people are being constantly consumed by flames, and more importantly, as Dante points out, are forced to speak through the “tongues” or fire, which pains them greatly. This follows Dante’s idea of punishment that is the same as the sin -- just as they spoke falsely at ease, they should have great difficulty speaking now. The most prominent man in this bowge is a legendary figure -- Ulysses. The description of his sin, which Dante creates for Ulysses, is an account that conflicts with some of the previous works about him, like Homer’s, so we are forced to assume that Dante’s Ulysses is completely, save for his name, the author’s creation.
The beginning of Canto XXVI is Dante’s reproach to the people of Florence, whom he places in almost all layers of Hell. Dante uses irony in his reproach: “Florence, rejoice, because thy soaring fame / Beats its broad wings across both land and sea, / And all the deep of Hell rings with thy name!” (Canto 26, 1-3), but after these few lines of insulting his fellow citizens, he completes the Canto without mention of any Flourentines. There can be many interpretations to this fact, and one of them is that Dante wanted to show that evil in men has existed since much earlier times, and it is not only their generation of Florentines that goes to Hell, but many legendary figures from other great nations as well. Also I believe Dante is also trying to have all sides “represented” in Hell -- the Italians, as well as their legendary enemies -- the Greeks who conquered Troy, and tried to destroy their ancestors. However Ulysses is not placed with Brutus into the mouth of ...
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...by his utter shame in his position, for in the next Canto, another “flame”, Guido da Montefeltro, is very anxious to speak to the poet. I think that Ulysses does not talk freely because he does not completely deserve to be punished for his sin, since he did not fully intend to fool his crew into killing them, but rather he was driven by the desire for good, for searching out a new way, which Dante holds in high esteem, but he accomplishes this through sin, and must therefore be punished. He is therefore reluctant to speak of his sin, for he believes there was none.
I believe that in part of Ulysses, Dante is trying to see himself, with the difference that Ulysses strives for the exploration of the forbidden, while Dante strives for the exploration of the divine and righteous, but otherwise the same, with the same desire to explore previously untouched territory.
Dante Alighieri presents a vivid and awakening view of the depths of Hell in the first book of his Divine Comedy, the Inferno. The reader is allowed to contemplate the state of his own soul as Dante "visits" and views the state of the souls of those eternally assigned to Hell's hallows. While any one of the cantos written in Inferno will offer an excellent description of the suffering and justice of hell, Canto V offers a poignant view of the assignment of punishment based on the committed sin. Through this close reading, we will examine three distinct areas of Dante's hell: the geography and punishment the sinner is restricted to, the character of the sinner, and the "fairness" or justice of the punishment in relation to the sin. Dante's Inferno is an ordered and descriptive journey that allows the reader the chance to see his own shortcomings in the sinners presented in the text.
American football is full of exciting competition, but do we realize the danger! Helmet safety in football remains an immense problem as the sport accounts for the highest incidence of concussions. Since leather football helmets, the technology for safer helmets has improved drastically and continue to improve. The development of newly designed helmets and technology has lowered the risk of head injuries for players. Furthermore, improvements in helmet testing methods have led to better understanding head injuries and the protectiveness of the helmet. In respect, football helmet safety still remains a challenge, such as a necessity of a proper categorization system to rank helmets and regulations to improve helmet safety. Regardless, standards and regulations attempt to address helmet safety through government intervention and a proper measuring system for football helmets. Despite the cultural perception of football, measures are taken to ensure safety, such as the reforms and education with regards to playing safer football. I intend to address the technological advances and regulation of football towards the discussion of helmet safety. Therefore the aggresivity in football’s culture should embrace stronger helmet standards and regulation that are promoted through improved testing methods and innovations because of the need to prevent further dangerous head injuries, especially concussions.
Concussions have become arguably the #1 most prevalent issue in football today. The number of concussions throughout football has been rising for the past 20-30 years and there seems no way of stopping them. However, the NFL and many private researchers are set on finding a way to conquer this issue. They want to stop these concussions from happening and prevent the diseases resulting from them that have ruined so many football families’ lives. In order to solve this problem, I think that these researchers need to combine all of their knowledge to solve an issue that so many want solved. As soon as we conquer this “illness” we can return to enjoying the game that we love.
In Dante’s Inferno, the relationship between Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil the Guide is an ever-evolving one. By analyzing the transformation of this relationship as the two sojourn through the circles of hell, one is able to learn more about the mindset of Dante the Poet. At the outset, Dante is clearly subservient to Virgil, whom he holds in high esteem for his literary genius. However, as the work progresses, Virgil facilitates Dante’s spiritual enlightenment, so that by the end, Dante has ascended to Virgil’s spiritual level and has in many respects surpassed him. In Dante’s journey with respect to Virgil, one can see man’s spiritual journey towards understanding God. While God loves man regardless of his faults, His greatest desire is to see man attain greater spirituality, in that man, already created in God’s image, may truly become divine, and in doing so, attain eternality.
Though there are countless disturbing moments throughout Dante’s Inferno, one can dare to say that Canto 34 is the most unsettling and borderline irreverent Canto in Inferno. In Canto 34, Dante and Virgil meet the sinners who are deemed to be the most evil; those who have betrayed their benefactors (the individuals who extended their kindness towards them.) It is also the canto where Dante meets Satan, the king of hell. Dante opens Canto 34 with a sentence in Latin that reads: “Vexilla, regis prodeunt inferni.” In translator Mandelbaum’s notes, the words are said to mean: “The banners of the king of Hell draw closer.” At first glance, the reader might dismiss the fact that this is the only line in canto 34 that is written
“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing.” This maxim applies to the poet Dante Alighieri, writer of The Inferno in the 1300s, because it asserts the need to establish oneself as a contributor to society. Indeed, Dante’s work contributes much to Renaissance Italy as his work is the first of its scope and size to be written in the vernacular. Due to its readability and availability, The Inferno is a nationalistic symbol. With this widespread availability also comes a certain social responsibility; even though Dante’s audience would have been familiar with the religious dogma, he assumes the didactic role of illustrating his own version of Christian justice and emphasizes the need for a personal understanding of divine wisdom and contrapasso, the idea of the perfect punishment for the crime. Dante acts as both author and narrator, completing a physical and spiritual journey into the underworld with Virgil as his guide and mentor. The journey from darkness into light is an allegory full of symbolism, much like that of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, which shows a philosopher’s journey towards truth. Therefore, Dante would also agree with the maxim, “Wise men learn by others’ harms; fools scarcely by their own,” because on the road to gaining knowledge and spiritual enlightenment, characters who learn valuable lessons from the misfortunes of others strengthen their own paradigms. Nonetheless, the only true way to gain knowledge is to experience it first hand. Dante’s character finds truth by way of his own personal quest.
When “Dante” speaks to “Virgil” near the beginning of Inferno, he understands that he is not yet like Aeneas and Paul (Dante 1.2.32). He says that, unlike these two voyagers, his travels cannot profit others because of his soul's state of habitual sin. “Dante” briefly explains his reluctance to begin his odyssey, saying, “if I consent to start this journey, / I fear my venture will be wild and empty” (Dante 1.2.34-35). In this section, Dante uses Virgil's characterization of Aeneas to provide a strong contrast to the character “Dante” of Inferno. According to Dante, Aeneas completes a heaven-sent mission in founding his city, because Rome eventually becomes the home of the Papacy and the Church. In direct opposition to the mindset, at the start of the Commedia, “Dante” perceives himself as a man astray from the True Path; he does not believe that his voyage can ever ultimately lead to salvation in the way that Aeneas's did.
“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”-James 4:17. Although many of us have forgiving hearts, a sin is a sin no matter who the perpetrator is, you wouldn’t forgive a person for hurting you just because they’re your friend, would you? This is highlighted throughout Dante Alighieri’s epic poem The Inferno while Dante, the protagonist, is lead on a journey through hell while he meets many sinner who Alighieri, the author, has come upon in his own life before and after being exiled from his beloved city Florence due to political unrest. While he was exiled he wrote a story about him and his guide, Virgil, who leads him through Hell to meet many sinner and examine their varying punishments, where Dante exemplifies
Canto XI serves the purpose in a twofold way; literally as a pause to the character Dante to prepare himself for the foul stench of the lower depths of hell, and as a pause to the reader to discuss the rationale of divine punishment. When the canto begins Virgil and Dante stop to prepare for the coming levels. Dante asks Virgil to find a productive way to pass the time. Virgil obliges Dante and tells him a graphic depiction of the levels to come; both the geography and the rationale behind these levels are discussed. After the discussion Dante poses the questions “But tell me, the souls in the sickening swamp, and those wind drives, and those rain pelts, and those who collide with such harsh words, why are they not punished in this charred city if God’s wrath is upon them? And if it is not, why do they suffer such a sorry fate?” (Canto XI 70-75). Dante’s questions can be viewed in two lights. First out of condemnation of all sinners, “Why are they not punished in this charred city” (Canto XI 73), if the souls of previous levels are sinner...
Dante's "Inferno" is full of themes. But the most frequent is that of the weakness of human nature. Dante's descent into hell is initially so that Dante can see how he can better live his life, free of weaknesses that may ultimately be his ticket to hell. Through the first ten cantos, Dante portrays how each level of his hell is a manifestation of human weakness and a loss of hope, which ultimately Dante uses to purge and learn from. Dante, himself, is about to fall into the weaknesses of humans, before there is some divine intervention on the part of his love Beatrice, who is in heaven. He is sent on a journey to hell in order for Dante to see, smell, and hear hell. As we see this experience brings out Dante's weakness' of cowardice, wrath and unworthiness. He is lead by Virgil, who is a representation of intellect. Through Dante's experiences he will purge his sins.
Even though the advantages of the helmet designs are extensive, the football players are put in dangerous and sometimes unexpected situations on the field. Players are running and hitting each other at full speed while not taking into consideration what they are doing, and considering the consequences. Sometimes with head related injuries, these players may not feel any symptoms until later on in the day, or even day...
Seeing as this work was written by Dante, and the journey is taken by Dante, he has a unique opportunity to judge his fellow men and decide how they will be punished. He also gets to place his enemies in hell, forever besmirching their names for generations to remember. Perhaps unknowing to Dante, that is worse than any of the punishments that he placed his enemies in. The reality of The Inferno is unlikely and therefore these punishments are nothing but a fictional insult, but generation after generation will read of the crimes, which Dante has illuminated, and punishments of these people, causing their names to be forever cursed and passed down as another evil sinner.... ... middle of paper ...
He encounters the leopard, lion and she-wolf. The leopard represents malice and fraud, the lion represents violence and ambition and the she-wolf represents incontinence and avarice. These three beasts represent the main sins that we all are tempted to commit, because we have strayed so far from the right path. Since we have Free Will, we must not be tempted to sin, because we are stronger than that.. This is when Virgil comes in to confront him and ask him why he is doing all of things. He told Dante that he needed to focus on the True Way and follow him through the journey as far as human reasoning takes him. When he goes down into Hell, he starts to realize that to sin, is a choice and don’t have sympathy for them, because they chose their
There are many leaders in the world, but a great ruler is passionate, honorable and one who can inspire even in the most hopeless circumstances. Alexander the Great was a great ruler. Alexander the Great was a ruler that was not only inspiring, but he was fearless, smart, bold and courageous. Alexander the Great inspired his soldiers to crave more. He has inspired people since the day he started ruling. What is inspirational about Alexander the Great is that he inspired his troops to the point that they did not question him when they were outnumbered three to one in a battle, they trusted him with their lives and were willing to die for him (Alexander the Great: man behind the legend).
The Inferno written by Dante Alighieri is an epic about his journey through Hell. In Dante’s representation of Hell contains nine circles containing different sins each with a more severe punishment than the last. In these increasingly terrifying scenarios, he encounters many ironic punishments and often has discussions with a person amidst the torment. Dante is accompanied by a guide (Virgil) who acts as the mentor. The two travel through hell in hopes of reaching Heaven. While Dante walks as a bystander in the terrors of hell, he begins to commit sins himself, although towards the sinners which he encounters he still is admitted into heaven. While Dante occasionally sins throughout his journey, he usually meets the sinners with compassion and pity, but Virgil meets them with the opposite and views them in disgust. While they may treat them any way they want, the one which causes them the most torment is God, which Dante himself views cruel at times.These incongruities and travesties, bring the morality of the Catholic system of condemnation into question.