Odyssey VS.

Dante’s Inferno (The Divine Comedy)

ODYSSEY
DANTE’S  Story according to the
INFERNO Gods
Narrative poem
 Journey to comeback
 Written in Italian  Have been to
home
 Trip through Hell hell
 Assistance from the
 Dante was exiled from  Longing for the
Gods
home presence of their
 Used weapons and
 Focuses on religion loved one
words in terms
and political  Punished
of fighting
beliefs  Era of Ancient Greece
 Written in Christian
majority time

In the above given Venn diagram presented, every point is highlighted in the respective stories.
The two epic stories have indeed a similarities and difference considering that these are produced
in different eras. Firstly, the divine comedy focuses on Dante’s trip through hell. He was exiled
from home because of his political beliefs he possesses and went to different challenges that led
him to hell. Throughout the whole story of his journey, it is emphasized how Dante struggles
against the good and the evil. The story concentrates on the Christian hell and heaven therefore
undergoing series of punishments and hardship by a humanly form way. Unlike the story of
Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey, the story revolves about his journey returning home with his
wife. He had undergone series of struggles such as going to the underworld and islands although
his struggles were brought up by supernatural powers of different gods.
The only similarity that can be seen in the two epic stories is how they have been longing for the
presence of their loved one. Dante’s wife Beatrice and Odysseus wife Penelope were highlighted
in the story. Although both Dante and Odysseus went to the underworld, they both experienced
series of punishment and hardships along the way. They only differ in terms of how they
managed to overcome the everything. For Dante, he battled by only using his words such as
speeches. For Odysseus, he used weapons as well as words in terms of fighting his wife’s suitors.
The two story signified the similarities and differences very well given that these epic stories
were written in different eras and different style approach.