Dante's Inferno
...en in battle, it was a time of war and victory at Troy would finally send his men back to their homes. Instead of being revered for his cleverness in defeating the Trojan army, Ulysses suffers in the pits of hell along side his companion of war. Regardless of the fact that Ulysses simply tried to gain a victory for his people, the Achaeans, Dante puts him in the list of false advisors. Another reason why it can be argued that Ulysses does not deserve to be punished so harshly is because his deception to others is part of his personality. Ulysses or Odysseus in Greek, which means bringer of pain, as named by his grandfather, deceives everyone he meets along his journey in the Odyssey, written by Homer. Including his own father, who was nearly dying of grief because his had not returned or his wife, who seemingly lost hope that her husband would return and began to search for another husband. But the only reason they recognized Odysseus is because they recognized his deception. Had not Odysseus lied to them, they would have doubted who he really was. As I mentioned before, Dante’s guide is Virgil throughout Inferno and because Dante chooses Virgil to be his guide in the book, it demonstrates that he admires Virgil and his works, which are mainly about the greatness of Rome. Dante even goes as far as to call his guide “gentle father”. (Canto VIII line 109) In The Aeneid, the story of how Aeneas founded Rome, Virgil’s description of Ulysses throughout the epic makes him seem as a villain when Troy’s existence fell to the Greeks. “How the Danaans leveled in the dust the splendor of our mourned-forever kingdom—heartbreaking things I saw with my own eyes and was myself a part of. Who could tell them, even a Marmydon or Dolopian or ruffian of Ulysses, without tears?” (The Aeneid, Book II, lines 5-10) Dante had access to many of Virgil’s works and because Ulysses was hated among the Romans, it seemed appropriate for Dante to place Ulysses deep in hell. In the Inferno, Dante desires to speak to these warriors and succeeds in getting Ulysses to tell them about his death by having Virgil approach them. The way Virgil addresses both Ulysses and Diomedes seems as if he views both souls with respect rather than disdain. “You two who move as one within the flame, if I deserved of you while I still lived, if I deserved of you much or a little when in the world I wrote my noble lines, do not move on; let one of you retell where, having gone astray, he found his death.” (Canto XXVI lines 79-84) Virgil's appeal to Ulysses based on whether he was "deserving" of Ulysses in his "noble lines" rings false. As mentioned, Virgil never had anything good to say about Ulysses in the Aeneid. As a matter of fact, in this attempt Ulysses, “the greater horn within the flame” (line 85), which can be interpreted as the greater sinner, looks as if he is being fooled by Virgil into thinking he is addressing Homer. Why would Ulysses address Virgil, a man who refers to him as a scoundrel? Virgil blames Ulysses for the fall of his hero’s ancient city, Troy, by way of large wooden horse. Besides the deception of the Trojan horse, Ulysses and Diomedes are responsible for other acts against Troy. “… There they regret the guile that makes the dead Daidemia still lament Achilles; and there, for the Palladium, they pay.” (Canto XXVI lines 61-63) In Homer’s The Iliad, Achilles is the only Achaean warrior who can sway the outcome of the war in favor of Greece against Troy. However, if Achilles fights, in return, he will die in battle, because the Zeus, king of the gods, wills it so. During the war, Achilles leaves the war and decides that he rather live a long life than die a short one with honor. Although, he is convinced to go back to war after losing his close friend, Potroklos, by the Achaeans, one of them is Ulysses. Dante blames Ulysses for the death of Achilles for convincing him to abandon his wife, Daidemia, and die in battle. Also, the theft of the Palladium shifted the war to the Achaean because it was believed to have been a sacred statue that Troy’s existence depended on. (The Aeneid, Book II lines 223-226) Once Ulysses and Diomedes stole the statue, it became a sign to the Trojans that they would soon lose the war. “Then the night came when Diomedes and that criminal, Ulysses, dared to raid her holy shrine. They killed the guards on the high citadel and ripped away the statue, the Palladium, desecrating with bloody hands the virginal chaplets of the goddess. After that, Danaan hopes waned and were undermined, ebbing away, their strength in battle broken, the goddess now against them.” (The Aeneid, Book II lines 226-235) Notice how Virgil describes Ulysses as nothing more than a “criminal”, while Diomedes goes without insult. The theft of the Palladium became crucial for an Achaean victory, another count against Ulysses. Dante portrays Ulysses as an uncaring husband and father, when Ulysses prefers to go beyond the point that any man has gone before. “…neither my fondness for my son nor pity for my old father nor the love I owed Penelope (his wife), which would have gladdened her was able to defeat in me the longing I had to gain experience of the world and of the vices and the worth of men.” (Canto XXVI lines 94-97) Ulysses chose to prolong his venture back home ...