Violence in Dantes Inferno and Ovids Metamorphoses

Wright 1 1960 words Julian E. Wright Dr. Sharon Fulton Literature Humanities/Essay 1 27 February 2014 Violence in Dante’s Inferno and Ovid’s Metamorphoses Scenes of great violence, as the prompt says, are often written into dynamic narratives of great literary merit. From Dante Alighieri’s Inferno to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the inclusion of violence as a literary technique is used to propel the narrative forward, all while adding action, intrigue, and engaging the reader. Despite it’s validity as a literary technique, the inclusion of violent scenes in literature serve much more than the simple purpose of pushing a plot along a set of structured points. Scenes of violence provoke thought in areas ranging from human nature to the nature of†¦show more content†¦(XXIII, 61 ­65)† As this is a subtle form of a violent attack on their bodies, Dante creates this Wright 3 1960 words consequence as a method to show the sinners what it feels like to be deceived as they did to the world in their lives. There is one sinner, however, that suffers more than the others. Caiaphas, who was a high priest in his life on Earth, is violently crucified to the ground as a symbol for betraying the church in hypocrisy. The way he is crucified forces him to lay on the ground directly in the path of the other robed sinners, in a manner so that they are forced to walk on him whilst donning their heavy robes. The subtle violence of the consequences contrived to see the effects of hypocrisy that the sinners caused to their friends, family and strangers was ultimately done unto themselves. Seeing the pain they caused other people causes great pain to the sinners physically as well as emotionally. Throughout the Inferno there are numerous examples of violence and brutality, presenting Dante’s purpose with clarity and precision. The violence is placed in the poem specifically for reason, to show that the souls that are in Hell are there for a good reason. It also shows that the worse the sin was, the worse the sinner’s punishment would be, causing them the pain that they caused the world through different ways of violence. Some of these are physical and others mental violence. However, most of theShow MoreRelatedThe Divine Perfection Of God s Justice Essay1857 Words   |  8 Pagesserves to illuminate one among Dante’s major themes: the perfection of God’s justice. The inscription over the gates of Hell in Canto III expressly states that God was affected to make Hell by Justice (III.7). Hell exists to penalize sin, and also the quality of Hell’s specific punishments testifies to the divine perfection that each one sin violates. This notion of the quality of God’s punishments figures considerably in Dante’s larger ethical messages and structures Dante’s Hell. To trendy readers,Read MoreThe Waste Land: a critical view Essay1624 Words   |  7 PagesThese two books have been identified by Eliot himself, along with a number of vegetation and fertility myths and rituals, especially those connected with ‘Attis, Adonis and Osiris‘. However, we do read the echoes of Ovid’s – ‘Metamorphoses’, St. Augustine’s ‘Confession’, Dante’s- ‘Inferno’ and ‘Pargatorio’, baudelaire’s ‘Paris La Forgue’s ‘City’ ,Wanger’s opera- ‘Tristan and Isolde’, Chaucer and Spenser’s writing , Shakespeare’s- ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, and ‘The Tempest’, Milton’s- ‘Paradise Lost’,Read MoreThings That Go Bump In the Night: Wh y They Are Scary2198 Words   |  9 PagesWerewolves are creatures that we find in many different cultures around the world. The most classically known origin story for the beasts comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In it’s first book, Jupiter goes to Earth to observe humans after hearing of their evil nature. He reveals himself to the Arcadians who immediately start worshipping, all except their king, Lycaon. He does not believe the god’s immortality and seeks to put it to the test. Lycaon kills a messenger from another city and cooks himRead More Myth and Violence in The Waste Land Essay2655 Words   |  11 Pagescommon thought. These structures include concepts of life and death cycles; degeneration, death, and decay; purgation, purification, and rebirth; and creation and destruction. A common thread throughout the various mythic structures is that of violence. Violence is necessary for the completion of mythic processes. A simple example of this idea is the a xiom that destruction (an intrinsically violent act) is a pre-requisite for creation. Furthermore, myth entails specific, violent acts against the human