Carmina Inferni The Underworlds of dante, Homer, and Vergil

Date of Award

2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Rohrbacher, David

Keywords

Inferno, Aeneid, Odyssey, Homeric Question, Shade, Anchises, Gates of Sleep, Minos, Prophesy

Area of Concentration

Classics

Abstract

In this thesis I discuss the phenomenon of borrowing and intertextuality between the underworlds of Homer�s Odyssey, Vergil�s Aeneid and Dante�s Inferno. The introduction contains a brief overview of the Homeric Question, brief biographies of the three poets and synopses of their three epics. The first chapter, entitled "Shades and Their Torture," discusses each poem�s concept of the shade and how each poet�s predecessor influenced the shades of each poem, as well as a discussion regarding the tortures experienced by shades in each underworld. In the second chapter, entitled "Charon and Minos: Hell�s Employees," we explore the way Dante and Vergil depict Charon in their underworlds, and how their depictions reflect each poet�s literary depiction of the afterlife. We also explore how Minos is depicted in all three epics, as well as how, and why each poet depicts him differently. In the final chapter, "The Prophet in the Underworld," we examine the use of prophecy in each epic, as well as debates surrounding "deceptive prophecy," Vergil�s Gates of Sleep, and Dante�s association with blindness and prophecy.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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