Not the Same Old Story: Dante’s Re-Telling of The Odyssey

David Chapman

doi:10.3390/rel10030171

Abstract

Dante’s Divine Comedy is frequently taught in core curriculum programs, but the mixture of classical and Christian symbols can be confusing to contemporary students. In teaching Dante, it is helpful for students to understand the concept of noumenal truth that underlies the symbol. In re-telling the Ulysses’ myth in Canto XXVI of The Inferno, Dante reveals that the details of the narrative are secondary to the spiritual truth he wishes to convey. Dante changes Ulysses’ quest for home and reunification with family in the Homeric account to a failed quest for knowledge without divine guidance that results in Ulysses’ destruction.

Highlights

Dante’s Divine Comedy is frequently taught in core curriculum programs, but the mixture of classical and Christian symbols can be confusing to contemporary students
The Homeric Hero and Odysseus’ Return to Ithaca In Book XII of The Divine Comedy Dante borrows from a classical story that has been circulating for some 2000 years
In Book I of The Odyssey, we find the hero trapped on Calypso’s island

Summary

The Noumenal Essence of the Classical Myth

Is for students to have some understanding of why Dante, and by extension, all those writers who use mythological foundations for their work, from Sophocles to James. The symbolism of the wedding ring has been appropriated by Christian cultures in ways consistent with biblical beliefs about monogamy and fidelity. This stacking of Christian truth on pagan foundations can be seen in numerous social customs from candlelight ceremonies to Christmas pageants. The example of Odysseus is useful because it shows how comfortable Dante is with bending the mythological story to advance his own poetic and theological purposes The changes he makes are not subtle renderings of character, but a complete inversion of the Homeric account. Rather than being bound by classical precedents, medieval writers felt free to adapt the myths for their own purposes

The Homeric Hero and Odysseus’ Return to Ithaca

Dante’s Re-Telling of Ulysses’ Final Voyage

Myth and the Search for Truth