There are certain characteristics that make literature so interesting and entertaining, which are the facts that certain works have the capacity to create a trend or a genre, therefore it gives the piece of work a feeling of transcendetality. Two great authors from the Western civilization that take part of a modern literary culture that is characterized for its epic stories and epic characters that follow along the definition of an epic hero. An epic hero is a brave and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements or affected by grand events. Dante’s Aligheri’s Inferno and Homer’s The Odyssey respectively have two characters that fulfill what is like to be recognized as a brave and noble character. Throughout both poems, we can see how each character has unique qualities that make them outstand and set them up as a leader, but at the same time, they have the flaws of any human being. It is clear when a character overcomes the status of any human being and sets the lead as a hero. An important trait of an epic hero is the fact that starts a journey; it may be of a personal matter, such as Dante, or of societal matter, like Odysseus. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is a war hero travelling home after a period of twenty years. In this epic, Odysseus is brought out as a hero with superhuman courage. In most cases, he has been shown fighting with supernatural forces. One characteristic of this journey that is different from Dante is that the hero in this epic fights against external forces. Odysseus faces many challenges while traveling home. To begin with, he is cast on an island that is surrounded by waters. Some situations appear to have no immediate solution as one is surrounded by problems. Secondly, he is strongly opposed by the god Poseidon and the seas. The reason for this is a past grudge he had with god Poseidon. As he approaches his home, Odysseus fights suitors who had occupied his home. He manages to reclaim his home, as well as his wife Penelope. In the epic Inferno, Dante is exiled from his home due to his political beliefs, which takes him on a journey of self-pursuance. Unlike Odysseus who goes on a physical journey, Dante’s journey is more or less spiritual. He makes a choice between good and evil. His heroism comes in the form of humanity. Dante’s courage does not include great physical battles; instead, he tests his inner strength. Settings in this epic include hell in inferno, heaven and purgatory, which can thus be established that both were on different journey. First, Homer portrays Odysseus as the main character with many unique qualities that many people do not count have, and also with many traits that people in our society lack of. He is presented as a determined man who is willing to work out an answer to any problem. Odysseus demonstrates his ability to be an articulate speaker, and his poise aids him on his journey. An important trait that an epic hero must have is intelligence. Odysseus’s quick thinking, combined with his eloquence in speech and many other characteristics, has gotten him and his crew out of many tight situations. One situation, for example, was when Odysseus and his men were trapped in the Cyclops Polyphemus’s cave. Although Odysseus’s curiosity was what landed him into the situation in the first place, his masterful demonstrations of his articulation in speaking were what eventually helped him escape. He manages to win over Polyphemus in the story with a few well-spoken words and an offering:
“Cyclops, have some wine, now that you have eaten
Your human flesh, so you can see what kind of drink
Was in our ship’s hold. I was bringing it to you
As an offering, hoping you would pity me
And help me get home. But you are a raving
Maniac! How do you expect any other man
Ever to visit you after acting like this” (Homer IX: 343-349).
Odysseus plays with the Cyclops’s emotions by luring him with the wine and calling him “a bloody monster”. The Cyclops is obviously pleased with the spoken words and gestures, and as a result, he gives in to his greed as he takes the wine. Odysseus’s confidence in his own ability was the first step toward his success with the Cyclops. However, he has to take it a step further in order to make a successful get-away. Another example of Odysseus’s cunningness is shown after he killed all the suitors. He told Telemachus and the servants to pretend like there was a wedding going on. That way, no one passing by from the outside would suspect anything. Odysseus knew that if news of the suitors’ death spread, then he would not be able to make a clean get-away to his father’s house. Odysseus said,
“Well, this is what I think we should do.
First bathe yourselves and put on clean tunics
And tell the women to choose their clothes well.
The have the singer pick up his lyre
And lead everyone in a lively dance tune,
Loud and clear. Anyone who hears the sound
A passerby or neighbor, will think it’s a wedding,
And so word od the suitors’ killing won’t spread
Down through the town before we can reach
Our woodland farm. Once there we’ll see
What kind of luck the Olympian gives us” (Homer XIII: 134-144).
Odysseus has to consider the safety of everyone under his care, including the servants that had stayed faithful to him. Odysseus’s intelligent is not only demonstrated when he has to escape from a situation; he thinks through all possible scenarios, and then selects the one that will benefit the most people. He uses his quick thinking and ability to deliver appealing speeches to his advantage and in most of his situations; Odysseus tries to use all of the resources available to him.
However, Odysseus is not always perceived as a positive character. Many think he may not be considered a hero in our modern society. Thus, a great amount of people can perceive his arrogance and cockiness, mainly Mark Dickson in his analysis if Odysseus is the ideal hero or not. Dickson states that “in the physical sense he is a great hero, because he overcomes all these extreme dangers; he comes out alive after wondering for ten years and facing the most extremely dangerous creatures and people.” However, Dickson also states that there are some characteristics that degrade Odysseus of becoming the ideal epic hero; one of this is mainly his ego. The main problem is his cockiness and extreme self-praise, which make some of his easier situations much worse. An example of this is when Odysseus and his crew are escaping the hands of Polyphemus, the Cyclops. Odysseus' planned has worked to perfection, he and his crew are in the clear, when Odysseus' ego takes over and he taunts back at the Cyclop:
“So Cyclops, it turns out it wasn’t a coward
Whose men you murdered and ate in your cave,
You savage! But you got yours in the end,
Didn’t you? You had the gall to eat the guests
In your own house, and Zeus made you pay for it” (Homer IX: 475-479).
Odysseus lack of conscious thinking made Polyphemus flare-up with anger. The Cyclops was so enraged, he took a humongous slab of mountain, and hurled it at Odysseus' ship; sending him and his crew backwards toward their death. However every man on the ship rowed as hard as they could against the shattering waves, back towards safety. If it was not for his crew's efforts, Odysseus, his crew, and his ship, the creatures would have eaten them all. Odysseus' ego annoys comrades, and pushes his enemies to the max. On many occasions, his life is threatened, but somehow, he escapes it; however, Odysseus' self-admiration is what makes The Odyssey. Ultimately, Odysseus clearly has epic hero qualities; on the contrary, Dante is like no other epic hero and is under the same circumstances as Odysseus. Dante is very alike to Odysseus since he confronts many experiences toward his ultimate goal, which in this case is reaching hell and meeting up with the devil. However his journey is riskier in the sense that there is said to be nine rings under the earth, best described as hell. In Dante’s Inferno, Dante is recognized by one of the Jovial Friars in the eighth circle of hell and comments,

“Who are you, who bear
Upon your cheeks these distillate of woe?
What is your punishment that glitters so bright?
The orange cloaks are lead…
So thick, that we their scales creak at the weight” (Dante Canto XXIII).
Dante’s courage to go to hell with very little knowledge of what he will be expecting is automatically a heroic move. Not every individual is able to willingly see hell and explore every ring of it. The courage and calmness from every experience that Dante takes on his journey to meet up with the devil is heroic and few people would take the chance to risk their lives. People recognize his bravery and do not take his actions for granted. Dante is a completely new definition of an epic hero and starts to expand the definition of what characteristics they need in order to be considered an epic hero. Sam Ashwood, from the Association of Young Journalists and Writers, relates that “ Dante is a new kind of epic hero…he portrays himself as a man of keen sympathy, and religiously devout. While he sympathizes with many of the damned souls he meets in hell and has no right to complain against the divine justice of God that is tormenting these wretched, unrepentant souls.” Throughout the adventures that Dante follows he has no super powers to overcome contrabass that is being demonstrated within every ring and is under God’s rule. He views at the end how the devil is constantly in a struggle in ice and cannot leave hell because he went before God’s will and is currently suffering its consequences for his actions. This experience fulfills Dante’s heroism in having the courage to watch it with his own eyes and reflect on what is right and what is wrong under God’s rule. Traveling through the nine rings of hell is a journey few might consider to take and Dante successfully manages to overcome every ring.
T.S Elliot, a writer who was inspired by Dante, found Dante’s Inferno as an intriguing work. He admires the fact that Dante was able to start a journey of such magnitude in his own. He says, “Dante’s charisma has been seen whenever he feels pity of the people paying their punishments in hell.” Also, Elliot admires the fact how humans are able to get forces from people who are not physically with us such as Dante got from Beatrice. However, we can also perceive how Dante also criticizes other characters’ flaws. For instance, something that is not a common opinion is that Dante played off Virgil, Dante’s guide through hell. According to professor Steinberg from The College of New Jersey, he believes that Virgil’s pagan culture was “unenlightened, heathen, and unsaved.” Portraying Dante as “weak minded” and that “Dante did not have other choice than stare the journey.” In conclusion, both Dante and Odysseus are epic heroes and serve as examples during their time context in both Italian and Greek literature. As Dante’s qualities have a stronger credibility toward a real epic hero, Odysseus’ ego is troubling. It depends on the heroic qualities in the different time contexts that are present, either modern day or Ancient Greek heroes. In modern times, Odysseus would be a hypocrite and would devote his actions towards his own benefit. Both men have different but unique experiences that have led to the conclusion that epic heroes go through. Whether if it is defying Dante Alighieri’s contrabass in every ring or evade to be eaten by one of Poseidon’s sons, both characters have exponentially portrayed the definition of an epic hero.

Works Cited
Alighieri, Dante. “The Inferno.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Second Edition. Ed. Peter Simon. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009.
Ashwood, Sam. "Analysis of Dante." UniversalJournal/AYJW. Parrot, 12 Feb. 2005. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.
Dickson, Mark. "Is Odysseus The Ideal Greek Hero?" The Meaning Behind The Words In The Odyssey. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.
Elliot, T.S. “The Hollow Men.” (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.
Homer. “The Odyssey.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Shorter Second Edition. Ed. Peter Simon. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009.
Steinberg G. “Dantes Inferno.” Thesis. The College Of New Jersey, 2002. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.