Comparison of the Odyssey with either Inferno or The Song of Roland
The major assignment for this week is to compose a 900-word essay comparing The Odyssey with either The Song of Roland or Dante’s Inferno.
In this paper you will write an in-depth analysis using your own ideas
and excerpts from the epic poems in the form of quotes, paraphrase, or
summary.
Pick a Topic
First, identify a topic in consultation with your instructor or write about one of the following options:
- Although nearly two thousand years separate The Odyssey and Dante’s Inferno, both works are epic poems that:
- Explore the theme of good versus evil.
- Employ journey as a metaphor for maturation.
- Reveal and teach cultural values about leadership.
- Caution audiences about the appeal of temptation.
- Contemplate the nature of immortality.
Compare and contrast how one or two of these topics is developed in The Odyssey and Dante’s Inferno.
Be sure to contextualize your examination in the cultural values,
philosophies, literary movements, and ideas that typify each work. Use
literary perspectives to enrich your analysis.
- The Song of Roland and The Odyssey,
though separated by thousands of years, are both epic works whose
protagonists are warriors engaged in violent conflict: Roland is a
medieval Crusader and Odysseus is on a long journey home after
conquering Troy. Additionally, both works:- Explore the theme of good versus evil.
- Reveal and teach cultural values about leadership.
- Contemplate the nature of immortality.
- Examine the moral and practical implications of loyalty and betrayal.
Compare and contrast the figures Roland and Odysseus by
considering whether and/or how they exhibit the characteristics of an
epic hero. Be sure to contextualize your examination in the cultural
values, philosophies, literary movements, and ideas that typify each
work. Use literary perspectives to enrich your analysis.
Develop a Tentative Thesis
As you consider different options for your thesis,
- Develop a few hypotheses about the text that are
based on your own perspectives and relate to the topic that you chose
to explore for this assignment. - In addition to considering the texts’ plots,
reflect on the role(s) that genre and other elements of literature (see
the online lecture on this topic) play in revealing medieval Western
European and ancient Greek cultures, including important philosophies
and values associated with these regions and eras. - Review the lectures on literary movements and
literary perspectives (feminist, psychoanalytic, and historicist
perspectives on literature) and identify which of these analytical
tools best supports the ideas that you are beginning to develop.
intext citations, credible references, etc.
