Dear fellow reader, it is hard to know what to write concerning The Odyssey and The Divine Comedy. I have, to be honest, sat here for hours, waiting to know what to write. I have struggled through these old texts, the poetry and words of time not my own. I have scribbled down ideas like an artist does sketches, tossed them out like a gardener does weeds, and sit here like a poor student who is overwhelmed by her laziness and lack of diligence with the text. There I sat, in tears and frustration, trying to understand why on earth my professor of Augustine College would ask me to read The Odyssey and The Divine Comedy, two tedious old manuscripts of poetry. It dawned on me. Just as it had been revealed in the Odyssey, just as Dante had looked toward the light, the answer was right in front of me. But allow me, fellow reader, to first examine the texts to the best of my ability and perhaps through my examination we can better understand what bearing these two vastly different tales could have on one’s life.
Naturally, said I, all stories must start at the beginning; this is the place, after all where everything starts. But Dante’s and Odysseus’ journeys do not start there, but rather in the middle#. Why? In the beginning one is not lost. It is only with time and opportunity that the fortunes of a man can change for the better or the worse. For both these men, it was for the worse. Both became lost to their purpose and path by falling asleep. To sleep is to dream; to dream to be blind to reality; and to be blind to reality is to be blind to the truth. Dante had fallen asleep#, wallowing in his own fantasies. Thus, like a drunken man, he blindly stumbles# from the narrow way he should be traveling. Odysseus, in the same manner, is often delayed from his true home by sleeping; closing his eyes, the right path slips away. As an Augustinian student, I fall into this habit. Often I merely wish to serve myself, and so I close my eyes to the right thing to do which is forsaking my own desires and serving others around me. In the middle of my Augustine year, I wake only to find that I have strayed far off the path intended for me.
Both Odysseus and Dante are lost in a dark wood#. This dark woods is an image of sin and error; the farthest place away from God that one can be. In The Odyssey, the woods represents Odysseus’ lowest point in his life, the place farthest (both physically and emotionally) away from his home. For Dante, it is the condition in which sinfulness has taken over himself so that he can not draw near to his home, heaven, or even know the way to go. Both of them need an outside help other than themselves, for they are both incapable of overcoming the darkness of the woods. My natural question is then: am I in a dark wood and if so, can I overcome it? Perhaps, as a student from a post-modern culture, I am in a dark wood. It is the dark world of illogical thinking, of blindness to the truth, of tolerance, and of turning inward on myself. It is beyond my strength to overcome this on my own.
A light breaks, the morning dawns#. It is the continual call to new hope, life, and the repeating order of the world. Even within the pagan world of The Odyssey, there is an understanding of the order in life. Everything has a place, a time, and a function. There is a path to follow, a duty to perform, and a person to help. Dante looks up and sees the morning light after awakening from his slumber. This theme of light repeats itself in The Divine Comedy, representing the holy, the good, and the right. This is one of the purposes of Augustine College. It wishes to pierce the darkness of ignorance and show the light of the truth. It strikes my conscience and then gives me the dawn of hope by showing me the truth.
“How does Augustine College strike your conscience?” one might ask. To put it simply, it drowns the student in homework, and in the sheer impossibility of being perfect. Dante uses the struggle of a desperate swimmer to describe the flight from the dreadful night into he had woken#. Odysseus, upon being released by Calypso, finds himself in a storm upon the water sent by Poseidon. In the terror of death, he struggles to the shore with the help of Ino and “there he lay, with only a little strength left in him, deathly waves of exhaustion overwhelmed him now”#. In the face of the sea of homework, of ideas, and of truth, I can merely keep my nose over the waves. The swim is desperate, and it is only great difficulty and help that I reach the shore of a resting weekend or Christmas break. While Odysseus struggles against the fear of the physical death which could consume his life, Dante, on the other hand, flees in terror of the spiritual death which is the result of straying from the path. I must flee both while struggling through this year. Obviously, I can not allow my physical body to starve, but I can not allow my soul to die either.
While resting in the dark woods, Dante encounters three beasts#, a leopard, a lion, and a wolf. Notice how it is only while he is resting from fleeing that the sins of these beasts come upon Dante. The leopard is the image of self-indulgent sins into which the passions of lovers fall under; those are those who wish to die rather than be parted from their love. Calypso is a good example of this. She delays Odysseus for her own pleasure and offers to him the opportunity to stay with her forever#. Seeking after of pleasure is the very problem which happens with suitors of Penelope. They continue to indulge their passions, neglecting their purpose and perverting the lives of others; they are lost in the darkness of night#. Francesco, the lover whom Dante meets in Hell, tells Dante of her desire to be forever with her lover#. It is the temptation of desire for another person that leads to this idea that if “we are only together forever, everything will be alright”. The temptation of this society and what is fed to us by the media is this thought. Ultimately, it is fleeting and unsatisfying. It is like the wind, ever changing, rapid, and unceasing, but wearying. It is the torment the lustful suffer in Dante’s Hell. They are constantly thrown about in a whirlwind#, exciting and endless, but empty and unfulfilling. As an Augustinian student, I can not allow myself to turn inward and focus on self-indulgence. It is so tempting when I live with seven other people to focus on my ‘needs’ and desires, and forget that there are others around me who are suffering and struggling just as I am.
The second beast to encounter Dante is the lion, the image of violent sins. The examples of this are endless within the Greek culture. But within that culture, one finds even Greeks repelled by the violence and inhospitality of the Cyclops. They violently deal with guests, preferring to eat them# instead of doing their duty of providing shelter and rest. Even Odysseus and his men turned away in disgust at the lack of hospitality shown by these giant beasts. But this disgust does not last long, for the similar violence of Odysseus’ rage against the suitors is great; he slaughters them all. Yes, they deserved punishment, but so complete and so great? Reading The Odyssey, one gets a longing for this cycle of war and violence to be over, to find a better way of life. It is not likely I will be become physically violent at this college, but there is a temptation to be violent in my words slandering my neighbor.
The wolf which comes upon Dante is the image of sins of malice, including fraud and theft of another man’s integrity. This is where one finds the heroic Odysseus of The Odyssey. Dante’s Odysseus tells how the desire for adventure and travel outweighed his love for his family and duty; he sought to prove all human worth and wickedness#. Though some may see this Odysseus as opposite of Homer’s Odysseus, further inspection shows that they are more complementary than one first realizes. Odysseus, in the Odyssey, is delayed by Calypso, Circe, and the feasting of Phaeacia. Although he still longs for Ithaca, he is not bothered by the delay but rather takes pleasure in the beds of the women and the generosity of Phaeacia. Even when he has finally reached Ithaca and cleansed his house of the suitors, he will journey out yet again, unsatisfied with staying at home. This is desire is strong in the heart of a young person. I often wish for adventure or dream of making a name for myself. I dream of becoming the best in a career, graduating the top of the class, or going to the Olympics. But it is eventually unsatisfying and only serves to distract me from my duty to God and to those He has placed in my life.
It is interesting that Dante puts Odysseus here with the counselors of fraud, instead of the realm of the self-indulgent. Perhaps it is because Odysseus (Homer’s and Dante’s) prizes his wit and intelligence more than anything else, and often uses to the detriment of others. He tricks and cleverly makes fools out of those he deceives. This is probably the strongest temptation of a student at Augustine, especially after graduation. We are all taught at Augustine how to think, how to be intelligent, and all of the students are very intelligent. I often prize my intelligence more than those around me. It is a temptation for me to abuse this gift, manipulating the thoughts of others for my own desires. Instead, I should use this gift to guide and strength the journey of others, like Athena does Odysseus and Telemachus, and like Virgil does to Dante.
Another interesting parallel between The Odyssey and The Divine Comedy is the relationship between Athena, Penelope, and Beatrice. Throughout the Odyssey, Athena is actively guiding the actions of men. She counsels Telemachus and Odysseus in the best way to proceed, and protects them from danger. There is a unique and beautiful kinship between Athena and Odysseus. They often tease each other, try to outwit one another, and take a delight in one another in a way never seen in earlier literature. Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, also takes this delight Odysseus. She engages his wit, and more than once, prays to the gods for him to return home#. Beatrice is very much like Athena. Beatrice is there, always guiding Dante to the light of the truth, always pointing him back to God. She is much more a guide, than a lover; She is much more like Athena than Penelope. But like Penelope, she prays for Dante#, hoping he will see God. At first I was at a lost to what this says to the Augustinian. Then I was reminded of how we should relate to one another. I should gently help my fellow students when they stumble, pointing them back to the truth. I should pray for my fellow students, my professors, and all those traveling through this life along with me. These stories also shows me that I am not alone on this journey. There is a God who loves me very much and is right there beside me to lift me up when I fall. There are fellow pilgrims on this way who pray for me diligently. When we pray together and for one another, we join in the communion of all the saints through time and eternity who pray unto the Lord our Maker.
In the Odyssey, fate is something that cannot be controlled by anyone. Not even the gods have any claim to it. Man cannot stop it; ultimately it will come and it is what decides. Athena reminds Zeus of this when she pleads help for Odysseus#. However, within The Divine Comedy, fate isn’t the last call. There is a divine will that can intervene and prevent. Beatrice continually prays for Dante, and it is through her that God chooses to help Dante. What should I, studying at Augustine, care about fate? I should realize that I must trust the Lord for the outcome. He knows what is best for this time and place. My grades are ultimately unimportant; my life is in His hands.
Homer writes with this longing for an intimate relationship between the divine and mere man. One sees this with the prayers of the Greek characters to the gods and goddesses, of the kinship between Odysseus and Athena. Perhaps this is because of the desire God has placed in all of our hearts, the desire of a deeper connection between creator and creation. Dante’s and Odysseus’ journeys are an analogy for that growth and connection. Their journey starts, like all of ours, in the darkness of our sin and the farthest we can be from home. They encounter temptation and sin, sometimes giving way and sometimes refusing that sin. And throughout this journey, the divine is with them, always counseling and guiding. For both Odysseus and Dante, this journey is physical, but for Dante it is also a spiritual one. For a Christian, it should be both. It should be a spiritual journey nearer toward God, but also in our physical life, we should draw nearer to one another in love and faith. For the Augustinian, this is an intellectual journey, a physical journey, and a spiritual journey. We are all asked to leave our homes and families behind, and move to Augustine. It is an intellectual journey as we learn how to think, how to speak, and we learn what truth is. It is a spiritual journey because we draw closer to Christ and the word of God.
Totally drowning in homework, grappling with perplexing thoughts, and struggling to survive on my own is the odyssey of Augustine College. Yet, it is here and few places elsewhere, where I am forced to face who I am as human being, and who God is. It is here where I discover Dante and Odysseus, fellow travelers. Why read them? It is because through their trials and joys, I can see my own. They teach my place at Augustine college, my relationship between God and myself, and the kinship between me and my fellow colleagues.
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