Literary Analysis Essay on The Aeneid, Dante's Inferno and Book of Job

Introduction

The three books The Aeneid, Dante's Inferno, and Book of Job have fascinating interconnections between them. All the books are poetic with long conversations which are more spiritual. The three are religious writing and try to show certain aspects of religions such the dominant force that control man. The Book of Job and Dante's Inferno account for the power and the divine nature of God while The Aeneas accounts for a man sent out for a mission by the gods.

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First, all the three books are classified as epic poetic books because the main characters in these books are going through suffering. The Aeneid narrates about the struggles of the Trojan's as they move from Troy to Italy. Their situation of being homeless and without an identity in a new land shows their suffering and Virgil inflicts more suffering to them by subjecting them to much stronger forces. On the other hand, Dante's Inferno is told a story of how Dante Alighieri gets lost in the forests and as he attempts to find a way he encounters three beasts who blocks his way. He is frightened and retreats backs to the wood only to meet the ghost of Virgil who takes him through hell. Consequently, the Book of Job is a biblical story of man known as Job who was upright and blameless before God. However, with God's permission to challenge his love God, Satan makes Job suffer by destroying all that he had and also inflicting so much pain and suffering in his life through sickness.

All the three books share a common theme of justice. In Dante's Inferno, the author shares his imagination on the punishments that the sinning souls receive in Hell. He describes various cycles that he experienced in Hell and each cycle he encountered sinners being punished according to different to the sins they committed. The author is trying to show the perfection of God's judgment. However, Dante is at first absorbed in pity by seeing how soul suffers in punishment but continuous comments by Virgil helps him understand the wisdom of divine justice. In the Book of Job, the theme of judgment is evident from the beginning when Satan tells God that Job loves a God because he is wealthy and he asks for permission to test him. Job's friends argue that Job suffering is as a result of sins that he has committed against God. In this book, it is evident that there is a common belief that God punishes every evil. Thus, Jobs friends perceive his suffering as Gods judgment due to his evil acts. Those around Job pity him for his suffering because they do not understand why he is going through all that pain. This is a similar situation to the one experienced by Dante in Hell after seeing souls being punished. This shows narrow human understanding on the aspect of Gods judgment and punishment of sin. However, from the two books human beings when human beings get divine wisdom, they can understand Gods judgment.

On the other hand, in The Aeneid when the Trojan arrived in Italy, the King Latinus of Italy thought that Aeneas was the prophesied foreigner who was meant to marry her daughter. This shows an element of judgment. Perhaps the King saw specific attributes in Aeneas which made him think he was the man that was meant to marry her daughter. Aeneas fights Turnus and wounds him severely, he almost spares him but he remembers the Pallas was killed by his enemies and he kills him instead. Aeneas decision to kill Turnus is a form of judgment in revenge of a past offense.

Triumph after suffering is a common theme that can be found in the three books. The three books share stories of men undergoing suffering but in the end they all triumph. In the Book of Job, the protagonist Job, after losing all his children and property and he got sores all over his body, God restored his health, and he reached the double amount of the wealth he lost. Additionally, Job gains an understanding of Gods power and of the things he can do. In Dante's Inferno, Dante shares his frightening experiences after getting lost in the forest and encountering the Ghost of Virgil. Dante also goes through Hell and see souls being punished severely some of the situations he encounters in Hel are breathtaking. However, Virgil leads Dante, and they came out of Hell on Easter morning. In The Aeneas, the Trojans face many problems in their journey to Italy from Troy. They are pushed by a strong storm to Carthage where they are welcomed by Dido, the queen of the land. They share their sufferings with the queen, and she falls in love with Aeneas after which they get married. However, after some time the gods reminds Aeneas of his mission, and he is forced to depart for Italy. The queen kills herself because Aeneas has left Carthage. On their way to Italy, they were blown by lousy weather to Sicily, and some of his companions get tired, and they are gone in Sicily. The Trojans arrive in Italy, and they were welcomed by the king. Finally, the Trojans came in their homeland where they encounter war with some enemies. Aeneas's son was killed by Turnus but at last Aeneas fight Turnus and kills him as revenge.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is interesting how the three books interconnect with each other. They have a similar style of writing, and some of the themes they have are common. The book shares some religious perspectives that usually instigate different opinions from people. The papers also portray the spiritual struggles that men go through yet in the midst of struggles and suffering man is always hopeful of a better destiny. The three books lead to a better understanding of the spiritual element of the man especially on the divine powers that rule over man.