The Allegory of the Cave and Dante Essay -- Plato Allegory Cave Dante

The Allegory of the Cave and DanteIf you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing. This maxim applies to the poet Dante Alighieri, writer of The underworld in the 1300s, because it asserts the need to establish oneself as a subscriber to society. Indeed, Dantes work contributes much to Renaissance Italy as his work is the first of its scope and size to be written in the vernacular. Due to its readability and availability, The Inferno is a nationalistic symbol. With this widespread availability also comes a certain social responsibility even though Dantes audience would have been well-known(prenominal) with the religious dogma, he assumes the didactic role of illustrating his own version of Christian justice and emphasizes the need for a personal understanding of divine wisdom and contrapasso, the composition of the perfect punishment for the crime. Dante acts as both author and narrator, completi ng a physical and spiritual journey into the underworld with Virgil as his guide and mentor. The journey from sliminess into light is an allegory full of symbolic representation, much like that of Platos Allegory of the Cave, which shows a philosophers journey towards uprightness. Therefore, Dante would also agree with the maxim, Wise men decide by others harms fools scarcely by their own, because on the road to slaying knowledge and spiritual enlightenment, characters who learn valuable lessons from the misfortunes of others strengthen their own paradigms. Nonetheless, the only true way to gain knowledge is to experience it first hand. Dantes character finds truth by way of his own personal quest. Dantes poetry is rich in symbolism of light and darkness. At the beginn... ...ards monstrous figures and sympathy towards those who seem to be tortured unjustly. In his perverse education, with instruction from Virgil and the shades, Dante learns to replace mercy with bru tality, because sympathy in quarry condones sin and denies divine justice. The ancient philosopher Plato, present in the first level of Hell, argues in The Allegory of the Cave that truth is possible via knowledge of the Form of the Good. Similarly, Dante acquires truth through a gradual understanding of contrapasso and the recognition of divine justice in the afterlife. Ultimately, Dante recognizes that the actions of the earthly fresh are important because the soul lives on by and by to face the ramifications. By expressing his ideas on morality and righteousness, Dante writes a work worth reading, immortalizes his name, and exalts the beliefs of his Christian audience.