Dante and Machiavelli

Dante and Machiavelli define reversion sides of the Renaissance in several ways. Certainly the former banks that God will reveal solely and c whole people to account for their behavior, while the latter gives every narrow of believing in no God and supposing that scrupulous behavior hardly makes one a tar depart for ruthless exploitation. This difference in the devil could be expressed in terms of religious faith however they could likewise be said to have differing views of human nature.Try to get to the heart of the distinction. Why is Machiavellis sense of right and wrong so opposed to Dantes? Written two hundred years apart, The orchestra pit by Dante and The Prince by Machiavelli both contain examples of society during the late centre ages and also the beginning of the Renaissance. eyepatch not contemporaries, both custody held like cynical views towards human nature, but opposing views on social structure.Dante believed that those with former were all destined to b ecome corrupt while Machiavelli wrote that authority is indispensable in order to maintain structure within the population. The cavity, written as the first of three movements of The Divine Comedy, tells of one mans trip into Hell with the help of Roman poet Virgil. As the two men pilgrimage through the nine circles of hell, Dante, or the Pilgrim, sees the souls of men and women and either feels pity or hatred, but most of all feels a sense of vengeance.In Dantes hell, the punishment fits the crime. The lustful argon forced to walk naked beside those of the opposite sex, the slothful be forced to reside at the bottom of the river Styx, and the soothsayers argon forced to perpetually look back by having their necks twisted around. The Inferno is essentially a social commentary, exposing societys true evils. In the eighth circle, simple fraud, were the simonists those priests, popes, and bishops who, instead of revealing the glory of God, used their causation to gain monetary we alth and fame.Their punishment is creation buried headword first, the soles of their feet on fire. The Pilgrim sees Pope Nicholas III who asks him if he is Boniface, Is that you here already just? By including these popes in hell, Dante made clear his views on the leadership of the perform and believed that the church had no control or right to control worldly and civil matters. Dante also shows which sins he sees as the worst of sins, putt betrayers in the lowest circle of hell. Dante mploys some common sense while discussing hell, putting obvious sinners in the lower circles and prone to harsher punishments, but he also puts the not-so obvious sinners in hell.Even though one whitethorn estimate he is doing the right thing, all motives ar evaluated upon judgment and even a trace of selfishness or greed may threaten ones chance in heaven. This is why Dantes hell is rife with politicians and leaders. Although they may have the communitys best interests at heart, politicians become ghost with fame and glory, often forgetting that they are representatives of the people.In The Prince, Machiavelli explains what a cracking and successful prince should be like. He advocates a weapons-grade, cutthroat authority figure and encourages the winning of index by any means necessary. The main theme in The Prince is that kinsfolk rule is dangerous, for people know only what is reliable for themselves and not what is good for the whole. The common people, in Machiavellis view, are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, they shun danger and are greedy for profit while you treat them well, they are yours.He believes that these commoners should be ruled absolutely, yet compassionately, in order to suppress any gainsay to ruling power. The only founded political dissent should come from the nobles and even then, all should be do so as not to fester thoughts of innovation. While it seems as though Machiavelli was a power-hungry despot, The Prince was merely a r eaction to what he saw as a necessary evil. Machiavelli was actually a strong supporter of the republic in which the people, the very people he describes as being uneducated and self-centered in his book, ruled over themselves.In The Prince, he does give the common people credit, saying that, if a prince upsets them, they bum take severe and dangerous action. The best fortress that exists is to avoid being hated by the people (XX, 70). Machiavelli understood that no matter how a great deal power a prince may have, he is always at the venture of losing it whether it be at the hands of the people or the hands of some other prince. Also, because he was first a supporter of republic, he understood the unavoidableness for certain checks to be put in place to safeguard against revolution and lack of popular support.Machiavelli argues that, unless a princes subjects hate him, they will bask him and follow him through any trouble that may beset the principality. In general, Machiavell i believes that a leader should be a true leader and fluff the people behind his cause, even if that means killing off dissenters for the good of the whole. Although, upon first reading, The Prince seems to tell the tale of dictatorship and totalitarianism, it is much closer to red-brick democracy than some would like to believe and still is applicable to moderne governments.Representing two different ages and two (supposedly) different world views, The Inferno and The Prince are quite similar in that both see humanity as somewhat of an evil and ungrateful status. They differ, however, by their view of what should be make about the human condition. Dante believed that what is done in this life will be punished accordingly in the next life, and there is little to be done, for even the unbelievers are subject to Gods will by being trapped in limbo.Machiavelli, on the other hand, didnt believe in the afterlife and so thought that life should be lived here on earth and sin will be f orgiven at death. This way, men can be free to strive for and obtain that which makes them happy, for the pious are buried just like the unbelievers. Ironically, The Prince is more optimistic than The Inferno, for Machiavelli stresses that, despite actions done on earth, all will be forgotten, for sin dies with the body.