... in the two-volume "Poems", Tennyson creates his idea of an old Ulysses by using the ancient hero of Homer's Odyssey, and the medieval hero of Dante's Inferno. Translated from Greek ("Odysseus") to Roman, Ulysses represents the aging hero feeling that there is no point in staying home "by this still hearth" with ... experience of the world/and of the vices and the worth of men" (ll. 90-95, translated by Allen Mandelbaum). Dante portrays Ulysses as a prideful, devious and angry man who was placed in hell for his dishonesty in time of war and acting as a bad counselor (his men were killed),...

• Word Count: 1975
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School