Unit 1B’s introduction to the Five Great Themes of World Literature states with regard to the hero: “The surest way to understand what a culture of the past most values is to focus on what it considers heroic, in that a culture recognizes its heroes as embodying its most important ideas, the values that are essential.” Discuss the diverse values that our two epic heroes, Rustem and Dante, embody in Shahnameh and Inferno.

Which values embodied by these epic heroes are endorsed or celebrated by their societies?
Are any of their values condemned or rejected by their societies?
Illustrate your discussion with specific examples of the heroes’ obligations to their societies and what their values reflect about their cultures.
One passage you should include in your discussion reflects Dante’s feelings at the beginning of his journey:

110 I bowed my head and held it low at last
111 the poet said: ‘What are your thoughts?’
112 In answer I replied ‘Oh,
113 how many sweet thoughts, what great desire
114 have brought them to this woeful pass!’ (Canto V).