DANTE ALIGHIERI, POETRY and LEADERSHIP

?

Examples of leadership behavior from the Divine Comedy

Refer to endnote for external references [i]

Preword

What you are about to read will horrify purists and bore the “uninitiated”.

Take it as a game, where hints of leadership are traced between the lines of the Divine Comedy (Dante, 2005) while paying homage to the greatness of the Supreme Poet.

Dante certainly never thought of his verses as a treatise on leadership, yet among his rhymes echo excellent points to reflect upon rationally or empathically identify with the protagonists.

The leadership model used by the Breckenridge Institute??(Breckenridge Institute) is based on four interdependent dimensions:

? Competence, experience, and wisdom

? Problem-solving ability

? Personality, deep beliefs, and values

? Self-awareness and awareness of others

Let’s use these dimensions as a guiding thread to analyze the leadership expressed by some characters of the Divine Comedy, sometimes analyzing the actual text, more often reading between the lines of Dante's tercets.

?

?

A modern leader, where a man from the ancient times dominates the stage.

We are obviously talking about Ulysses, hero and leader by definition.

In the Divine Comedy, Ulysses is placed in Hell, and Minos must have wrapped his tail around himself quite a few times, judging by how deep into the funnel he sent him. Dante encounters him in the eighth ditch, among the fraudulent counselors. The judgment is therefore severe, and the shadows outweigh the merits. His crime? Convincing and leading his "faithful band" on one last, disastrous adventure on the open sea, beyond the Pillars of Hercules, surpassing human limits.

Excessive ambition or a legitimate thirst for knowledge? Is it really all so dark and negative if we look at the Greek hero from a leadership perspective? How would we classify his leadership style today?

Let’s start with the first dimension of leadership: problem-solving ability.

In Western history, Ulysses has always been the emblem of a man of great inventiveness, prudence, and cunning. He is the πολ??τροπο?, “the man of many devices " (Homer, Odyssey) par excellence. He is the one who invents the stratagem of the horse stuffed with soldiers to conquer the city of Troy and who escapes the Cyclops with a clever linguistic trick. Depending on the situations and authors, the judgment on the figure of the Greek warrior swings between two extremes: sometimes a hero of sharp intelligence, sometimes cunning beyond the limits of legality. Today, we would have no doubts about placing him among the greats for his ability to navigate between technical expertise and an overall vision; we would talk about an expert-lead-expert with visionary capabilities.

Competence, experience, and wisdom are inherent in his resumè.

Few have ventured through as many enterprises, adventures, and challenges as he has.

How many of us can add to our CV that we faced a direct challenge with a god like Poseidon? Granted, the death of Polyphemus and the accusations against Palamedes provided excellent reasons for Poseidon to hate Ulysses, but the challenge is still unequal, just as the clash between CEO Ulysses and the Board consisting of the Suitors is without rules. The Iliad and the Odyssey are rich with moments where Odysseus intervenes with wise, often decisive words or actions. Just think of his response to Thersites, recalling Calchas's prophecy about the Achaeans' victory at Troy.

Regarding personality, deep beliefs, and values?

Ulysses is not driven by a lust for money or adventure for the sake of adventure. His search is deeper, rooted in the noblest instincts of humanity to touch, know, and understand. The Greek hero describes it to Dante as “the zeal (the ardor, in the Italian version)? I had T’ explore the world, and search the ways of life, Man’s evil and his virtue” (Dante, 2005). He is not a conquistador seeking riches in a new continent, but a man who best interprets humanity's yearning for knowledge. He is the pragmatic interpreter of Immanuel Kant's sapere aude. Unlike the philosopher, the Greek hero acts not with the intellect but with direct experience, wanting to understand fully with his senses.

The influence of Ulysses' leadership is also seen indirectly by the number of references to the hero in Western thought and literature. Homer, Dante, Tennyson, Pascoli, Kavafis, Joyce are just a few examples. Each took an aspect; each reinterpreted him in their own way.

Seneca celebrates him as “the conqueror of every kind of fear.” For Tennyson, he is an old man who says: “I cannot rest from travel: I will drink life to the lees” (Tennyson, 1842)

Kavafis sees him as a journey through knowledge. Regardless of the destination, the journey itself holds weight, “and if you find her poor, Ithaca won’t have fooled you” (Kavafis, 1911) Pascoli's “The Last Voyage” depicts a Ulysses confronting resignation, discovering that even the island of the sirens is nothing more than a heap of bones (Pascoli, 1905). In Pascoli's poem, the hero has more questions than answers, but again, deep questioning is an appreciate value for modern leadership.

We could compare him to those who dedicate themselves to building a business, driven by the best principles. Perhaps to startuppers who dive headfirst into an idea destined to improve many lives, or researchers who sacrifice nights and personal relationships to find the key to curing a rare disease, beyond material gain. We are not far from the total commitment that many artists put into their works, to the point of nullifying everything around them to fuel the fire of that search that initially lies only within themselves, to then be expressed and become the heritage of all.

Just read the biographies of some of the greatest artists of the past centuries to see how they subordinated every aspect of their existence to the pursuit of expressing their talent, sacrificing everything around them to the ultimate goal of art.

Some might argue that it is a passion so great that it burns everything and everyone, love for the son, for the old father, and even for his wife: “Nor fondness for my son, nor reverence Of my old father, nor return of love, That should have crown’d Penelope with joy” (Dante, 2005).

It is no coincidence that fire is the reference in the entire first part of Canto XXVI. Ulysses himself appears as a flame, indeed, as “of the old flame forthwith the greater horn” As the canto progresses, almost in a perfect contrapasso, it is water, "the ocean-floor”, the marine ground in the Italian version that emerges as the protagonist. It will be water that decrees the end of Ulysses' journey and his companions' and seals his fate with the heaviest tombstone in Italian literature history: “the fourth time lifted up / The poop, and sank the prow: so fate decreed: / And over us the booming billow clos’d” (Dante, 2005).

No burial is as definitive: neither the stone of Foscolo's brother Giovanni (Foscolo, 1803) nor the cold earth of Carducci's intimate, sweet, and poignant poetry is as heavy (Carducci, 1887).

What makes this tomb so conclusive, and final is not just the depth of the sea, but rather the fact that the water that strikes the ship's bow not only destroys the vessel but extinguishes the hopes, the fire of knowledge, the desire to experiment and explore. It is a seal on human limits to which a curious and indomitable spirit like Ulysses cannot submit. Ulysses' response to the diktat: “The bound’ries not to be o’erstepped by man” will always be to turn “For the witless flight Made our oars wings”.

It seems to be the response of a manager/leader in the face of reservations and defeatist comments from colleagues who do not have the same spirit of initiative and sometimes hope for the failure rather than the success of an enterprise never accomplished because someone has always decreed it impossible. Often realizing afterward that the limits were only in the historical biases of the organization.

What about self-awareness and awareness of others?

Ulysses is certainly aware of how extreme his thirst for knowledge is, so much so that even his dearest affections cannot “Could overcome in me the zeal I had”, could not quench the ardor within him. This awareness is the flame that burns him, but it is also the goal of his actions. Ulysses wants to explore the world, but even more so to gain experience of the world and understand of human vices and virtue.

There is no lack of awareness of his own fragility. When reaching the Pillars of Hercules, Ulysses describes himself and his companions as old and slow, but already projected beyond, aware that it will be a journey with no return.

Ulysses is also modern in his relationship with his team. He can be harsh and decisive, as seen in his reaction to the complaints of Thersites in the Iliad, but he is far from being a coercive leader. The Greek hero is characterized by using different leadership styles: sometimes authoritative, occasionally pacesetting, and often the affiliative leadership style (Knight, 2024).

It is enlightening to compare two situations: Ulysses addressing his men, versus the beginning of the second canto of Paradise, where Dante addresses us, his readers.

Ulysses speaks to his "brothers," companions who have almost become brothers, that small company from which he was not deserted, to use his own words. The relationship with his crew is, as much as possible, egalitarian. Ulysses does not place himself on a pedestal but recognizes the value of his companions and exhorts them as such from the way he addresses them.

Memorable are the verses with which Ulysses incites his companions: “Call to mind from whence we sprang: Ye were not form’d to live the life of brutes But virtue to pursue and knowledge high.” If we talk about Vision and Mission, it becomes difficult to find higher and more engaging ones.

The concept is not unheard in the ancient literature. Think about Sallust’s Catilinae Conjuratio: “Omnis homines, qui sese student praestare ceteris animalibus, summa ope niti decet, ne vitam silentio transeant veluti pecora” (Sallust).

From this moment on, we imagine Ulysses' boat proceeding toward the Pillars of Hercules almost like one of Theo Jansen's kinetic sculptures (Jansen, s.d.). Wobbly and fragile in the wind, moving uncertain and light steps, aware that a stronger gust could definitively break its structure, but at the same time, full of poetry and harmony.

Dante, on the contrary, immediately sets the distance with his very first words approaching Paradise: “All ye, who in small bark have following sail’d” (Dante, 2005), while he himself sails on a ship of higher intellectual means. The poet does not invite us to move forward, does not illuminate the goal. Instead, he highlights the obstacles: “where losing me, perchance ye may remain Bewilder’d in deep maze.” He even openly invites renunciation with a subtle invitation to return to see our shores, to not venture into the high seas. How do we imagine this journey? It is hard to think of anything but unimaginable difficulties, of high waves of a stormy sea, from which it is practically impossible to escape unscathed. The dialogue occurs without contradiction, we are unable to respond. On other occasions, Dante's "arrogance" is punished. In some situations, in a truly painful way. With Farinata degli Uberti, the duel continues for many verses. Dante seems to have the upper hand when he replies that his people returned to Florence after being defeated, an art that Farinata's side did not learn. The final thrust, however, is from the Ghibelline, who reminds the Poet how difficult it is to learn that same art, effectively predicting Dante's exile.

In conclusion, we cannot help but admire Dante's Ulysses as a true modern leader in every sense.

According to many authors, even Dante does not completely condemn Ulysses, despite placing him so deep in hell. In the text (Borges, 1983), Jorge Luis Borges argues that “Ulysses certainly undertook a mad, impossible journey, but the anguish, the evident participation of Dante is almost too profound and intimate. Dante is not the anti-Ulysses, as he embarks on a journey no less ‘mad’ than that of the Greek hero, though he wants to make it seem authorized by God. For Borges, Dante is a Christianized Ulysses” (Galavotti, 2019).

?

?

?

Works Cited

Alighieri, & Bosco, R. (1979). La Divina Commedia. Firenze: Le Monnier - Bosco, Reggio.

Borges, J. (1983). Nueve ensayos dantescos. Madrid: Espansa-Calpe.

Breckenridge Institute. (n.d.). Four Dimensions of Leadership. Pinnacle.

Carducci, G. (1887). Pianto antico. In G. Carducci, Rime nuove (p. 42). Bologna: Zanichelli.

Cerni. (2021). Dante per Manager. Il sole 24 ore.

Dante. (2005). The divine comedy. The Project Gutenberg eBook of The divine comedy - translated by H. F. Cary; Credits to D. Widger.

Foscolo, U. (1803). In morte del fratello Giovanni.

Galavotti. (2019). Inferno: Canto XXVI. Tratto da https://www.homolaicus.com/letteratura/ulisse.htm.

Gino, F. (2018, Sep-Oct). The business case for curiosity. Hardware Business Curiosity.

Homer. (n.d.). Odyssey. Retrieved from https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136

Homer, Codino, & Onesti, C. (2014). Odissea. Testo greco a fronte. ET Classici.

Jansen. (n.d.). Strandbeest. Retrieved from https://www.strandbeest.com/

Kavafis. (1911). Ithaca. Grammata.

Knight, R. (2024, April 9). The six types of leadership styles. Harward Business Review.

Pascoli. (1905). L'ultimo viaggio. In Pascoli, Poemi conviviali. Zanichelli.

Podolny, H. (2020). How Apple is organized for innovation. Harward Business Review.

Sallust. (n.d.). Catilinae Conjuratio. Retrieved from https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0002.

Sessi. (2013). , IL RACCONTO DELL’ODISSEA. Milano: RCS Libri SpA.

Smith, C. S. (2023). The power of curiosity in the workplace. Forbes.

Tennyson, A. (1842). Ulysses.

?

?

?

[i] All efforts have been made to ensure that the authors of the referenced works have been properly cited in this document. If any citation has been inadvertently omitted or incorrectly attributed, please accept our apologies. We welcome any corrections, which will be promptly addressed. Kindly contact us at [email protected] to notify us of any discrepancies or errors