Dante Portrays Odysseus Crossing Divine Limits

Dante's Canto XXVI depicts Odysseus and other fraudulent counselors in the eighth bolgia of Hell, punished with tongues of flame for deceit and for voyaging beyond the Pillars of Hercules. The author argues Dante links ne plus ultra to a moral limit—warning that hubris in pursuit of knowledge or power, exemplified by modern technologists and billionaires, risks transgression and eventual consequence.