ce and potential to excel as the Supreme Maker decreed: The nature of all other creatures is defined and restricted with lawswhich We have laid down; you, by contrast, impeded by no such restrictions, may, by your own free will, to whose custody We have assigned you, trace for yourself the lineaments of your own nature. (Oration on the Dignity of Man)According to Pico, the Supreme Maker also addressed man to say “…you may, as the free and proud shaper of you own being, fashion yourself in the form you may prefer.”(Oration on the Dignity of Man) Pico appeals to the people of the Renaissance as he argues that humans have no limitations, motivating one to master all the elements leading to an ideal self.Castiglione concentrates on military skill, speech and writing, music, painting, and love while describing the ideal character. The idea is for one to have knowledge in all subjects, master all skills, and convey modesty and grace. Pico says “…we shall find perfection and peace in the felicity of theological knowledge.” (Oration on the Dignity of Man) Both Authors support education and believe that humans have the potential to improve the self by striving for perfection in all things. Leon Battista, a great man of the Renaissance said, “Men can do all things if they will.”It is possible that Dante’s Divine Comedy was a source of these ideals. Dante’s great poem illustrates hell to encourage others to lead a better life than the ones described in The Inferno. Dante attempted to scare individuals by depicting gruesome consequences of sin, in order that these individuals will love and worship God more, while avoiding sins. In the Oration on the Dignity of Man, it is said that a philosopher by the name of Empedocles believes “…that there is in our souls a dual nature; the one bears us upwards toward the heavenly regions; by the other we are dragged downward toward r...
