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301 reviews for:
La Divina Commedia: The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri
Melville Best Anderson, Dante Alighieri
3.86 AVERAGE
301 reviews for:
La Divina Commedia: The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri
Melville Best Anderson, Dante Alighieri
3.86 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
No words can describe the greatness of this work, a greatness both of theme and poetry. As a poet, Dante takes his place in the ranks of the foremost artists the world has ever known. The theme which he treats is universal; it involves the greatest concepts which man has ever attained. Only a master could find the loftiness of tone and the splendor and variety of images and scenes which are presented in The Divine Comedy.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hard to follow
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Every time Dante surprises me, reading his work just once is not enough to fully understand it.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When you hear "Dante's Inferno" or "The Divine Comedy" everyone usually only recalls the first third - the horror hell-scape. I get it. It's got all the blood guts and gore that keep a modern reader entertained.
But honestly, from a pure storytelling perspective, I think this second installment is the better work. It is, however, profoundly more Christian-centric. There's less shock value, less inclusion of Greek mythos. A lot more allegory.
I found that Purgatory was somewhat better organized, stylistically speaking - with each layer based on 1 of the seven deadly sins. And I also liked the way Dante described the souls in this book as believers, who had personal (character?) flaws that needed to be rectified before they ascended. There's some really interesting commentary on the human condition in here.
And, there's a difference painted between those who were overtly evil (in Inferno) and those who simply weren't perfect in life.
Gonna just keep on keeping on with the reader's notes by way of review as honestly, talking my way through this actually helped me focus on what was going on.
Reader's Notes:<u>Canto 1: Ante-Purgatory: The Shore of the Island - Cato of Utica</u>
Immediately this book is heavy on the symbolism. The whole point of Purgatory, from Dante's perspective is for those souls who are seeking forgiveness in the afterlife.
There's a mention of stars being visible all throughout he day - four in particular, which seemingly represent the 4 (of 7) virtues that the Catholic Church believes were attainable by all people, without spiritual assistance: Justice, Prudence, Temperance, and Fortitude
The three other virtues, then, that require spirituality are: Faith, Hope, and Love
Virgil takes Dante to a river before they begin their ascent, and literally washes Hell from his face. It's a pretty obvious reference to baptism, no?
<u>Canto II: Ante-Purgatory: The Shore of the Island - The Angel Boatman, Casella, Cato of Utica</u>
The story begins in a similar way as Inferno did - with a ship and noise. Except this time, an angel is guiding a bright, glowing ship and the passengers are singing hymns, not screaming in agony or cursing their fate. I can appreciate the parallels.
<u>Canto III: Ante-Purgatory: The Base of the Cliff - The Late Repentant
Class 1: The Contumacious
Manfred</u>
Class 1, these are the people who got kicked out of the Church.
Manfred - excommunicated member of the Church. Here we learn that however long one has been excommunicated for your soul is required to be on this level of Purgatory for 30 times that length.
Manfred asks Dante to send a message to his daughter, that she might pray and help him reduce his time spent on the rocks at the bottom level of Purgatory.
<u>Canto IV: Ante-Purgatory: The First Ledge - The Late-Repentant
Class 2: The Indolent
Belacqua</u>
Class 2 is for those who were sort of lazy about repenting for their sins in life and waited until the last moment to beg forgiveness.
Dante meets Belacqua - a man who only repented for his sins on his deathbed. Belacqua must spend the length of his life on earth on the shores of Purgatory.
There are others on the shore that were seemingly stubborn in life and died without giving a final confession/repentance. It's all very Catholic, to be honest.
<u>Canto V: Ante-Purgatory: The Second Ledge - The Late Repentant
Class 3: Those Who Died by Violence Without Last Rites</u>
Dante also encounters people who died in battle, who either didn't have a chance to or who forgot to confess before they went into battle. An appeal is made to Dante to return to earth and get people to pray for these folks so that they may end their penance earlier.
This is going to become a trend - people asking Dante to pray, and to ask others on Earth to pray, that their waiting time may be shortened.
<u>Canto VI: Ante-Purgatory: The Second Ledge - The Late Repentant
Class 3: Those Who Died By Violence
Sordello</u>
You didn't think we were done with Dante's obsession with Florence, did you?
Good, because he meets Sordello - an Italian poet who speaks on Italian politics and talks about how Florence is going to crumble at the hands of their current leadership. Gasp!
<u>Canto VII: Ante-Purgatory: The Second Ledge - The Late Repentant
The Flowering Valley - Class 4: The Negligent Rulers</u>
As we know, Purgatory is for those souls who were Believers, but who still had sin in their lives that they need to overcome before reaching Paradise.
There's in emphasis on the fact that there's a way to get out of Purgatory, as compared to Hell which is inescapable.
<u>Canto VIII: Ante-Purgatory: The Flowering Valley - The Negligent Rulers
Nightfall, Easter Sunday
The Guardian Angels
The Serpent</u>
Virgil forces Dante to stop before they climb the cliff because night's fallen and no one is allowed to ascend "without the presence of the sun". Play on words - sun/Son.
The 4 stars have been replaced with 3 stars. Once again recalling the symbology of the 3 spiritual virtues.
We have a really cool story about how at night the Serpent from the Garden of Eden comes to try and tempt souls to turn their backs on God (thus sending them to Hell) but 2 angels battle the Serpent back. The angels' swords are described as broken and blunted, and Virgil explains that this battle has been going on for a long time and when the swords are completely worn down it'll be Judgement Day.
What did I say - the storytelling in this is SO GOOD.
<u>Canto IX: The Gate of Purgatory: The Angel Guardian</u>
The angel's standing atop 3 stairs - A marble stair, a stone stair, and a red gemstone stair.
There's some debate about what these different stairs symbolize.
The Marble step: Man's original condition - beautiful and untouched
The Stone step: This is what happens when sin enters Man's life - ugly
The Red Gemstone step: The blood (from Christ) covering the stone and making it beautiful again - symbolizing Man's salvation through Christ's sacrifice.
The angel carves 7 P's into Dante's forehead - representing 1 of the 7 sins. In order for Dante to get through Purgatory, he'll have to pass through all 7 layers, at the end of which, a P will be removed from his forehead.
<u>Canto X - Canto XI: The Needle's Eye
The First Cornice: The Proud
The Whip of Pride</u>
What's the opposite of Pride? Humility. And it's everywhere on this level.
Everyone on this level is bent over, carrying massive stones, equal to the pride they carried in life.
<u>Canto XII: the first Cornice: The Proud
The Rein of Pride
The Angel of Humility</u>
The closer a soul is to the end of the tier, the closer they are to overcoming their sin of Pride.
The Angel of Humility greets Dante and hits him in the head with his wings, instantly removing one of the P's from his forehead. Dante feels lighter. Virgil says that all his life, Dante's been weighed down by the sins of the world and he didn't even know it.
While Dante was talking with the people in the Pride level, he had to bend down the way they were in order to speak with them, mimicking their posture, which means he's sort of done penance for the sin of Pride even though he's still living.
This is another great little story moment.
<u>Canto XIII - Canto XIV: The Second Cornice: The Envious
The Whip of Envy
The Rein of Envy</u>
The opposite of Envy is Generosity.
The people on this level are all leaning on one another. They're all blind because their eyes have been wired shut. Because in life, they saw others with things and they coveted those things, now they can see nothing.
Dante meets more people and tells them he'll pray for them and encourage people on Earth to pray for them too - told you it's a trend. It's a very different attitude from Inferno.
Among the voices Dante hears the voice of Cain, lamenting that he's forever cut off from mankind.
Again, the Angel of Generosity appears and removes one of the Ps from Dante's forehead.
<u>Canto XV - Canto XVI: The Ascent The Angel of Caritas
The Third Cornice: The Wrathful
The Whip of Wrath
Marco Lombardo</u>
The opposite of Wrath is Meekness
This level's foggy with smoke. It's in this smoke that the wrathful suffer their purification as Wrath is a corrosive state of the spirit, so the smoke stings and smarts. As Wrath obscures the true light of God, so the smoke plunges all into darkness.
Dante hears people in the smoke singing the Litany of the Lamb of God - the symbol of which embodies Meekness.
Dante encounters a man named Marco Lombardo, who comments on the state of the world and blames the temporal power of the Church for much of the world's corruption.
<u>Canto XVII: The Third Cornice: The Wrathful
The Rein of Wrath
The Ascent - The Angel of Meekness</u>
The Angel of Meekness removes another P from Dante's forehead, and shows him to the Ascent.
Dante and Virgil reach the top of the ascent just as night falls. And they have a discussion on love, in which Dante is told that all actions spring either from natural love or spiritual love, and that it is the various perversions of that love that lead to the sins that are being repented for in Purgatory.
<u>Canto XVIII - Canto XIX: The Fourth Cornice: The Slothful
The Whip of Sloth
The Rein of Sloth
-
Dante's Dream of Sirena
The Ascent - The Angel of Zeal</u>
The opposite of Sloth is Zeal.
The people in this level are being forced to run around all the time without stopping - the idea being that they were so lazy in life that now they have to make up for it by being constantly active.
They're also shouting about examples of zealous people in history, such as Mary who ran to tell Elizabeth that she was pregnant with Jesus. (Mary has been a common theme to this point, as she's one of the most virtuous humans to have ever existed according to the Catholic Church.)
At the end of the level, the Angel of Zeal erases a P from Dante's forehead and they keep going. There's not a lot to this level to be honest.
<u>Canto XX - Canto XXI: The Fifth Cornice: The Hoarders and Wasters (The Avaricious)
The Whip of Avarice
The Rein of Avarice
-
Statius</u>
The opposite of Avarice is Charity.
All across this layer, the souls are splayed out over the ground and are quoting Psalm 119. Their hands and feet are bound so they can't get up.
Dante encounters a dude (Hugh Capet) who tells him that the leaders in France (the Capician Dynasty) is going to target Florence. Here we go again.
The mountain begins to shake, and angels appear singing and shouting in triumph. Dante's scared, and they run on.
At this point, Dante and Virgil encounter a Roman poet by the name of Statius. He explains that the mountain shakes every time a sinner has completed their penance. In this case, it's Statius himself.
He explains that he was on the layer of Greed for 500 years. And that he also served a 500 year sentence on another layer in Purgatory. Which tells us that a soul can serve multiple sentences on multiple layers before they're finally free to enter Heaven.
The Angel of Charity removes a P from Dante's head.
After this, Statius joins Dante and Virgil.
<u>Canto XXII - Canto XXIV: The Ascent to the Sixth Cornice
The Sixth Cornice: The Gluttons
The Tree
The Whip of Gluttony
-
The Tree of Knowledge
The Rein of Gluttony</u>
The opposite of Gluttony is Temperance.
The punishment for Gluttony involves these sweet smelling trees that are all over the place. There are voices coming from the trees. The voices are going on about Temperance and give examples like John the Baptist - a character who fast. There's fruit on these trees that puts out an aroma that makes everyone incredibly hungry.
Including Dante.
The people on this level are cursed to smell the fruit, to see it and reach for it, but it's always out of reach.
The Tree of Knowledge is also on this level - it holds the fruit that caused Adam and Eve to be kicked from the Garden of Eden. And it serves as a final trial for those who indulged in too much food in their lives.
Again, with the storytelling!
Another really great story moment involves Dante asking Statius why some souls look so emaciated while others (Like Statius himself) look so well-built and well-fed.
Statius explains that the souls no longer have a physical body, so the representation of their worth and how close they are to ascending is reflected in their physical appearance. Those who look gaunt and frail still have a lot to atone for, while those whose bodies are stronger are closer to redemption.
<u>Canto XXV - XXVII: The Seventh Cornice: The Lustful
The Whip of Lust
-
The Rein of Lust
-
The Angel of Chastity
The Wall of Fire</u>
The opposite of lust is chastity.
In this level, souls are forced to run through flames. It's important to note that while this fire is hot, it's not burning the souls, but rather purifying them.
Everyone, regardless of the sin, must walk through these flames in order to get into Heaven. Which means those repenting for the sin of Lust don't have to do anything extra than everybody else.
The reason for this, according to Dante, is that Lust is the sin that's the easiest to commit. If you'll recall, Lust is also the top level of hell, the least "bad".
The Angel of Chastity appears and tells Dante that if he wants the P off his head, he'll have to cross through the flames too, he's scared but Virgil reassures him.
Night falls again, and Dante sleeps.
<u>Canto XXVIII - Canto XXIX: The Earthly Paradise - Lethe
-
The Banks of Lethe
The Heavenly Pageant</u>
At the top of the stairs are the Gates to the Garden of Eden - the birthplace of mankind.
Purgatory has been built around this garden, with the idea that sinners can earn their way back into the paradise that was created for them.
<u>Canto XXX: The Earthly Paradise: Beatrice
Virgil Vanishes</u>
Virgil tells Dante that because the garden was created for believers, this is where they must part ways. Dante is upset and afraid of this turn of events. But Virgil tells him that he's had all of his sins wiped away and that he's not a believer being held back by earthly vices, which means that Dante is now a better leader and person than Virgil could ever have been.
It's a scene that tugs at the heartstrings, as Virgil's purpose for acting as a guide was so that Dante could better himself to the point where he no longer needed Virgil.
<u>Canto XXXI - Canto XXXII: The Earthly Paradise: Lethe
Beatrice, Matilda
-
The Earthly Paradice: Beatrice Unveiled
Departure of the Heavenly Pageant
Transformation of the Chariot</u>
Dante describes Eden as having a peace and stillness he can't properly describe. He encounters a woman there (Matilda), who explains that this garden stands as a promise of eternal peace and that everything in it is directly maintained by the will of God. It's maintained by God every day, in case humanity ever decides it wishes to return home.
If you're a Christian, this is bound to make you emotional.
Dante encounters a pageant of people in white robes. These people are accompanied by 7 dancing women, who are dressed by color and are in groups of 4 and 3 (a throwback to the virtues, the four attainable ones and the 3 spiritual ones represented by the stars in the beginning of this story), a chariot being pulled by a gryphon and several cherubim.
A woman steps out of the chariot wearing a veil and it's revealed that she's Beatrice.
Beatrice is, essentially, a stand in for Christ. And She scolds Dante who breaks down and weeps upon seeing her. She asks him what right he has to cry when everyone else here is happy.
He confesses that since she died on earth, he's strayed from the righteous path and he begs for her forgiveness. It's an obvious parallel to the crucifixion and death of Christ and how humanity has since strayed away from his teachings without his physical presence in their lives.
Beatrice tells Dante that she saw that he was straying, and she personally went to God and begged him to allow Dante to journey through Hell and Purgatory so that he could be made pure again and reunite with her in the Garden of Eden.
More great storytelling!
<u>Canto XXXIII: The Earthly Paradise: Eunoe
Dante's Purification Completed</u>
Beatrice and Dante walk for a while in the garden, and come to a great spring, from which both the Lethe and the Eunoe flow. She commands Dante to drink from it - by drinking from the Lethe, Dante forgets all sin and error, thus completing his purification.
By drinking from Eunoe, he remembers his sins but is purge of all guilt because Eunoe is forgiveness.
But honestly, from a pure storytelling perspective, I think this second installment is the better work. It is, however, profoundly more Christian-centric. There's less shock value, less inclusion of Greek mythos. A lot more allegory.
I found that Purgatory was somewhat better organized, stylistically speaking - with each layer based on 1 of the seven deadly sins. And I also liked the way Dante described the souls in this book as believers, who had personal (character?) flaws that needed to be rectified before they ascended. There's some really interesting commentary on the human condition in here.
And, there's a difference painted between those who were overtly evil (in Inferno) and those who simply weren't perfect in life.
Gonna just keep on keeping on with the reader's notes by way of review as honestly, talking my way through this actually helped me focus on what was going on.
Reader's Notes:
Immediately this book is heavy on the symbolism. The whole point of Purgatory, from Dante's perspective is for those souls who are seeking forgiveness in the afterlife.
There's a mention of stars being visible all throughout he day - four in particular, which seemingly represent the 4 (of 7) virtues that the Catholic Church believes were attainable by all people, without spiritual assistance: Justice, Prudence, Temperance, and Fortitude
The three other virtues, then, that require spirituality are: Faith, Hope, and Love
Virgil takes Dante to a river before they begin their ascent, and literally washes Hell from his face. It's a pretty obvious reference to baptism, no?
<u>Canto II: Ante-Purgatory: The Shore of the Island - The Angel Boatman, Casella, Cato of Utica</u>
The story begins in a similar way as Inferno did - with a ship and noise. Except this time, an angel is guiding a bright, glowing ship and the passengers are singing hymns, not screaming in agony or cursing their fate. I can appreciate the parallels.
<u>Canto III: Ante-Purgatory: The Base of the Cliff - The Late Repentant
Class 1: The Contumacious
Manfred</u>
Class 1, these are the people who got kicked out of the Church.
Manfred - excommunicated member of the Church. Here we learn that however long one has been excommunicated for your soul is required to be on this level of Purgatory for 30 times that length.
Manfred asks Dante to send a message to his daughter, that she might pray and help him reduce his time spent on the rocks at the bottom level of Purgatory.
<u>Canto IV: Ante-Purgatory: The First Ledge - The Late-Repentant
Class 2: The Indolent
Belacqua</u>
Class 2 is for those who were sort of lazy about repenting for their sins in life and waited until the last moment to beg forgiveness.
Dante meets Belacqua - a man who only repented for his sins on his deathbed. Belacqua must spend the length of his life on earth on the shores of Purgatory.
There are others on the shore that were seemingly stubborn in life and died without giving a final confession/repentance. It's all very Catholic, to be honest.
<u>Canto V: Ante-Purgatory: The Second Ledge - The Late Repentant
Class 3: Those Who Died by Violence Without Last Rites</u>
Dante also encounters people who died in battle, who either didn't have a chance to or who forgot to confess before they went into battle. An appeal is made to Dante to return to earth and get people to pray for these folks so that they may end their penance earlier.
This is going to become a trend - people asking Dante to pray, and to ask others on Earth to pray, that their waiting time may be shortened.
<u>Canto VI: Ante-Purgatory: The Second Ledge - The Late Repentant
Class 3: Those Who Died By Violence
Sordello</u>
You didn't think we were done with Dante's obsession with Florence, did you?
Good, because he meets Sordello - an Italian poet who speaks on Italian politics and talks about how Florence is going to crumble at the hands of their current leadership. Gasp!
<u>Canto VII: Ante-Purgatory: The Second Ledge - The Late Repentant
The Flowering Valley - Class 4: The Negligent Rulers</u>
As we know, Purgatory is for those souls who were Believers, but who still had sin in their lives that they need to overcome before reaching Paradise.
There's in emphasis on the fact that there's a way to get out of Purgatory, as compared to Hell which is inescapable.
<u>Canto VIII: Ante-Purgatory: The Flowering Valley - The Negligent Rulers
Nightfall, Easter Sunday
The Guardian Angels
The Serpent</u>
Virgil forces Dante to stop before they climb the cliff because night's fallen and no one is allowed to ascend "without the presence of the sun". Play on words - sun/Son.
The 4 stars have been replaced with 3 stars. Once again recalling the symbology of the 3 spiritual virtues.
We have a really cool story about how at night the Serpent from the Garden of Eden comes to try and tempt souls to turn their backs on God (thus sending them to Hell) but 2 angels battle the Serpent back. The angels' swords are described as broken and blunted, and Virgil explains that this battle has been going on for a long time and when the swords are completely worn down it'll be Judgement Day.
What did I say - the storytelling in this is SO GOOD.
<u>Canto IX: The Gate of Purgatory: The Angel Guardian</u>
The angel's standing atop 3 stairs - A marble stair, a stone stair, and a red gemstone stair.
There's some debate about what these different stairs symbolize.
The Marble step: Man's original condition - beautiful and untouched
The Stone step: This is what happens when sin enters Man's life - ugly
The Red Gemstone step: The blood (from Christ) covering the stone and making it beautiful again - symbolizing Man's salvation through Christ's sacrifice.
The angel carves 7 P's into Dante's forehead - representing 1 of the 7 sins. In order for Dante to get through Purgatory, he'll have to pass through all 7 layers, at the end of which, a P will be removed from his forehead.
<u>Canto X - Canto XI: The Needle's Eye
The First Cornice: The Proud
The Whip of Pride</u>
What's the opposite of Pride? Humility. And it's everywhere on this level.
Everyone on this level is bent over, carrying massive stones, equal to the pride they carried in life.
<u>Canto XII: the first Cornice: The Proud
The Rein of Pride
The Angel of Humility</u>
The closer a soul is to the end of the tier, the closer they are to overcoming their sin of Pride.
The Angel of Humility greets Dante and hits him in the head with his wings, instantly removing one of the P's from his forehead. Dante feels lighter. Virgil says that all his life, Dante's been weighed down by the sins of the world and he didn't even know it.
While Dante was talking with the people in the Pride level, he had to bend down the way they were in order to speak with them, mimicking their posture, which means he's sort of done penance for the sin of Pride even though he's still living.
This is another great little story moment.
<u>Canto XIII - Canto XIV: The Second Cornice: The Envious
The Whip of Envy
The Rein of Envy</u>
The opposite of Envy is Generosity.
The people on this level are all leaning on one another. They're all blind because their eyes have been wired shut. Because in life, they saw others with things and they coveted those things, now they can see nothing.
Dante meets more people and tells them he'll pray for them and encourage people on Earth to pray for them too - told you it's a trend. It's a very different attitude from Inferno.
Among the voices Dante hears the voice of Cain, lamenting that he's forever cut off from mankind.
Again, the Angel of Generosity appears and removes one of the Ps from Dante's forehead.
<u>Canto XV - Canto XVI: The Ascent The Angel of Caritas
The Third Cornice: The Wrathful
The Whip of Wrath
Marco Lombardo</u>
The opposite of Wrath is Meekness
This level's foggy with smoke. It's in this smoke that the wrathful suffer their purification as Wrath is a corrosive state of the spirit, so the smoke stings and smarts. As Wrath obscures the true light of God, so the smoke plunges all into darkness.
Dante hears people in the smoke singing the Litany of the Lamb of God - the symbol of which embodies Meekness.
Dante encounters a man named Marco Lombardo, who comments on the state of the world and blames the temporal power of the Church for much of the world's corruption.
<u>Canto XVII: The Third Cornice: The Wrathful
The Rein of Wrath
The Ascent - The Angel of Meekness</u>
The Angel of Meekness removes another P from Dante's forehead, and shows him to the Ascent.
Dante and Virgil reach the top of the ascent just as night falls. And they have a discussion on love, in which Dante is told that all actions spring either from natural love or spiritual love, and that it is the various perversions of that love that lead to the sins that are being repented for in Purgatory.
<u>Canto XVIII - Canto XIX: The Fourth Cornice: The Slothful
The Whip of Sloth
The Rein of Sloth
-
Dante's Dream of Sirena
The Ascent - The Angel of Zeal</u>
The opposite of Sloth is Zeal.
The people in this level are being forced to run around all the time without stopping - the idea being that they were so lazy in life that now they have to make up for it by being constantly active.
They're also shouting about examples of zealous people in history, such as Mary who ran to tell Elizabeth that she was pregnant with Jesus. (Mary has been a common theme to this point, as she's one of the most virtuous humans to have ever existed according to the Catholic Church.)
At the end of the level, the Angel of Zeal erases a P from Dante's forehead and they keep going. There's not a lot to this level to be honest.
<u>Canto XX - Canto XXI: The Fifth Cornice: The Hoarders and Wasters (The Avaricious)
The Whip of Avarice
The Rein of Avarice
-
Statius</u>
The opposite of Avarice is Charity.
All across this layer, the souls are splayed out over the ground and are quoting Psalm 119. Their hands and feet are bound so they can't get up.
Dante encounters a dude (Hugh Capet) who tells him that the leaders in France (the Capician Dynasty) is going to target Florence. Here we go again.
The mountain begins to shake, and angels appear singing and shouting in triumph. Dante's scared, and they run on.
At this point, Dante and Virgil encounter a Roman poet by the name of Statius. He explains that the mountain shakes every time a sinner has completed their penance. In this case, it's Statius himself.
He explains that he was on the layer of Greed for 500 years. And that he also served a 500 year sentence on another layer in Purgatory. Which tells us that a soul can serve multiple sentences on multiple layers before they're finally free to enter Heaven.
The Angel of Charity removes a P from Dante's head.
After this, Statius joins Dante and Virgil.
<u>Canto XXII - Canto XXIV: The Ascent to the Sixth Cornice
The Sixth Cornice: The Gluttons
The Tree
The Whip of Gluttony
-
The Tree of Knowledge
The Rein of Gluttony</u>
The opposite of Gluttony is Temperance.
The punishment for Gluttony involves these sweet smelling trees that are all over the place. There are voices coming from the trees. The voices are going on about Temperance and give examples like John the Baptist - a character who fast. There's fruit on these trees that puts out an aroma that makes everyone incredibly hungry.
Including Dante.
The people on this level are cursed to smell the fruit, to see it and reach for it, but it's always out of reach.
The Tree of Knowledge is also on this level - it holds the fruit that caused Adam and Eve to be kicked from the Garden of Eden. And it serves as a final trial for those who indulged in too much food in their lives.
Again, with the storytelling!
Another really great story moment involves Dante asking Statius why some souls look so emaciated while others (Like Statius himself) look so well-built and well-fed.
Statius explains that the souls no longer have a physical body, so the representation of their worth and how close they are to ascending is reflected in their physical appearance. Those who look gaunt and frail still have a lot to atone for, while those whose bodies are stronger are closer to redemption.
<u>Canto XXV - XXVII: The Seventh Cornice: The Lustful
The Whip of Lust
-
The Rein of Lust
-
The Angel of Chastity
The Wall of Fire</u>
The opposite of lust is chastity.
In this level, souls are forced to run through flames. It's important to note that while this fire is hot, it's not burning the souls, but rather purifying them.
Everyone, regardless of the sin, must walk through these flames in order to get into Heaven. Which means those repenting for the sin of Lust don't have to do anything extra than everybody else.
The reason for this, according to Dante, is that Lust is the sin that's the easiest to commit. If you'll recall, Lust is also the top level of hell, the least "bad".
The Angel of Chastity appears and tells Dante that if he wants the P off his head, he'll have to cross through the flames too, he's scared but Virgil reassures him.
Night falls again, and Dante sleeps.
<u>Canto XXVIII - Canto XXIX: The Earthly Paradise - Lethe
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The Banks of Lethe
The Heavenly Pageant</u>
At the top of the stairs are the Gates to the Garden of Eden - the birthplace of mankind.
Purgatory has been built around this garden, with the idea that sinners can earn their way back into the paradise that was created for them.
<u>Canto XXX: The Earthly Paradise: Beatrice
Virgil Vanishes</u>
Virgil tells Dante that because the garden was created for believers, this is where they must part ways. Dante is upset and afraid of this turn of events. But Virgil tells him that he's had all of his sins wiped away and that he's not a believer being held back by earthly vices, which means that Dante is now a better leader and person than Virgil could ever have been.
It's a scene that tugs at the heartstrings, as Virgil's purpose for acting as a guide was so that Dante could better himself to the point where he no longer needed Virgil.
<u>Canto XXXI - Canto XXXII: The Earthly Paradise: Lethe
Beatrice, Matilda
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The Earthly Paradice: Beatrice Unveiled
Departure of the Heavenly Pageant
Transformation of the Chariot</u>
Dante describes Eden as having a peace and stillness he can't properly describe. He encounters a woman there (Matilda), who explains that this garden stands as a promise of eternal peace and that everything in it is directly maintained by the will of God. It's maintained by God every day, in case humanity ever decides it wishes to return home.
If you're a Christian, this is bound to make you emotional.
Dante encounters a pageant of people in white robes. These people are accompanied by 7 dancing women, who are dressed by color and are in groups of 4 and 3 (a throwback to the virtues, the four attainable ones and the 3 spiritual ones represented by the stars in the beginning of this story), a chariot being pulled by a gryphon and several cherubim.
A woman steps out of the chariot wearing a veil and it's revealed that she's Beatrice.
Beatrice is, essentially, a stand in for Christ. And She scolds Dante who breaks down and weeps upon seeing her. She asks him what right he has to cry when everyone else here is happy.
He confesses that since she died on earth, he's strayed from the righteous path and he begs for her forgiveness. It's an obvious parallel to the crucifixion and death of Christ and how humanity has since strayed away from his teachings without his physical presence in their lives.
Beatrice tells Dante that she saw that he was straying, and she personally went to God and begged him to allow Dante to journey through Hell and Purgatory so that he could be made pure again and reunite with her in the Garden of Eden.
More great storytelling!
<u>Canto XXXIII: The Earthly Paradise: Eunoe
Dante's Purification Completed</u>
Beatrice and Dante walk for a while in the garden, and come to a great spring, from which both the Lethe and the Eunoe flow. She commands Dante to drink from it - by drinking from the Lethe, Dante forgets all sin and error, thus completing his purification.
By drinking from Eunoe, he remembers his sins but is purge of all guilt because Eunoe is forgiveness.
u know her name u sd pronounce it bay-ah-tree-che as in guevara no i didnt know that virgil