“To run o’er better waters hoists its sail
The little vessel of my genius now,
That leaves behind itself a sea so cruel.”
This review of Dante’s Purgatorio is the second part of a three-article series discussing the Divine Comedy.
Contemporary subscription to the doctrine of Purgatory, unlike Heaven or Hell, is not universal among Christian denominations (particularly Protestant denominations), with many branches rejecting it, or refuting its common interpretation as a place. A familiar, perhaps antiquated image of Purgatory and the one essentially employed by Dante is Purgatory as a state analogous to a waiting room, where souls not pious enough for Heaven and not wicked enough for Hell purge themselves of mortal sin to become worthy of ascension.
The concept of Purgatory during Dante’s lifetime was as contentious as it is today. Although the purpose of Purgatory was generally agreed upon, there was little consensus regarding many of the specific details, such as types of punishment, duration of punishment, and the location of Purgatory. This inconsistency afforded Dante extreme creative licence to imagine a strikingly original interpretation of Purgatory, both regarding its purpose and its description.
Dante’s Purgatory takes a very literal understanding of ascending to Heaven, consequently, his purgatory is not a plane of existence but an enormous mountain to be scaled. Like in Inferno, physical proximity to God denotes goodness; while Inferno saw the intrepid adventures descend through nine concentric circles and ultimately into the bowels of Hell, Purgatorio by contrast sees them work their way heavenward.
Dante’s Mount Purgatory is comprised of Ante-purgatory followed by seven terraces, with each corresponding to one of the seven deadly sins. Atop his mountain of vice sits the terrestrial paradise, the Garden of Eden.
Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of Dante’s incarnation of Purgatory is how he considers punishment. Purgatory is presented as a place of rehabilitation, unlike Hell in which the purpose of punishment is exclusively retribution. The souls in Purgatorio are in the process of moral change, they suffer as penitence, in order to become good. The souls in Inferno are stuck, they suffer as restitution for irredeemable sins.
Purgatorio picks up where Inferno left off, with the protagonists emerging from Hell onto the isolated island from which rises the mountain of Purgatory. As Purgatory can only be scaled during the day, Dante and Virgil must wait the night in Ante-purgatory before proceeding. In the morning, Dante awakes at the gate of the first terrace where an angel carves seven P’s into his forehead, each of which symbolises a deadly sin, and are erased following the traversal of the corresponding terrace, signifying his purification.
Like in Inferno, the majority of the text revolves around Dante guided by Virgil traversing through the realms of the afterlife, however, upon reaching the terrestrial paradise, Virgil can no longer guide Dante as he was not a Christian and consequently, his human reason cannot comprehend divine grace. In canto 30, Virgil disappears, replaced by the object of Dante’s literary and worldly love, Beatrice. In the remaining three cantos, Beatrice prepares Dante for ascension to Paradise.
Like the subject of the first instalment in this series, Inferno, the difficulty and ultimately the reader’s experience of the text can be significantly affected by the translation ‒ particularly intelligible and enjoyable translations of Purgatorio (to the contemporary palate) include Ciaran Carson’s (2002) and W. S. Merwin’s (2000).
“From the most holy water I returned
Regenerate, in the manner of new trees
That are renewed with a new foliage,
Pure and disposed to mount unto the stars.”
This review of Purgatorio by Dante Alighieri is the ninth instalment of a fortnightly series called 50 Books. The series shines a spotlight on classical literature from throughout history and all over the world. If you have suggestions for future instalments comment and let me know.
Next time: The final section of the Divine Comedy, Dante’s Paradiso.
Words by Luke Horwitz
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