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TEXTURED READING:

DANTE: DIVINE COMEDY - PURGATORIO

Purgatorio (Italian for "Purgatory") is the second part of Dante's Divine Comedy, following the

Inferno, and preceding the Paradiso. The poem was written in the early 14th century. It is an allegory

telling of the climb of Dante up the Mount of Purgatory, guided by the Roman poet Virgil, except for

the last four cantos at which point Beatrice takes over as Dante's guide. In the poem, Purgatory is

depicted as a mountain in the Southern Hemisphere, consisting of a bottom section (Ante-Purgatory),

seven levels of suffering and spiritual growth (associated with the seven deadly sins), and finally the

Earthly Paradise at the top. Allegorically, the poem represents the Christian life, and in describing the

climb Dante discusses the nature of sin, examples of vice and virtue, as well as moral issues in politics

and in the Church. The poem outlines a theory that all sin arises from love – either perverted love

directed towards others' harm, or deficient love, or the disordered love of good things.

In Purgatory, we find the Poet, with his guide Virgil, ascending the terraces of the Mount of

Purgatory inhabited by those doing penance to expiate their sins on Earth. There are the proud -

forced to circle their terrace for aeons bent double in humility; the slothful - running around crying out

examples of zeal and sloth; while the lustful are purged by fire.

On these terraces the seven deadly sins are purged by penance from the souls that have been

beset by them. On the summit of the mountain is the Garden of Eden, or Earthly Paradise, from which

the purged souls ascend to Heaven.

THE EXCOMMUNICATE

However, also upon the beach are the souls of those who have died in outside the Church.

Those who died repentant but un-reconciled with the Church must wait outside of Purgatory proper for

thirty times longer than they were outside the Church, though the prayers of those on Earth can reduce

this time somewhat.

Those who have come to Purgatory by means other than an angel's boat will have a hard time

finding a way further up the mountain from here - its lower slopes seem simply too steep. However,

souls here can, with persuasion, reveal the path upwards, a steep and narrow cleft, so small that both

shoulders brush its walls as one climbs.

THE LETHARGIC

After quite a hard climb, one emerges from the cleft in the rocks onto a terrace, the first level of

Ante-Purgatory. From here Mount Purgatory can be seen looming above, and the shore can be seen

below.

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This ledge holds the negligent, those who postponed their repentance to the last hour, but who

did repent before death. There is a band of them waiting on this ledge. The Lethargic must wait, and

pray, for a time equivalent to the time they spent drifting through unrepentant days before they can be

admitted upwards, into Purgatory proper. Again, the prayers of those on Earth can reduce this time

somewhat. All of those here are lethargic in behaviour, as well as in religious observance.

The narrow cleft continues upwards from here to the next ledge.

THE UN-ABSOLVED

This ledge holds the spirits of those who had delayed repentance, and met with death by

violence, but died repentant, pardoning and pardoned. Nonetheless, they must wait, and pray upon this

ledge until they are allowed upwards into Purgatory proper. Mortal visitors will attract large numbers of

those here, who wish to be heard, and absolved.

Again, the cleft continues upwards, but this time also leads around Mount Purgatory to the

right.

ANTE PURGATORY

At the shores of Purgatory, Dante and Virgil meet Cato, a pagan who has been placed by God as the

general guardian of the approach to the mountain (his symbolic significance has been much debated).

On the lower slopes (designated as "Ante-Purgatory" by commentators), they also meet two main

categories of souls whose penitent Christian life was delayed or deficient: the excommunicate and the

late repentant. The former are detained here for a period thirty times as long as their period of

contumacy. The latter includes those too lazy or too preoccupied to repent, and those who repented at

the last minute without formally receiving last rites, as a result of violent deaths. These souls will be

admitted to Purgatory thanks to their genuine repentance, but must wait outside for an amount of time

equal to their lives on earth.

THE SEVEN TERRACES OF PURGATORY

From the gate of Purgatory, Virgil guides the pilgrim Dante through its seven terraces. These correspond

to the seven deadly sins or "seven roots of sinfulness." The classification of sin here is more

psychological than that of the Inferno, being based on motives, rather than actions. It is also drawn

primarily from Christian theology, rather than from classical sources. The core of the classification is

based on love: the first three terraces of Purgatory relate to perverted love directed towards actual

harm of others, the fourth terrace relates to deficient love (i.e. sloth or acedia), and the last three

terraces relate to excessive or disordered love of good things.

Each terrace purges a particular sin in an appropriate manner. Those in Purgatory can leave their circle

voluntarily, but will only do so when they have corrected the flaw within themselves that led to

committing that sin.

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The structure of the poetic description of these terraces is more systematic than that of the Inferno, and

associated with each terrace are an appropriate prayer, a beatitude, and historical and mythological

examples of the relevant deadly sin and of its opposite virtue.

First terrace (the proud)

Dante's first example of humility is taken from the Annunciation. Relief in Auch Cathedral, Canto

10. Building the Tower of Babel was, for Dante, an example of pride. Painting by Pieter Brueghel the

Elder, Canto 12. The first three terraces of Purgatory relate to sins caused by a perverted love directed

towards actual harm of others.

The first of the sins is pride. On the terrace where proud souls purge their sin, Dante and Virgil

see beautiful sculptures expressing humility, the opposite virtue. The first example is of the

Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, where she responds to the angel Gabriel with the words Ecce ancilla

Dei ("Behold the handmaid of the Lord," Luke 1:38[20]). An example of humility from classical history is

the Emperor Trajan, who, according to a medieval legend, once stopped his journey to render justice to

a poor widow.

After being introduced to humility, Dante and Virgil meet the souls of the proud, who are bent over by

the weight of huge stones on their backs. As they walk around the terrace, they are able to profit from

the sculpted examples of humility. As the poets ascend to the next terrace, an angel brushes Dante's

forehead with his wings, erasing the letter "P" (peccatum) corresponding to the sin of pride, and Dante

hears the beatitude Beati pauperes spiritu ("Blessed are the poor in spirit," Matthew 5:3

Second terrace (the envious)

Envy is the sin that "looks with grudging hatred upon other men's gifts and good fortune, taking

every opportunity to run them down or deprive them of their happiness".[28] (This in contrast to

covetousness, the excessive desire to have things like money

On entering the terrace of the envious, Dante and Virgil first hear voices on the air telling stories

of generosity, the opposite virtue. There is, as in all the other terraces, an episode from the life of the

Virgin Mary; this time, the scene from the Life of the Virgin is the Wedding at Cana, in which she

expresses her joy for the newly married couple and encourages Christ to perform his first miracle. There

is also Jesus' saying "Love your enemies."[30] A classical story shows the friendship between Orestes

and Pylades.[28]

The souls of the envious wear penitential grey cloaks,[28] and their eyes are sewn shut,

resembling the way a falconer sews shut the eyes of a falcon in order to train it. The voices on the air

also include examples of envy. The classical example is Aglauros, who (according to Ovid) was turned to

stone because she was jealous of Hermes's love for her sister Herse.

Third terrace (the wrathful)

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On the terrace of the wrathful, examples of meekness, the opposite virtue, are given to Dante as

visions in his mind. The scene from the Life of the Virgin in this terrace of purgation is the Finding in the

Temple. Whereas most parents would be angry at their child for worrying them, Mary is loving and

understanding of Christ's motives behind his three day disappearance. The souls of the wrathful walk

around in acrid smoke, which symbolizes the blinding effect of anger. The prayer for this terrace is the

Agnus Dei: "Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis... dona nobis pacem" ("Lamb of God,

you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us... grant us peace")

Fourth terrace (the slothful)

On the fourth terrace we find souls whose sin was that of deficient love – that is, sloth or acedia.

Since they had failed in life to act in pursuit of love, here they are engaged in ceaseless activity. The

examples of sloth and of zeal, its opposite virtue, are called out by these souls as they run around the

terrace. A scene from the life of the Virgin outlined in this terrace is the Visitation, with Mary going "in

haste" to visit her cousin Elizabeth. These examples also include episodes from the lives Julius Caesar

and Aeneas. This activity also replaces a verbal prayer for this terrace. Since the formerly slothful are

now too busy to converse at length, this section of the poem is a short one. Allegorically, spiritual

laziness and lack of caring lead to sadness, and so the beatitude for this terrace is Beati qui lugent

("Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted," Matthew 5:4

Fifth terrace (the Avaricious)

On the last three terraces are those who sinned by loving good things, but loving them in an

excessive or disordered way.

On the fifth terrace, excessive concern for earthly goods – whether in the form of greed,

ambition or extravagance – is punished and purified. The avaricious and prodigal lie face-down on the

ground, unable to move. Their prayer is Adhaesit pavimento anima mea, taken from Psalm 119:25 ("My

soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word,", which is a prayer expressing the

desire to follow God's law (Canto XIX). Dante meets the shade of Pope Adrian V, an exemplar of desire

for ecclesiastical power and prestige, who directs the poets on their way. Further down the terrace,

Hugh the Great personifies greed for worldly wealth and possessions. The scene from the life of the

Virgin, used here to counter the sin of avarice, is the humble birth of Christ.

Sixth terrace (the gluttonous)

On the sixth terrace are purged the gluttonous, and more generally, those who over-emphasized

food, drink, and bodily comforts.[50] In a scene reminiscent of the punishment of Tantalus, they are

starved in the presence of trees whose fruit is forever out of reach.[50] The examples here are given by

voices in the trees.

Seventh terrace (the lustful)

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The terrace of the lustful has an immense wall of flame through which everyone must pass.

Souls repenting of misdirected sexual desire (both heterosexual and homosexual) run through the

flames calling out examples of lust (Sodom and Gomorrah and Pasiphaë) and of chastity and marital

fidelity (the Virgin Mary's chastity). Among the flames, which he dare not enter, are the poets of love

Guido Guinizelli and Arnaut Daniel, with whom Dante speaks.

The Earthly Paradise

Beatrice Addressing Dante, by William Blake, showing the "chariot triumphal" bearing Beatrice

and drawn by the Griffin, as well as four of the ladies representing virtues, Canto 29.

At the summit of Mount Purgatory is the Earthly Paradise or Garden of Eden.[60] Allegorically, it

represents the state of innocence that existed before Adam and Eve fell from grace – the state which

Dante's journey up Mount Purgatory has been recapturing.

STRUCTURE OF PURGATORIO:

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. Using the Lesson on Purgatory, fill out the table using the following ( words/ phrase only)

Terraces in Purgatory Penance Opposite Virtue

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B. Discuss the following

1. What is the purpose of Purgatory? Why is it so important?

2. What do people get ready for in Purgatory? How do they get ready for it?

3. What is pride, and why is it a sin?

4. Practicing control and balance is stressed throughout Purgatorio. Explain your view on this

idea.

C. Reflection Essay

1. Do you believe on the concept of Purgatory? Explain your answer using concrete evidence if

you believe; three concrete proofs why you refute the idea of Purgatory.