Dante's Divine Comedy

• 1. Note that Mars is referenced in lines 13-15 as Venus is referenced in lines 19-21. Understand that in his Convivio, Dante associates each of the heavens between Earth and the fixed stars with one of the liberal arts as shown in the handout. Where does Mars’ influence seem most at play later in the canto (lines 106-118)?

When Casella sings one of Dante’s poems, the minds of Dante, Virgil, and the souls disembarked from the angelic boat “were touched by nothing else/But the notes of his song.” They “held still”; that is, they were enrapt by the music.

• 2. In line 46, the souls departing the angelic boat sing Psalm 113 as numbered in the Vulgate (Psalms 114 and 115 in the Masoretic text and, therefore in our Bibles). Read Psalm 113. Why is this psalm appropriate for these souls in this place? (See handout.)

This psalm is recognized by commentators to consist of two distinct poems: the first (vv. 1-8) is on the miracles of the Exodus and the entry into the Promised Land; the second (vv. 9-18) is mainly an attack on idol-worship.

Dante would expect his first readers, steeped in the rich symbolism of the Easter liturgy, to remember the Exultet, the proclamation of Easter during the Easter Vigil, just prior to the consecration of the Easter candle.

For the souls in the angelic boat, Egypt corresponds to the world of the living and of temptation, the Red Sea to death, and the Promised Land to Eden and/or Heaven. In the light of the whole story of the Exodus, the island of Purgatory corresponds to the Desert of Sinai, in which the Israelites wandered for 40 years, where they received the Law at the hands of Moses, and from which, when all those who rebelled against the Law had died, they entered the Promised Land.

In line 48, Dante declares that the souls sang “all the verses written in that psalm.” Therefore, all the lines relate to his purpose. Especially, he seems to have in mind verse 25.

• 3. Lines 58-66 describe Dante and Virgil’s initial interaction with the newly arrived souls. What does this exchange reveal about Virgil?

He is no longer the all-knowing master and guide (ll.62-66).

What does it reveal about the group identity of both Dante and Virgil on the one hand and the newly arrived souls on the other (l. 62)?

They are all pilgrims. (The tone to which the psalm sung by the souls on the angelic boat was called the tonus peregrinus, “the wandering tone,” a connection to their status as pilgrims.)**

What do we learn, in these specific lines, about Dante in regard to his expectations concerning his impending journey?

In comparison to his previous journey through Inferno, “a road that was so harsh and difficult,” he believes the hike up the mountain will “seem like play.” (ll.63-66).

• 4. How do lines 67-75 demonstrate a difference in attitude of souls in Purgatory toward Dante as a living man versus that of those in Hell?

In Inferno, the sinners viewed Dante’s presence as a means to an end, an astonishing but suspicious circumstance, and as something to be ignored or avoided. In Purgatory, the recently arrived shades fix their attention on him, forgetting that they have to undergo the ritual of symbolic baptism as Dante had.

This forgetting will be the cause of Cato’s rebuke later on.

• 5. In lines 93-102 Casella explains that he had to wait to board the angelic boat to Purgatory until the angel agreed to allow him. We do not know exactly why Casella was refused, but he leads us to understand why he was finally accepted. Boniface VIII, when he declared 1300 a year of Jubilee (retroactive to Christmas Day of 1299) and granted a plenary indulgence to any who visited both the basilica of St. Peter and that of St. Paul (two important churches about three miles apart in Rome.) Dante seems to have interpreted that indulgence to have extended to those who had not yet departed from Ostia, the port of Rome, bound for Purgatory. Still, Casella responds to Dante’s question, “Why were you deprived of so much time?” by saying what (lines 94-97)?

Casella replies that for whatever reason, the delay was made for a just cause.

According to Hollander, Casella may not have had a particularly energetic desire for God and did not make the decision to go until March 25, three months after Boniface’s decree. If so, both Casella and Dante departed Italy on their respective journeys on precisely the same day.

Dante says in lines 106-108 that he would like to hear “songs of love/which used to still the yearnings of [his] heart” unless some new law forbids it. How do lines 118-123 suggest that such a “new law” exists?

Cato chastises the newly arrived souls for tarrying when they should be attending to their purpose on Mt. Purgatory: they need to “Hurry to scrape away the scales which keep/the Lord from being manifest to you!” They are neglecting the task of purification that lies ahead so that they may ultimately see God.

Consider Cato’s words in light of Colossians 3:1-2, 9

Consider the epic simile in lines 124-133. In this simile, what do the “tasty seeds” figuratively represent?

They represent poetry as sung by Casella.