Dante's Divine Comedy

• 1. Do lines 19-23 constitute an epic simile?

Though Hollander calls the lines a pseudo-simile, they do constitute an epic simile which has both the literal and figurative parts implied. The hedge itself is typically that made to protect a vineyard.

Does the simile itself and its use in this particular canto resonate with Matthew 20:1-12? If so, how?

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. ⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’

⁸ “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ ⁹ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. ¹⁰ But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. ¹¹ And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, ¹² saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’

Jesus’ parable concerns man’s sinful ways and the Final Judgment, “when the grape darkens.” Both the excommunicates and the neglectful are being paid in Christ’s grace in their admission to Purgatory. Indeed, other Christians may feel like the laborers who were hired early while those hired last receive the same reward. Those called late in the day are still saved.

Does it resonate with **Matthew 7:14 – “**Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.?”

Dante, in Esolen’s translation, calls the gap Dante and Virgil pursue a “cranny,” and as the passage upward on the mountain, it must “lead to life.”

• 2. Despite Dante’s inability to see the summit of Mt. Purgatory, what hope does Virgil provide in lines 88-96?

With each step they ascend, the travel will become less burdensome.

Virgil’s words reflect the ancient allegory of the mountain of virtue, according to Martinez. He stops at line 96 because he can only understand the problem of the acquisition of virtue but not the ultimate crowning through grace.

• 3. How do lines 109-111 strike you?

Dante essentially regards Belacqua (line 123) as the personification of laziness, making him a nearly perfect personage to speak for the negligent.

Why is Belacqua in no hurry even though Dante seems to be so? (lines 127-133)

He knows that he must wait to enter through St. Peter’s gate until the number of years has passed equal to the length of his life until he embraced and accepted God’s desire that he be saved.

What, if any, hope does he have of proceeding on the upward journey any sooner? (lines 133-134)

As Manfred explained earlier, only the prayers of the faithful have the efficacy to cut years from his waiting.

What is his tone in line 135?

Resignation

Do you see humor in Belacqua’s words?

This is an OPEN QUESTION.

Hollander relates a perhaps apocryphal story of Dante upbraiding Belacqua for his laziness in life to which Belacqua responded by quoting Aristotle: “The soul becomes wise when one is seated and quiet.” In a humorously derisive manner, Dante supposedly replied in turn, “If sitting can make a man wise, no one is wiser than you.”

In addition, line 132 indicates that his repentance was expressed only as sighs, a prayer Hollander sees as most appropriate to a lazy man.