The Portable Dante by Dante Alighieri Read Free Book Online Page A

Paradise, from which they ascend to Heaven. In the lower half, the “Antepurgatory, ” dwell those souls who are not yet ready to begin their purgation. As for the reason why certainsouls are forced to put off the experience they all desire, the pilgrim is told by a number of individuals he meets that, while alive, they had put off repentance until the end (thus their delay is in the nature of a
contrapasso,
or retribution); it is generally accepted that all of the inhabitants of the Antepurgatory are to be considered as “late repentants. ” (The Antepurgatory is dealt with in the first nine cantos.) This mountain (whose creation was the miraculous result of Lucifer’s fall) keeps not only those assigned to Purgatory but also those destined for immediate passage to Heaven.
    The middle portion of the mountain of Purgatory is surrounded by seven concentric ledges, each separated from the other by a steep cliff. On each ledge, or terrace, one of the seven capital sins is purged: Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Avarice (and Prodigality), Gluttony, Lust. The setup of the First Terrace (cantos IX-XII), where souls are being punished for the sin of Pride, establishes the pattern of purgation that is followed throughout Purgatory proper.
    Each group of souls on its particular terrace is assigned a prayer. When a soul has finished purging his sin on one level, he climbs to the next via a stairway, where there is an angel-sentry who performs a final cleansing gesture. A beatitude appropriate to the sin that has been cleansed is assigned to each ledge. In addition, on each terrace of Purgatory, representations of the sin being purged there are found, as well as examples of the virtue which is opposed to that sin. The representation of the sin is intended to incite disdain for the sin, while that of the virtue is designed to inspire souls to the emulation of virtuous behavior. These representations take on various forms—on the First Terrace they appear as carvings in the stone of the mountain—and both “disdain for the sin” and “inspiration for virtuous behavior” are drawn from examples of Christian and pagan love. But the first example of every virtue is always taken from the life of the Virgin Mary.
    In the first canto of the
Purgatorio
Dante and Virgil are at the foot of a mountain again, and the reader is naturally reminded of the first canto of the
Inferno
: it is the same mountain, the one they could not climb then, because Dante was not spiritually prepared. But now, having investigated all sin, having shaken off pride during his perilous descent into humility, Dante will be able to climb the mountain.
    Purgatory is a place of repentance, regeneration, conversion. Though the punishments inflicted on the penitents here are often more severe than in Hell, the atmosphere is totally different: it is one of sweet encounters, culminating in Dante’s reunion with Beatrice in the EarthlyParadise and Virgil’s elegant disappearance. Brotherly love and humility reign here, necessary qualities for the successful journey of man’s mind to God. Everyone here is destined to see God eventually; the predominant image is one of homesickness (especially in the Antepurgatory), a yearning to return to man’s real home in Heaven. Toward the close of the
Purgatorio
the time comes for Beatrice (divine revelation) to take charge of the pilgrim; human reason (Virgil) can take man only so far; it cannot show him God or explain his many mysteries.
    The
Paradiso
is an attempt to describe the religious life, one in which man centers his attention wholly on God, divine truth, and ultimate happiness. Only in perfect knowledge of the true God can man have perfect happiness.
    Unlike Hell and Purgatory, Heaven in Dante’s poem does not exist in a physical sense. The celestial spheres through which the pilgrim and his guide, Beatrice, ascend and in which the souls of the blessed appear to the wayfarer are not part of the real Paradise. That place is