The Divina Comedia - Purgatorio

The second part of the Divine Comedy is Purgatorio or ‘Purgatory’, the place for the purification of sins. Just as Hell had an Ante-Hell and nine Circles, Purgatory has an Ante-Purgatory and seven levels or “Terraces”, representing the Seven Deadly Sins. On the summit is the Earthly Paradise. Once more, the Roman poet Virgil serves as Dante’s guide in his ascent of Mount Purgatory.

In each Terrace, Dante witnesses how souls are purified of each Deadly Sin, which is revealed as the root of sin. In each terrace, there is 1) a prayer, 2) a beatitude, 3) examples of each sin’s opposed Virtue from the Bible, history, or literature, and 4) illustrations of the sin also from the Bible, history, or literature.

The journey of Dante up Mount Purgatory represents the Christian life as a soul gets purified from sin ("The conversion of the soul from the sorrow and misery of sin to the state of grace," he explains in one letter) in order to become worthy to enter Paradiso or ‘Paradise’, which is the third part of the Comedia. They emerge from Hell on Easter Sunday, which symbolizes death to sin and rebirth into life.

PURGATORIO

Dante gazes at Mount Purgatory, painting by Agnolo Bronzino.

Introduction

Dante and Virgil survive through their journey down the nine Circles of Hell and emerge on the other side of the world on Easter Sunday. Dante explains that Hell is located under Jerusalem, created by the impact of Satan’s fall. The displaced rock created a mountain on the other side of the world—Mount Purgatory.

[At the time, it has not been widely accepted that the world was round, nor has the Southern Hemisphere been discovered. But Dante mentions that there are different stars in the sky there, and that it is on the opposite time zone: He says it is sunset in Jerusalem but here, it is dawn.]

Unlike in Hell where the dead is transported by Charon across the Acheron, Dante describes Christian souls arriving in Purgatory escorted by angels singing.

Christian souls escorted by angels arriving at Purgatory, art by Gustav Dore. (Wikipedia)

Journey into Purgatory

Ante-Purgatory. At the shores of Purgatory, Virgil and Dante meet Cato, a pagan whom God placed as the guardian of purgatory. There are two main categories of souls in Ante-Purgatory: the excommunicate and the late repentant. The excommunicate are those to preoccupied or too lazy to repent; as a consequence, they have to wait outside Purgatory for a period thirty times the length of their laziness. Also among the excommunicate are those who died without last rites, like those who died a sudden and violent death. These will be able to enter Purgatory for a period equal to their life on earth.

Dante meets the great poet Sordello here, who explains the Rule of the Mountain: After sunset, souls cannot ascend to the next higher level. Sordello explains that this means that the sun represents God and that repentant souls can only move to the next level under God’s grace.

Dante meets Sordello, from a sculpture by Cesare Zochi. (Wikipedia)

As the sun was setting, Dante and the souls outside Purgatory prepare for the night. There are many people there whose public and private duties made them too busy for their spiritual life. Among these are many deceased kings and politicians. As night approaches, they sing the Compline [prayer before sleep] hymns Salve Regina and Te lucis ante terminum.

At dawn Dante wakes up as if from a dream. He has been carried up to the entrance of Purgatory which is composed of three steps, each with a different color: white for purity, black for the mourning of one’s sin (which also has a crack which forms the shape of a cross), and red for the blood of Christ.

The Gates of Purgatory, painting by William Blake. (Wikipedia)

The gates of Purgatory are guarded by an angel who uses his sword to mark his forehead with seven P’s (peccatum, the Latin word for ‘sin’). As souls reach another level, an angel will remove one P from their forehead. Then the angel opens the gates using two keys: a silver one which stands for remorse and a golden one which stands for repentance.

The Seven Terraces of Purgatory

Purgatory has seven Terraces, each representing one of the Seven Deadly Sins, which is the root of sin. The first three Terraces represent a perverted love towards the harm of others; the middle or fourth Terrace represents a deficiency of love (Sloth) and the last three Terraces is a perverted or excessive love of the good things in life. A soul can only move on to the next and higher terrace when he/she has been purged by the sin represented in each Terrace.

First Terrace (Pride). Dante and Virgil arrive at the First Terrace, where souls are being purged from Pride, which is a love directed towards the hurt of others. They see sculptures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an example of humility, the opposite virtue of pride. The scene depicted is the Annunciation, where Mary humbly accepted the task of becoming the mother of our Lord. The historical example is Emperor Trajan, who is said to have stopped from his journey in order to give justice to a poor widow. The prayer in this Terrace is an extended version of the Lord’s Prayer.

The Annunciation of the Lord to the Virgin Mary through the Angel Gabriel. (Orthodox icon)

The two see the souls which are being purged from pride: They are forced to walk with heavy stones on their back so that they are forced to look at sculptures illustrating humility on the floor. They also see sculptures of example of pride like those of Satan, the building of the tower of Babel, King Saul, King Rehoboam, Arachnē, and others. Dante feels a self-realization of his own pride.

The Tower of Babel, a symbol of human pride in the Bible. Art by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. (Wikipedia)

Arachnē was a woman who was turned into a spider because she boasted that she is better at weaving than the goddess Athena. (Image from MLahanas.De)

As they leave the Terrace, an angel brushes Dante forehead with his wings to remove one P. Then Dante hears the beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3).

Second Terrace (Envy). The two poets enter the Second Terrace, where souls are being purged from Envy, which is looking grudgingly at the fortune of others and the desire to take it away. They hear voices telling stories of the opposite virtue, Generosity. They see again the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is at the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11) where she encourages Jesus to perform his first miracle, turning water into wine. There is also a sculpture of the friends Orestes and Pylades. Orestes pretended to be Pylades to save his friend from execution.

 An Orthodox icon of the Wedding at Cana.

A Greek vase showing Orestes and Pylades. (Wikipedia)

The envious wear penitential gray cloaks and their eyes have been sewn shut so that they will not be able to see anything.

There are also voices in the air telling stories of envy. An example of envy is Cain, who killed his brother Abel because he was jealous that God chose his brother’s sacrifice rather than his (Genesis 4). Another example is Aglauros, who became jealous because of Hermes’ love toward her sister, Herse.

Cain and Abel, painting by James Tissot.

As Dante and Virgil leave the Terrace, they are dazzled by light coming from the Terrace’s angel, where Dante reveals his scientific knowledge in optics: that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

Third Terrace (Wrath/Anger). The wrathful are being purged on the Third Terrace. Dante is given visions of examples of the opposite virtue, Meekness. He sees the finding of the boy Jesus at the Temple when he was twelve years old, where Mary exhibits meekness in accepting the Jesus is in the house of his Father (Luke 2:41-52). Another biblical example is St. Stephen, the first martyr, who meekly accepted death by stoning for witnessing to his faith (Acts 7:54-60). The mythological example is Peisistratos, who refused to have a man who embraced his daughter executed, despite the demands of his wife.

The finding of the twelve year old Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. (Orthodox icon)

An Orthodox icon depicting the stoning of St. Stephen, one of the first deacons  and the first martyr of the Church.

The souls are purged from wrath by walking around in acrid smoke, which represents the blinding effect of anger.

Dante sees examples of wrath such as Haman, who wanted the extermination of the Jewish people (in the book of Esther) and Lavinia.

The prayer for this terrace is the Agnus Dei: “Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us… …grant us your peace.”

Fourth Terrace (Sloth). The slothful or the lazy are purged in the Fourth Terrace. Just as they were deficient in showing love in life, they are now pressed with endless activity. Voices call out to them telling them of examples of the opposite virtue, Zeal. Examples include the Visitation of Mary “in haste” to her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-45). Other examples include Julius Caesar and Aeneas. There is no prayer in this Terrace, because the souls are too busy to speak.

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Elizabeth. (Orthodox icon)

Since sloth leads to laziness in the spiritual life, it results in sorrow. Therefore the beatitude here is “Blessed are those who mourn” (Matthew 5:4).

The sun has set and Dante and Virgil had to spend the night there. While he was sleeping, Dante dreams of a Siren.

Fifth Terrace (Greed). The last three Terraces represent sins from an excessive love of the good things in life. Here, the greedy or the covetous are being purged: they are made to lie face-down on the ground. 

 Souls being purged of greed are made to lie face-down. Art by Gustav Dore. (Wikipedia)

The prayer here is: “My soul cleaves to the dust, make me live according to your Word” (Psalm 119:25). Those being purged here include: a pope who was greedy for ecclesiastical power, a man who was greedy for worldly wealth, a king who sold his daughter to an old man, and a French king who arrested a pope and executed the Knights Templar.

The execution of the Knights Templar King Philip IV of France, who gave the order on October 13, 1307, which is linked to the superstition of Friday the 13th. (Wikipedia)

In a scene depicting where Jesus meets two of his disciples on the way to Emmaus, Dante is overtaken by the Roman poet Stratus, who is depicted as a convert to Christianity. He has just finished his time in that Terrace and will accompany Dante and Virgil to the next Terrace.

A mosaic depicting Jesus and two disciples on the way to Emmaus.

The example for the opposite virtue, Humility, is the birth of Jesus Christ in a stable.

The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Orthodox icon)

Sixth Terrace (Gluttony). On this terrace the gluttonous are being purged of their excessive love for food, drink, and bodily comforts. They are starved in front of trees that bear much fruit, which they cannot reach. A voice from the trees reminds them of examples of the opposite virtue, Temperance. The example from the Bible includes once more the Wedding at Cana, where Mary shared her Son’s gift of water-turned-into-wine to others. Another example is John the Baptist, who lived in the desert eating only locusts and honey. They were also shown an example of gluttony in literature: the gluttony of the Centaurs led to the Battle of the Centaurs and the Lapiths. The prayer in this Terrace is “Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall bring forth your praise” (Psalm 51:15).

The Battle of the Centaurs and the Lapiths, painting by Pietro di Cosimo. (Wikipedia) The Centaurs kidnapped Hippodamia, a horse-woman who was to marry Peirithous, king of the Lapiths.

Seventh Terrace (Lust). The final Terrace is for the purging of the lustful. Lust is defined as misdirected love towards other people (whether heterosexual or homosexual). The lustful run through flames crying out examples of lust, like Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible. They also cry out examples of the opposite virtue, Chastity (in singleness) and Fidelity (in marriage), such as the Virgin Mary. The souls sing the hymn “God of Supreme Clemency” as their prayer.

As Dante prepares to ascend to the last level, night falls once more. Dante dreams of the wives of Jacob, Leah and Rachel, symbols of active (non-monastic) and of contemplative (monastic) Christian lives.

Dante dreams of Leah picking flowers. Art by Gustav Dore. (Wikipedia)

The Earthly Paradise. Dante climbs the stairs to the summit of Mount Purgatory which is the Earthly Paradise. It represents the innocence of humanity back in the Garden of Eden. He meets a woman named Matilda, who accompanies him as he witnesses a procession. The procession includes:

• The twenty-four elders (Revelation 4:4), which represent the books of the Bible according to St. Jerome;
• The four living creatures with six wings each (Revelation 4:6-8), which represent the four Evangelists;
• A chariot with two wheels;
• A Griffin, a creature with the feet, wings, and head of an eagle and the body and hind legs of a lion, symbolizing the divinity and humanity of Jesus in one person;
• Three “circling” women, representing the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love;
• Four women dressed in purple, representing the cardinal values of Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude;
• Two elders, representing the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul; and
• A lone man, representing the book of Revelation.

Beatrice Addressing Dante, painting by William Blake. (Wikipedia)

The Beatrice appears. She was a woman whom Dante admired when he was a child as the ideal woman. In real life, he dedicated the Comedia. In the story, it was she who sent Virgil to guide Dante through Hell and Purgatory. She explains why he needed to leave Virgil behind: he is a symbol of human philosophy, which cannot bring a person to God. Thus, Beatrice becomes a symbol of a Christian’s path to God.

Dante passes to the River Lethe, the mythological river of forgetfulness to forget all of his past sins. He then drinks from the River Eunoë in order to restore beautiful memories. He returns to Beatrice feeling refreshed and ready to ascend to Heaven, called Paradiso: “I have been made pure and prepared to climb unto the stars.”