![]() ![]() As Statius will later explain, Ante-Purgatory is also the only area of Mount Purgatory that is subjected to terrestrial meteorology. This region is therefore characterized by a lingering attachment to earthly life and affairs, so that the crowds of souls whom Dante and Virgil meet here all marvel at Dante's body in the flesh ( Purgatorio II–III). This transitional space parallels similar sections found in the Inferno (the space reserved for the lukewarm and the neutral angels found in Inferno III) and in the Paradiso (the heavens under the shadow of Earth traversed by the pilgrim in Paradiso I–IX). Ante-Purgatory Īnte-Purgatory is the region below the entrance into Purgatory proper and houses two main categories of souls whose penitent Christian life was delayed or deficient: the excommunicate and the late-repentant. Dante receives eleven distinct requests for prayer from individual souls in Purgatory, with most of the requests coming from souls in Ante-Purgatory and with the frequency of requests decreasing as he progresses through Purgatory. Forese's case, especially when compared to that of Statius, who has spent over 500 years on Mount Purgatory, shows the power of prayer to aid souls after death. One soul, Forese Donati, has gotten through Ante-Purgatory and the majority of the terraces only five years after his death, because of the prayers of his wife, Nella, on Earth. Dante learns from Manfred of Sicily in Ante-Purgatory that, in Purgatory, prayers from others work by shortening the wait that souls have to endure before entering Purgatory proper and by accelerating the rate at which souls ascend Mount Purgatory. Prayers by the living on behalf of the souls also play a large role in the cantica, with some souls the pilgrim meets along the way requesting prayers from living relatives and even from the pilgrim himself. Many of the souls Dante meets are depicted in prayer, with multiple liturgical references to psalms and hymns throughout the terraces. Prayer is a dominant theme in Purgatorio. The Purgatorio picks up where the Inferno left off, describing Dante's three-and-one-quarter-day trip up the mountain that ends with Dante in the Earthly Paradise at the time of noon on Wednesday, March 30 (or April 13). Dante describes Hell as existing underneath Jerusalem, having been created by the impact of Lucifer's fall the Mountain of Purgatory was created by a displacement of rock caused by the same event. They arrive at the shore of the Mountain of Purgatory – the only land in the Southern Hemisphere – at 6 am on Easter Sunday, which is 6 pm on Sunday in Jerusalem, since the two points are antipodal. Dante and Virgil spent the next day ascending from Hell to see the stars ( Inf. I and II), and the next full day ( Good Friday) was spent exploring the depths of Hell with Virgil as a guide ( Inf. Finally, the Earthly Paradise is located at the top of the mountain ( Purgatorio XXVIII–XXXIII).Īs described in the Inferno, the first twenty-four hours of Dante's journey took place on earth and started on the evening of Maundy Thursday, 24 March (or 7 April) 1300 ( Inf. Purgatory proper consists of seven levels or terraces ( Purgatorio X–XXVII) of suffering and spiritual growth, associated with the seven deadly sins. The bottom slopes of Mount Purgatory ( Purgatorio I–IX) have been designated as "Ante-Purgatory" by commentators. The poem posits the theory that all sins arise from love – either perverted love directed towards others' harm, or deficient love, or the disordered or excessive love of good things.ĭante portrays Purgatory as an island-mountain in the Southern Hemisphere. 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. Allegorically, Purgatorio represents the penitent Christian life. 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. The poem was written in the early 14th century. ![]() Purgatorio ( Italian: Italian for " Purgatory") is the second part of Dante's Divine Comedy, following the Inferno and preceding the Paradiso. As with Paradise, the structure is of the form 2 + 7 + 1 = 10, with one of the ten regions different in nature from the other nine. ![]()
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