An Annotation of
Purgatorio XXV, 79 - 102

Abbreviation Key

VDLI - Vocabolario Della Lingua Italiana

DV- Dantesco Vocabulario

ALD- A Latin Dictionary

OED-Online Etymology Dictionary 

CID-Cambridge Online Dictionary(online)

 

Pur., XXV, 79

1. Làchesis non ha più del lino. Translated as “Lachesis lacks more thread, then soul’s” (Mandelbaum) and “Lachesis runs out of thread” (Mary Jo). The word “lino” is described as “made from linen cloth or thread” or “flax/ linseed cloth” (Wiktionary) and as “textile fiber extracted from this plant by maceration of the stem (VDLI). In ancient Greek religion, human destiny is personified as the Three Fates/Sisters or ‘Moirai’ Sisters Lachesis, Cloth and Atropos. Atropos spins the thread of human life; Lachesis draws it out where Atropos, finally cuts it. This the sole reference to Lachesis in Commedia and it symbolizes the end of a person’s life i.e., death. Toynbee elaborates his reference on Lachesis as- 'at the birth of every mortal, Cloth, the spinning fate, was supposed to wind upon the distaff of Lachesis, the allotting fate, a certain amount of yarn; the duration of the life of the individual being the length of time occupied in spinning the thread, which, when complete, was severed by Atropos, the inevitable fate' (Concise Dante Dictionary). 

 

In context, Statius is trying to explain to Dante-Pilgrim how even after death i.e., without a physical body as such, the souls can feel emotions like pain, sympathy etc. just like a human person with a physical body. He explains the relationship between body and soul by making a reference to the mythological figure of Lachesis is used as an allusion to draw a parallel between the mythological figure’s role in making three significant points- (i) the fate of the end of human life, (ii) the concept of the human soul separating from the human body after death and (iii) the journey of the soul through final redemption so that it can meet with its body on Judgement Day. The allusion to Lachesis and her role in determining the fate of human lives also echoes Dante’s assertion that there is a definitive relationship between God and human life, which are bound by a cosmic connection. Given the fact that Dante’s allusion to Lachesis shows her controlling human fate, this reference complicates Dante’s assertion that human free will is solely about Karmic responsibility.

 

The allusion to Lachesis echoes the message offered in Statius’ previously used analogy to Meleager, who in Greek mythology was fated to die once a certain brand (a piece of wood) burnt completely. Bang’s ‘notes’ informs that Meleager's life was consumed by fire when his mother burnt the log the moment when she found out that he had killed his brothers (22-24, Purgatory XXV). In this sense, the allusion to Lachesis and the analogizing to Meleager expands on the idea that God possesses ultimate cosmic authority without having the need to intervene physically to take reign of a situation. This further justifies God’s metaphysical intervention in human affairs beyond the limitations of the physical world, while being the Prime Mover or the Unmoved Mover of the universe. 

 

Pur., XXV, 80

1. solvesi da la carne. The word “solvesi” is translated as “divided” (Mandelbaum) “dissolved of itself” (Mary Jo) and “separates” (Longfellow). All three translators use “flesh” to translate the word “carne.” The word “carne” is described as “human nature” (“natura umano”) /“human body: the resurrection of” (“corpo umano: la resurrezione della”) / (VDLI, 192); “during earthly life” (“durante la vita terenna”) (DV, 178). The word “carne” comes from Latin “carnem” (meaning “flesh”, “meat”), from Proto-Italic *karō/ Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”). The implications of the word “carne” in Commedia occupies one of the central themes of the poem because Dante’s endeavor is human salvation, which according to him can be possibly obtained only through the medium of the body it may be a virtual one.

 

At the beginning of Purgatory XXV, Statius explains that a person’s soul has three parts- (i)vegetative (passive like plants); (ii) emotional that is mobile or active like animals and (iii)the reasoning part that incorporates intellect and will. Meister explains the vegetative (passive) and animalistic (active) potential of the human embodiment as the “lower faculties” of the human soul, whereas “the rational” i.e., reasoning potential of the human soul as the “higher faculties.”  Nonetheless, drawing from the VDLI’s definition of the word as the “resurrection of,” the word can read as the deification of the human body. In context, Statius explains that at the time of conception, the vegetative part of the soul is formed. The souls of plants stop developing from this stage onward. Further, as the embryo/fetus keeps growing and begins to move and feel emotions inside the mother’s womb, it’s animalistic part of the soul is formed. Finally, when the brain of the fetus is completely formed, he states that God ‘breathes’ a ‘spirit’ inside the growing embryo that quintessentially makes it human. Later, in the moment of death, when the human body and soul gets separated from each other, the latter becomes the reasoning part of the soul that is the Divine component becomes the “Spirit-Body” which in the form of a shade leads a human soul through its afterlife journey through Hell or Purgatory/ Paradise. God forming man out of dust and breathing into the nostrils the breath of life, turning the latter into a living soul is an orthodox view that Singleton and Grandgent claims, is supported by primarily St. Augustine, St. Thomas (“preferring Aristotle when it comes to the origin of the ‘sensitive soul’” ) and Peter Lombard. Singleton and Grandgent call the process as the “combining” of the “active and passive intellectual principles” into one universal mind claiming that Dante rejects the idea of the external mind that is situated outside the individual soul unlike what the Spanish Moor, Averroes theorizes (Singleton and Grandent,183). 

 

In context, the phrase “solvesi da la carne” means that after the death of the human person on earth, his body is separated from his ‘spirit.’ The word “solvesi” is a neologism coined by Dante (Eric Bulson) and is the sole usage in the whole of Commedia. Seemingly, the word can be understood as a negation of its polarized meaning for it means both “unity” and “separation” probably coming from the close root word “solvere” meaning “dissolve”/ “clear up” and “divide”/ “untie”/ “loosen” (OED). In context, “solvesi” implies to the disintegration of the material body from its immaterial part i.e., the soul. Drawing from the explanation given in the previous paragraph, it can be explained that while the spirit represents the Divine component of human substance, the body represents the of human essence that is earthly in the sense that it has a materialistic identity. Here, the word “carne” develops a dual meaning. First, it represents the physical embodiment of the human person at the moment of death that is disconnected from his soul and second, it represents the Spirit-Body (or Shade) that the human soul gets embodied in after his death. However, Mary Jo’s translation as the “flesh dissolving of itself” adds another level of understanding that implies that at the moment of death, the body and the soul separate by itself ontologically i.e., without the need of any external force. This sheds light of the cosmic influence of God which is programmed by its special order of things. 

 

Pur., XXV, 80 

1. virtute. Translated as “essence” (Bang), “virtually” (Longfellow) and “potentially” (Mandelbaum). The etymology of the word coming from Latin “virtūs” / “virtūtem” meaning “vir” (man, male) + “tus” means (abstract non-forming suffix) has various meanings- (i) virility; (ii) valor; (iii) virtue or goodness; (iv) excellence or merit; (v) strength (Wiktionary). The word is also defined as “moral, constant disposition of the soul to do good” (“morale, constante disposition deli’anima a fare il bene”) / “strength of mind” “forza d' animo, energia morale” / “faculty, power” (“focolta potenza”) / intrinsic quality (“qualità intrinseca”) (1102, VDLI). Additionally, the word is also described as “strength of sight” (379, DV). In context, the word can be interpreted at two levels: - (a) i.e., the quintessence of what makes human beings, human beings as justifiably translated by Bang in the word “essence” and (b) the moral imperative of humans to have their body and spirit separated at the time of death and accept their fates according to God’s decision. Mandelbaum’s translation of the word to “potentially” also indicates the probable disassociation of the physical human body with its soul, at the point of death. Nevertheless, Longfellow’s translation of the word as ‘virtually’ seems to extend more towards the afterlife identity of human soul as a non-physical body rather than suggest its characteristics as God’s complying subject. From the meanings (goodness, merit, valor) of the word “virtute,” it can also be examined as a source of metaphysical strength or power that that enables the transformative process of body-soul separation, which in itself can be metaphorizes as a transcendence into a state of liberation in afterlife because the shedding of the physical body also carves the way for Man’s ultimate spiritual liberation.

 

Pur., XXV, 81

1. l’umano. The word is derived from Latin “hūmānus,” from “homō” (“human being”). It is described as “human”/ “humane” / “cultured”/ “compassionate”/ “refined”/ “mortal” and “to make human; only used in the pass, of the incarnation of Christ: promising to humanize God visually for the salvation of believers, Cassiod. in Psa. pref., so, "the word made human," that is. Hist. Ecclesiastes 6, 22” (promittentes Deum propter salutem credentium visualiter humanandum, Cassiod. in Psa. praef.; so, “verbum humanatum,” id. Hist. Eccles. 6, 22. (Wiktionary, ALD). The word is translated to “human” (Mandelbaum, Bang, Longfellow) and manifests as the very innate essence that makes the substance of human beings, which is defined in relation to being a subject to God- the creator of the universe. In context, as Statius explains, the word represents the human species whose soul is essentially a collective entity of three parts- vegetative, animalistic, and the Divine as explained in annotation no.2. 

 

Commedia pivots on the larger praxis of Dante-Poet’s effort to promise salvation for mankind according to his own cosmic scheme of things. The poet believes that human species is the most special creation of God because it is created by God directly (God breathes the spirit into the human fetus). ADL’s definition of mankind as “the incarnation of Christ” establishes a mystical relationship between God as Man and Man as God as it blurs the boundaries between the two as if to say that what is Divine is human and vice versa. This interpretation is also suggestive of the presence of ‘One’ God in all of mankind; thus, making Him ‘Many’ at the same time. Such an analysis can be read as a literalization of Dante’s effort to echo the theme of the ‘One and the Many’ that is prevalent throughout Commedia.

 

Pur., XXV, 81

1. divino. Translated as “divine” (Mandelbaum, Bang, Longfellow). The etymology of the word derived from “dīvīnus (“divine, inspired, prophetic”) (Wiktionary). The word means “who is worthy of God or Gods” (“che e degno di dio o degli dei”) (VDLI). In context, the word can be interpreted as essence of God as part of human nature in its earthly and posthumous identity (“shade”). The fact that God “breathes” a spirit into each human fetus imparting it with the human essence can said to be echoing Dante’s classic theme of ‘One and the Many’. By elaboration, this means that every human person has a part of God in him (here, in the form of the soul thar represents rationality/ intellect/ reason). In this sense the essence of God existing in all human beings makes it ‘many’, yet still God remains the ‘One.’ 

 

Drawing from this understanding that echoes the “One and Many” theme, the internal rhyming of the words “l’umano” and “divino” in line 81 can be interpreted as Dante-Poet’s deliberate attempt to create an emphasis as if to say that in both the theological and philosophical sense, man and God are in a synecdochical and/or metonymical relationship. Perhaps, in using a conjunction “e” (meaning “and”) to talk about God and human beings together can also indicate the latter’s potential to become Divine in the sense of experiencing the latter’s ‘Grace’ (a theme well explored in all of Purgatory and Paradiso). In addition, the juxtaposition of the two internally rhyming words in one sentence also signifies as Dante-Poet’s effort in contrasting human nature with that of the Divine while also developing a Divinely- Human and/or Humanly- Divine relationship between God as the subject and the Supreme itself. 

 

Pur., XXV, 82

1. potenze tutte quante mute. Translated as “the human powers mute” (Mandelbaum); silent (Bang) and “voiceless” (Longfellow). The word “potenze” or “potenza” means (“energia o intensita”) “power or intensity”(758, VDLI). It can be directly translated as “potential” and also be read as a synonym to “virtute” which means “capacity” by way of “attributes”.  In relation to this line, Meister’s explains that “once a person dies, the body and soul separate. The immortal soul, created directly by God, takes with it the “higher” faculties of memory, intelligence, and will, all of these which now become stronger or dominating. Thereby, the “lower” vegetative and sensate faculties are muted because they are no longer animated by the soul” (Meister). Drawing from Meister’s explanation it can be interpreted that Dante’s theory which explains the dual quality of human identity as “human” i.e., earthly, and “divine” is also indicative of the power dynamics between God and human within the human body itself. This is to say that the silencing of the “lower” “human” faculties of the human soul and the activation of the Divine faculties (reason, will and memory) establishes absolute authority of God as a sole vehicle of redemption. In addition, the silencing of lower faculties of the human soul can more appropriately be transcribed as a “suspension” of it because ‘on Judgement Day when it will be united by its physical body, these muted faculties will once again amply. Therefore, muting of the sensate and animalistic attribute of the human soul in its after life becomes a mere suspension of it. As extension, while this suspension represents silence or inaction, it also creates a sense of tension as an anticipation some action that will be realized in the future. 

 

Pur., XXV, 83

1. memoria. Translated as “memory” (Mandelbaum, Bang, Longfellow). The word is borrowed from Latin “memoria”/ “memor” (meaning “mindful, remembering” ) and described as “a writing to inform someone about a matter of importance” (Wiktionary). The word is used as a nuanced motif across Commedia. For instance, when Dante-Pilgrim recalls the frightening appearance of the serpents, “it chills” his “blood,” the word represents his innate fear of what harm the gory image of the animal can do(24, Inferno XXIV). Later, the word takes the form of guilt felt by student (Dante-Pilgrim) who feels that he has not performed well before his master (Virgil) (Inferno XXX). Later, the word becomes an agent that can defeat time by immortalizing human identity. This is evident when Dante is talking to Arezzo urging him to his name so that his “memory” does not fade away (103-105, Inferno XXIX). 

 

Essentially in Inferno, the word can be read as a personification of man’s inner fears. But in Purgatory it mostly encapsulates the essence of ease, comfort, fond moments of past and the beauty of receiving Divine bliss. For instance, Dante tells Casella that that meeting him instantly reminds him of the fond moments when he sat with him reminiscing his love for Beatrice (107, Purgatory II). Thus, the word becomes a reservoir of a happy past. In addition, the use of the word later creates a relationship between the earth and the Dante’s world of Hell, Heaven and Paradise when Sepia explains that the remembering of the punished souls by their families living on the earth helps in expediting the former’s ascent to Heaven by reducing their punishment. Further, the word seeks to imply the obliteration of agonizing memories of one’s past when Beatrice took Dante-Pilgrim to the river Eunoe to forget the memory of his sins (127, Purgatory XXXIII). 

 

In Paradiso, the word develops a new meaning for it represents the incapacity of the “human mind” to narrate the brilliance, power and might of the visions Dante witnesses in Paradise (Paradiso XXX, 57). Here, memory functions as an act of not only recalling the experience of looking at the beauty of Beatrice, but the act of writing itself (così la mia memoria si ricorda/ ch'io feci riguardando ne' belli occhi) “just so do I remember having done, gazing into the beautiful eyes” (10-11, Purgatory XXVIII). G.A. Scartazzini comments on how memory functions in Paradiso XXIII (46069) – “Memory is like a book that reviews the past. Memory brings us great good; but in itself it is not enough. It puts forward the ideas we have had; but to proceed forward it is necessary to compare them, balance them, deduce others.” In addition, Barolini comments that “angels do not need memory because their sight is not interrupted and therefore they do not need to remember by way of a differentiated thought process:“e però non bisogna / rememorar per concetto diviso” (and therefore there is no need to remember by way of divided thought. Here, memory becomes a contrast to human memory” (Barolini, 80-81, Paradiso XXIX). As an extension to Barolini’s comments it can be understood that according to Dante, humans need memory in order to store the new objects once they are no longer new and that the line of becoming intercepted by new objects recedes into the past, which are stored as memories.

 

As an extension to Scartazzini and Barolini, it can be said that the word captures the essence of the past, present and future, especially echoing Dante-Poet’s praxis that centers on the dialectic pattern of constantly moving back and forth while always having the present rooted in the future and the future in the past. Nonetheless, as Dante-Pilgrim advances through Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise before he reaches the Empyrean, it must not be forgotten that the narrative yet still functions retroactively. This means that Dante is already drawing from his memory to write down his journey to meet God. In this sense, Commedia can be read as a memoir itself that attempts to historize Dante’s ecstatic experiences (of meeting with God) for the future of man’s salvation itself, where the implication of the word “memoria” is charged with not only historical or factual weight but also with an emotive and spiritual quality.

 

Pur., XXV, 83

1.  intelligenza.  Translated as “intelligence” (Mandelbaum, Bang, Longfellow). The word is described as ability to grasp the existing links between the various moments of experience (“capacita di cogliere i nessu esistenti fra i vari momenti deli esperienza”) and as “ability to understand, think, judge” (“capacity di intendere, pensare, guidicare”) (VDLI). The etymology of the word finds its roots in the Latin “intelligentia” which means “intelligence.’ Compared to the other sensate and vegetative faculties possessed by humans, Meister refers to the word as the “higher faculties.” In other words, the word refers to human capacity to reason i.e., think logically/ rationally and then take action. The word is a component of the human mind. For Dante, rational thinking or the power of human reason is tantamount in determining man’s responsibility in perpetrating or refraining from perpetrating sin. In the larger scheme of things, Dante associates the word as being divine in the sense that it becomes the necessary tool that can enlighten a man in his journey to salvation. In Dante’s world, ‘free will’ (freedom to act according to one’s own choice) can be read as an extension of human intelligence in the sense that the former becomes a byproduct of rational faculty. For example, if a person decides to commit a sin, he can commit it willingly i.e., out of his free will. In other words, having decided to commit a sin implies the use of his rational faculty which influences what action he chooses to perform. The word “intelligenza”(faculty of reason) is different from “volantade” (faculty of will) (explained in annotation no.9) in the sense that the former is the machine (the main source) that manufactures the latter, which is the product enacted as action.  

 

Pur., XXV, 83

1. volontade. Translated as “will” (Mandelbaum, Bang, Longfellow). The etymology of the word is borrowed from “volonta” (Italian) that means “faculty of will” (“facolta del volere”)/ “act of will” (“atto del volere”) and “volition” (1109, VDLI), (Wiktionary). Meister categorizes the word as a kind of “higher faculty” which associates as a ‘Divine’ human attribute. The word expostulates the discourse of how the concept of ‘love’ functions, as especially explained in Purgatory XVII as a component of the   human mind. In Purgatory XVII, love or the “bent” is explained as one’s inclination towards the object that a person loves and desires to obtain. For this purpose, man can either chose to take the “natural way” (legit, virtuous, morally correct) or “unnatural way” (sinful, coercive). To elaborate further, the availability of choice of path to reach one’s object of desire becomes an act of volition because one acts out of his will. Therefore, in Commedia, the ideology of how ‘love’ functions as a matter of choice overlaps with that of ‘will’ which is about taking a conscious responsibility to act according to one’s volition personal choice. Furthermore, “volontade” becomes different from “intelligenza” in the sense that the former refers to the ability to acquire and apply the cognitive ability of reason, whereas the latter is representational of the power of human personhood to consciously decide on a course of action. Thus, “intelligenza” helps the human mind to comprehend the world around us, while “volontade” empowers us to act upon that understanding. 

 

Pur., XXV, 85

1. per sé stessa cade. Translated as “the soul falls of itself” (Mandelbaum) and “without a pause, it falleth of itself” (Longfellow). The etymology of the word is unknown. Whereas the word is described as “obsolete”/ “abandoned”/ “make a pet (rear by hand) (Wiktionary). Here, the soul that falls by itself refers to the lower faculties (vegetative and animalistic) of the human soul that instantly gets separated from the Spirit i.e., the Divine component of the human soul at the time of death. In this sense, separation occurs at two levels- (i) of body and soul; (ii) the lower faculties i.e., sensitive and active from reason i.e., Divine.  The emphasis on the word “itself” by Mandelbaum and Longfellow provides an emphasis that the fall is self-inflicted i.e., without nay external force. In other words, in separating the body/ soul and lower/higher faculties without any external force suggest that the human nature is naturally inclined to follow the cosmic order of sin and redemption as designed by God. Here, the act of self-separation can be understood as mankind’s passive compliance to God’s larger scheme of justice.

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Overall, “per sé stessa cade” is connotative of the journeys of the human souls as designed by Dante-Poet in the name of God; thereby, also providing a sense of purpose to each human soul even after death.  

 

Pur., XXV, 86

1. le rive; Translated as “two shores” (Mandelbaum), “bank of one of the rivers” (Bang), “on one shore or the other” (Longfellow). The “rive” or “the river” in this line refers to River Acheron in Hell (Inferno 3), where the souls of the dead are ferried by Charon to specific circles of hell or Tiber River west of Rome, where they are ferried by an angel to Mount Purgatory (Purgatory 2). Furthermore, the presence of “de le shores” i.e. “of the shores” functions at various levels- (i) as a marker  that demarcates between two things- literally, water body and land; metaphorically, to the idea of Karmic responsibility that determines whether a human soul must go to Hell or Purgatory depending upon his actions while living on earth; (ii) in providing a sense of limitation by enforcing that a human soul goes to either Hell or Purgatory based on his earthly actions; (iii) as the threshold that determines the nature of transition that the human soul must face in his journey of redemption after life; (iii) most significantly, it obliquely announces the absolute design and authority of God’s justice that will prevail in hid cosmological order of sin and punishment.  

 

The fact that Dante uses the river as the vehicle that determines a human soul’s journey after death, can also be interpreted as being directly symbolic to the Heraclitan river. According to Greek philosopher Heraclitus, none can step into the same river twice because the flowing water in it makes it ever-changing in essence. In this sense, stepping into the river is always an end and beginning of a new beginning. In context, stepping into either of the rivers can also be interpreted as not only the end of earthly life but also the beginning of a new afterlife that the human soul is bound to journey through. This interpretation supports the Dante’s classic larger theme of how ends are new beginnings. 

 

Pur., XXV, 87

1. quivi conosce prima le sue strade. Translated as “there it learns—early—what way it will journey” (Mandelbaum) and “there of its roads it first is cognizant” (Longfellow). The mention of the words “quivi” (there) and “prima” (early) points the readers to imagine a specific location at a particular moment of time. Here, the emphasis of time works spatially to inform the readers that the souls “conosce” (knows) or made cognizant of his redemptive path in afterlife. The use of the word “strade” or “path” conveys the concept of journey creating a sense of movement. On another level, “path” creates an impression of an expectation of a future which is yet to be realized. Thus, establishing an emotion of continuity. In this sense, the repetition of the “s” sound in the words “conosce,” “sue,” and “strade” also indicates a sense of fluidity, flow, or harmony. In this accord, Longfellow’s translation as “cognizant” suggests that the human soul is not only conscious or aware of God as the supreme judge in life and death, but also innately and actively is accepting of his decision that determines his journey of either damnation or redemption. Overall, this line highlights the metamorphic essence of the new life that a dead human person must consciously encounter.

 

Pur., XXV, 88

1. la circunscrive. Translated as “circumscribed by space” (Mandelbaum) and “place there circumscribeth it” (Longfellow) and “the location is set” (Bang). The etymology of the word “circunscrive” derives from the Italian word “circoscrivere” (to subscribe) and “scriebere” (“to write” or “to draw”). Simply put, this word suggests “to define the boundaries of something.” In context, the line means to say that in afterlife once the human soul reaches either Inferno (River Acheron) or Purgatory (River Tiber) based on the nature of his earthly deeds, his non-physical Spirit-Body is confined spatially in air. This confinement influences the shape of the Spirit-Body which gets shaped according to the impression that the former creates on the air particles. 

 

This confinement marks the point of transition of the non-physical body of the Spirit-Body to a virtual identity that although intangible can be perceived by the human eyes as a “shade.” In this sense, the ephemeral identity of the human soul is concretized by the mediation of the physical environment of Inferno. Bang comments that “the soul’s form after death is ephemeral, mediated by its environment and impossible to separate from the spare it occupies” (Bang, 262). As an extension to Bang’s analysis, it can be said that the human soul’s identity becomes intricately influenced by its physical surroundings, while also diffusing in it. In this sense, Dante’s explanation of how the non-physical bodies of human souls have a virtual body in afterlife despite being separated by their natural bodies at the time of death, establishes as a conceptual negation. This negation is driven by the fact that only in the diffusing of the invisible human soul into the natural surroundings is it able to establish its identity be it virtual. 

 

Pur., XXV, 89

1.  raggia intorno. Translated as “irradiates” (Mandelbaum), “radiates around” (Bang) and “round about” (Longfellow). The word “raggia” comes from the Latin “rabia” (“rage”) and/or “raggiare” (shine/ blaze/ radiate/ illuminate (Wiktionary). The word “intorno” is described as (“giro nello spazio”) meaning “wandering around in space” or (“circa”) meaning “about” (VDLI). In context “raggia” refers to the radiance of the Spirit-Body once it is circumscribed into the atmosphere of either Hell or Purgatory. This radiance that embodies the Spirit-Body makes it reflect itself on the air air particles that surround the unperceivable body, thus, making it plausible to the human sight. This enables it to acquire a virtual presence. The fact that Dante poet has the air particles influence the virtual identity of the human soul in afterlife creates an intricate bond with the atmosphere or natural environment. In the larger scheme of Dante’s world, this relation of the human soul with its spatial ambience can be interpreted as the poet’s attempt to highlight the importance of nature and its elements itself. 

 

Pur., XXV, 90

1. così e quanto ne le membra vive. Translated as “and as much as-once it formed live limbs.” In these lines, Statius uses a simile to describe transformation of the human soul into a shadow after his material body is separated from its earthly body at the time of death. The presence of the word “cosi” that means “like” or “as” confirms the use of simile as the poetic device as it also creates a sense of comparison and measurement that suggests a parallel between the human soul’s existence after life and its past life in the earthly body. The line illustrates that after being relegated a space in Hell or Purgatory, the virtual body of the human soul replicates the exact same form that it’s earthly body that he possessed before his death. The structure of limbs and other body parts of the virtual body (the shade) is in the exact same proportion as that of the living body. Further the word “vive” (borrowed from Latin “vive” / “vivus” meaning “alive”/ “living”/ “bright”/ “durable,” provides a sense of vitality. Overall, the phrase “ne le membra vive” evokes a feeling of movement, transition, and continuity in the eerie presence of life after death. 

 

Pur., XXV, 91, 97

1. aere, Translated as “air” (Mandelbaum, Bang, Longfellow). The word has two etymological roots- (i) Latin “aerem”(air) and (ii) “aire” (appearance/ nature/ disposition/ aspect) (Wiktionary).  The word is described as (“atmosfera”) meaning “atmosphere” (31, VDLI).  The word is used as “e come aere” which translates to “and as air.” The use of “as air” qualifies it as another simile used in the given verses. The two things that have been compared to each other is the invisible Spirit-Body of the human soul and the invisible water particles that are present in the atmosphere just before a rainfall. The point of comparison is that just like the reflection of sun rays falling on the water droplets hidden in the atmosphere bursts the graph of a rainbow on the sky, likewise, do the air particles surrounding the Spirit-Body [“aere vicin” translated as “nearby air” (Mandelbaum)] of the human soul once it reaches Inferno or Purgatory. In context, the word satisfies a scientific explanation of how the impression of the Divine component of human soul (i.e., reason, intellect and will) compresses the air particles and creates the ‘shade’ i.e., a shadow that enables it to develop a form that is perceptible to the sensory descriptions of sight, sound and touch having sensate qualities of its own. As an extension, it can be interpreted that the air medium becomes indispensable in enabling the transcendence of the human soul from a non-identity to a sensate virtual identity. In this sense, Statius uses the classical element of air to foster the mechanism of how Dante-Poet’s world of sin, damnation, and redemption functions. 

 

However, the concept of “aere” is transitional through Inferno, Purgatory and Paradiso. For instance, the word is first directly used to define the strong gusts of wind and the heavy lashes that the lecherous (e.g., Semiramis) are subjected to (47-51, Inferno V). Here, the word creates the ambience of heavy plaintive sighs and pain. Thus, evoking a sense of fear and horror in Dante-Pilgrim’s mind. Further, in Inferno IX, the word creates an atmospheric tension by representing the infernal ambience as so being ‘thick’ and ‘greasy’ that it blurs Dante-Pilgrim’s sight (“aere grasso”) (82). A similar ambience of the atmosphere filled with smoke is discernible in Inferno XXIV (51). The use of “aere” as a trope that blocks the sensory organs of sight can be interpreted as the weak moments in man’s life when his rational faculty is blurred by the sensory organs. 

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However, “aere” in Purgatory and Paradiso acquire a different imagery of comfort and warmth and hope with brilliant rays from the sun and melodious hymns spilling through the visual and silence of the atmosphere. 

 

Overall, Dante deploys the word “aere” to communicate an emotion of fear in Inferno, whereas in Purgatory and Paradiso it is used to provide a visceral glimpse of what beatitude or God’s Grace might feel like to a human person. 

 

Pur., XXV, 91

1. pïorno. Translated as “saturated” (Mandelbaum), “supersaturated” (Bang) and “full of rain” (Longfellow). The word is decribed as “da piovere, voce antiquata, piovoso, stipato di vapori” meaning “to rain, old-fashioned voice, rainy, crammed with vapors” (263, DV). This is the only section of Commedia where the word is used. In scientific terms, the word delineates that particular point of the water cycle when the air, specifically the clouds are heavily laden with water droplets just at the point of condensation. At the point when the rays of the sun fall on it, they create a rainbow. The dispersion of the rainwater droplets to a spectrum of rainbow colours in the presence of sun rays, suggests how indispensable God’s hand is in enabling the process to occur. The moment in which water reflects light becomes critical to create the rainbow effect because it is marker of two significant processes- (i)of change and transformation and (ii) of purity and perfection that enables the production of a virtual reality silhouetted in the virtual body i.e., ‘the shade’. In this light, Bang’s translation of the word to “supersaturated” instead of “saturated” or “full of rain,” provides a sense of high intensity of perfection or purity that gives momentum to the transition process.

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Moreover, the use of the word in the line “e come l’aere, quand’ è ben pïorno,” implies a comparison being made of the air particles surrounding the Body-Spirit in Dante’s Hell or Purgatory, to the characteristic heavily laden air that gets fall down as water droplets when they cannot hold the heaviness. The phrase “e come” translated as “like the air” thus, interprets as another simile that deploys the word “come” meaning “like” or “as.” However, what is special about this comparison is that Dante is comparing the air particles of Hell or Purgatory/Paradiso with the air particles of the earth. By making a comparison of an object to itself in a different space and time, the poet is remarkably connecting the discourse of the life on earth with that of the discourse of it in his concept of the afterlife space.   

 

Pur., XXV, 93

1. di diversi color diventa addorno. Translated as “takes rainbow colors as its ornament” (Mandelbaum), “a decorative entity of iridescent colors” (Bang) and “with divers colors shows itself adorned” (Longfellow). Etymologically, the word “diversi” comes from the root word “diversi” meaning “several” (Wiktionary). Whereas the word “diventa” is defined as “become” (Wiktionary). In addition, the word “addorno” is defines as “fit”/ “furnish”/ “equip”/ “decorate”/ “embellish”/ “adorn” (Wiktionary). Statius uses another simile to describe transformation of the human soul into a shadow after his material body is separated from its earthly body at the time of death. Bang explains the simile as- “like the rainbow that appears when the sun’s rays are dispersed in water droplets, the soul’s form after death is ephemeral, mediated by its environment and impossible to separate from the space it occupies (Bang, 262). As an extension to Bang’s analysis, it can be interpreted that the human soul’s identity becomes intricately influenced by its physical surroundings, while also diffusing in it. In this sense, Dante’s explanation of how the non-physical bodies of human souls have a virtual body in afterlife despite being separated by their natural bodies at the time of death, establishes as a conceptual negation. This negation is driven by the fact that only in the diffusing of the invisible human soul into the natural surroundings is it able to establish its identity be it virtual. Here, the visual evoked by the simile of air reflecting the colors of the rainbow through because of the reflection of the sun’s rays suggests a dynamic transformation of the intangible Spirit-Body of the human soul to the ‘shade’. What is beautiful about these lines is that Dante uses imagery that appeals to the senses of the readers enabling him to be moved by not only the formation of a rainbow as it reflects sunlight but also easily imagine the transformation of the invisible Spirit-Body into visibility. Mandelbaum’s and Bang’s translation is more befitting compared to Longfellow’s which in stating “divers colors show itself adorned” implies that the reflection happens by itself without external agency of the air particles surrounding it; thereby, seemingly reversing the order of the meaning by changing the agency of the event.

 

Overall, this line is heavily charged with a poetic rhetoric that functions at various layers- (i) alliteration  (i.e. the repetition of the “d” consonant) in “di diversi” and “diventa adorn” creates a rhythm that adds to the colorful visual of the rainbow colors that metaphorically adorn the Body-Spirit; (ii) “diventa adorn” operates as a metaphor that compares the soul’s transformation from the Body-Spirit to get adorned or festooned in the various rainbow colors i.e. different air particles that the Spirit- Body impresses on it like the invisible air droplets that make their presence felt like when reflected by the sun’s rays; (iv) imagery- the use of vivid colors also help in evoking a visual spectacle that makes the readers palpably imagine the process of how the virtual identity of the human soul is receptive to sensory experiences without a body. 

 

Pur., XXV, 95

1. forma ch’è in lui suggella. Translated as “takes on the form that soul impressed on it” (Mandelbaum). The word “forma” is described as “aspetto esteriore di” (external appearance of”) (404, VDLI). Whereas the word “suggella” coming from the root word “suggellàre” means “seal” or “to confirm” (Wiktionary). The word “forma” provides a sense of structure to the Spirit-Body, while the word “sugella” creates an emotion of a definite action of the formation of the reflection as the “shade” as if locking its identity with full authority. The word “sugella” also adds a sense of finality or permanence as if to say that the soul’s authority is immutable at the same time. Further, the word “forma” implies the human souls as having not just a physical shape but also a spiritual or metaphysical essence that defines it’s being. Overall, the essence of this line provides the fundamental logic of Dante’s cosmic order that grounds the conceptual mechanism of Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise. This is because it synthesizes not only Dante-Pilgrim’s curiosity of how despite without possessing physical bodies after death, the souls have a visual presence and can eat, laugh, feel pain, etc. but also of the reader’s. Further, this explanation provides a conceptual unity that pivots Dante’s thesis of how after death, souls can experience their senses just like a living body. 

 

Pur. XXV, 97

1. fiammella. Translated as “flame” (Mandelbaum, Bang) and “little flame” (Longfellow). The word is described as “fiamma” meaning “of flame” and “sembra espressoone collecttiva per significare i in sieme delle fiamme, las pioggia di fuoco” meaning “it seems to be a collective expression to mean the gathering of flames, the rain of fire” (DV, 145). The use of the word evokes a visual imagery of a tiny flickering flame that follows the fire. This word is used to explain a metaphorical comparison between the flame of a fire and the ‘Shade’ of the ‘Spirit-Body.’ As Statius explains, the Shade of the Spirit-Body follows the latter everywhere it goes just like the flickering flame of fire that follows it wherever it moves. Such a comparison oozes various sentiments: - (i) of the deep inseparable attachment or bond of the Spirit-Body with the Shade its presence creates an identity that can only co-exist; (ii) of that of absolute non-ontological dependence of the Spirit-Body on the Shade in order to be recognized as an identity. [By this interpretation, the word echoes a sense of “collective expression” between two entities intricately connected to each other, like the meaning of the word as “sembra espressoone collecttiva per significare i in sieme delle fiamme, las pioggia di fuoco” suggests.] (iii) of movement/ fluidity/ continuity of action and essence. In addition, this kind of interdependence of the Spirit-Body and the shade that follows one another at a metaphysical level echoes the message of the earlier analogy to the way the image of a person reflected on the mirror follows the subject it is reflecting (25-26, Purgatory XXV). 

 

Pur. XXV, 98

1. foco. Translated as “fire” (Mandelbaum, Bang, Longfellow). The verb is described as “fuoco” meaning “complex of caloric and luminous effects produced by combustion: light, stoke, suffocate” (“complesso degli effetti calorici e luminosi prodotti dalla combustione: accendere, attizzare, suffocate”) / “of straw that lasts a short time, a very intense but not long-lasting feeling” (“di pagliq che dura poco sentimento molto intenso ma non dutaturo”) / “intense malty heat or fervor” “calore o fervore malto intense”  (VDLI 400, 419). This word is used as an extension of the simile of the Shade following the Body-Spirit like a flame does a fire. However, unlike the word “fiammella,” “foco” expounds a much greater degree or intensity of heat compared to the implication of the former word. In particular, the comparison explains the nature of the transformative process that the human soul undergoes after death, which can further be interpreted as having the potential for purification, change and redemption. This analysis can be drawn as an extended symbolism to the Heraclitan Fire. For Heraclitus, fire is the arche or the fundamental cause of life. Everything comes out of fire that functions as a transformative medium of exchange of properties by which all dialectical forces are reconciled in harmony. For example, day and night are opposites but they share a harmonious relationship. Fire is the one thing eternal in the universe. From fire all things originate, and all things return in a process of never-ending cycles. that opposite things are not identical, but rather they are transformationally equivalent. By this Heraclitus means to say that something may change to its opposite and vice versa. In this way, opposites are interchangeable, not identical. All things are caught up in an endless cycle of change, transformation, and rebirth. It is this notion that is at the heart of Heraclitus’ theory of fire that captures Dante’s intended essence of using Fire as a symbol.

 

Interestingly, this word changes in its meaning and function across The Divine Comedy. In Inferno, it is used a tool of torture to punish the condemned souls of Hell. In Purgatory, it is used as the ultimate medium to test human faith because one must walk through the blazing fire if he wishes to enter Paradise. In Paradise, there is abundance reference to the word mostly providing a sense of the intense brilliance or Divine love or Grace. Nevertheless, like Heraclitus’ Fire, Dante uses ‘fire’ as the act that is redemptive and destructive/ transformative and purging at once. So much so that it leads to a new beginning or new birth that begins after an end. This once again encapsulates the larger structure of Dante’s scheme of the cyclic and alternating dynamic paradigm of past/ future and end/ beginning.

 

Pur,, XXV, 99

1. spirto. Translated as “spirit” (Mandelbaum, Longfellow) and “soul” (Bang). The word is describes as “principio immateriale attivo, spesso considerato immortale o di origine divina che si manifesta come vita e concienza” (“active immaterial principle, often considered immortal or of divine origin which manifests itself as life and consciousness”)/ “fantasma” (“ghost”)/ “essenza” (essence) / (“vivacita” (“liveliness”) and “a principle or emotion which makes someone act”/ “spiritual values”/”spiritual needs” (961, VDLI), (CID). In context, the word refers to the “Spirit-Body” that inhabits the higher faculties of the human soul that becomes activated at the time of a person’s death when the body gets separated from its soul components (vegetative, sensate and reason/ intellect). There is a distinction between the “soul” and the “spirit.” From the perspective of Dante’s theorizing, “spirit” is the Divine part of the human soul which is the composite form of the human metaphysical body that is a collective of all components. Thus, the word represents the essence of human identity in its dual existence that is both- earthly and metaphysical. Paradoxically, however, it represents a chiasmatic relationship of the physical and metaphysical identity of the human person before and after death. This can be said from the perspective that the physical body becomes the identity of the metaphysical body in its earthly life whereas, in afterlife the metaphysical body informs the identity of the physical existence of the human soul. Thus, the moment of death becomes the point of intersection that determines this chiasmatic relationship.  

 

Pur. XXV. 100

1. ombra. Transalated as “shade” (Mandelbaum, Bang, Longfellow). The word is described as "luogo riparato dalla luve e dal calore del sole” (“place sheltered from the light and heat of the sun: sit in shade) (651, VDLI). “Ombra” is used to refer to the virtual bodies of throughout The Divine Commedy. The word refers to the shadow of the human soul (Spirit-Body) through which a human journey after his life through Hell or Heaven. Like the meaning of its Germanic etymological roots from “sceadu” meaning “shadow,” that is formed as a result of the interaction with the air particles surrounding it. “shade” or “shadow” can be understood as an absence of light in the presence of light. This thought can be constructed by the logic that a shade can be formed only in the presence of a source of light falling on an object, yet the presence of this very light falling on one side of the object is what creates its shadow/ shade on the other side. Dante seems to defy this theory of science by fundamentally conceptualizing that the self-emanated brilliance of the Spirit-Body when it is circumscribed into the space of Hell or Purgatory is what causes the formation of the shade. However, Dante’s use of the previously explained simile of the Body-Spirit becoming a “shade” or a virtual body like the the rainbow being formed as the reflection of the sun light on the water droplets latent in the air, seemingly has a conceptual discordance in how light functions in both the explanations. In the rainbow simile, it is the presence of external light (sun’s) that causes the virtual spectrum of the rainbow to form, whereas, in the formation of the Spirit-Body it is not external, but internalized/ innate. This serves as a grand example of how Dante appropriates theoretical science or even the laws of nature to suit his own universal design of language and intellect. 

 

Pur., XXV, 102

1. ciascun sentire infino. Translated as “forms organs for each sense” (Mandelbaum). This phase indicates a deeper intensity of how in in the formation of all the organs of the “Body-Spirit” owing to his transition to the “Shade,” it acquires complete sensate quality to its being that can experience all emotions of pain, laughter, etc., like a human body does. The alliteration of the “s” consonant in the “ciascun” and “sentire” seems to add momentum to the essence of the transformation itself, as if mirroring the idea of progression. 

 

End Note

 

I have chosen to explicate the chosen lines because they are extremely significant to concretize the quintessential logic of how Dante’s universal order in the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradiso functions. As much as Dante’s The Divine Comedy is about the path to mankind’s salvation it also expostulates the idea of Divine justice in Dante’s cosmology manifests only through the body of the human soul- whether in the earthly/physical embodiment of life or the virtual/ metaphysical incarnation of afterlife. Dante devices a logic that enables the ‘sinner-souls’ or the ‘saved-souls’ to be experienced as physical bodies so that the Dante’s simulacrum can be palpably felt by the mortal reader himself. This narrative strategy not only unifies the text but also remarkably substantiates its conceptual depth. In this light, Dante’s portrayal of the dead souls’ virtual reality serves as a profound marker of the dual nature of the human body-both in its mortal and transcendent essence.