The Sun: The Wise

Dante is now experiencing astronomical fantasies, imagining the fifteen

brightest stars of the two rings, the lovely constellations they form, and their
swift dances. Still dancing, the starry souls sing praises for the Holy Trinity.
These souls that he will meet are the ten wisest men. They are Thomas
Aquinas, Albertus Magnus, Gratian, Peter Lombard, King Solomon, Dionysius
the Areopagite, Orosius, Boethius, Isidore of Seville, Bede, Richard of Saint
Victor and Sigier of Brabant.

First, he met St. Thomas Aquinas. Then, St. Thomas stops the dancing to
answer Dante's second question: why can't anybody match King Solomon's
wisdom? He answered that God's wisdom can only go to those he creates
directly. The only two people God directly created were Adam and Christ, so
how can Solomon's wisdom be greater than theirs?

St. Aquinas start the discussion tangentially. Both immortals and mortals, he
begins, are only the "reflected light" of the idea that God begot. From there,
the nine essences (or Angelic Intelligences) act as mirrors, reflecting His
Light down from one star to another, and when his light hits the "last
potentialities" (matter), they create only "brief contingent things" (animals,
plants, and inanimate objects). The matter of these contingent things is
compared to wax, which varies in its perfection. Now, because the wax isn't
perfect, it doesn't always capture a perfect reflection of the light, which is
why it can be corrupt. So the blame falls to Nature, an "artist with a
trembling hand" who cannot stamp the wax as perfectly as she should. This
explains why some trees bear better fruit than others, just as certain men
get worse children than others.

But when God himself prepares both the Light and the wax, His perfection is
transferred to his creations, Adam and Christ. He continues, now I'll consider
your question of why Solomon had "matchless vision". Consider Solomon's
story: God came to King Solomon in a dream and promised to answer any
question he might ask. Wise Solomon, instead of asking for the answers to
intellectual dilemma, asked for the ability to distinguish between right and
wrong. This is also called "kingly prudence." St. Thomas explains that
"matchless vision" having the wisdom to ask for something practical and
moral.

St. Thomas warns Dante to consider this story before jumping too quickly to
conclusions about things he doesn't fully understand. Hasty opinions are
often wrong. He proves his point by naming several examples of scholars
whose opinions turned out to be wrong – Parmenides, Melissus, Bryson,
Sabellius, Arius, Dame Bertha, and Master Martin.
Finally, St. Thomas ends with a warning to men not to judge too quickly,
because things which appear bad can turn out to be good, and vice versa.

As St. Thomas falls silent, Beatrice begins talking. She says that Dante needs
"to reach the root of still another truth." She requests that the spirits should
tell Dante whether or not the light that the souls emit will stay forever. If so,
then how – when they receive their bodies back – will be able to look on such
bright light and not be harmed?

The ring of spirits, listening intently to Beatrice's request, gives a shout of

joy, and begins singing about the Trinity. As the spirits wheel around, a
modest voice (from King Solomon) floats up from the inner circle and says,
so long as we all stay in Heaven, our clothing will be these brilliant lights.
The degree of our brightness depends on how much we love God, and that is
measured by how well we see. Our vision is in turn measured by how much
grace (or unmerited love) we receive from God. On Judgment Day, we'll all
be reunited with our bodies. Then we shall be complete. Whatever extra light
we have left will be enhanced because God will love us more, for our
perfection.

In answer to the second part of the question, Solomon said that when our
bodies are united with our souls, the body's organs will become stronger as a
result and lights will never blind our eyes. Solomon's fellow dancers agree
so heartily with this that they nearly trip over their tongues saying "Amen,"
making Dante see how eager they are to have their bodies back.

But look! Dante's eyes shift towards the horizon and he sees the light
growing even brighter there, as if new spirits are approaching. Then,
Beatrice decides that she wants to join in on the light show and, to Dante's
astonishment, she grows even more beautiful and brighter. In fact, she's so
beautiful that Dante cannot describe her in words.
 Venus: The Lovers
Dante tells us that in the time before Christ, people thought the second
planet sent down rays of love on the people. They named her after the
mother of Cupid. Hence, the planet's name became Venus the Roman
goddess of love.

Dante believes he is ascending to Venus. His suspicion is confirmed when he

notices Beatrice growing even more beautiful than she once was. There,
Dante sees a bunch of wheeling lights, dancing so harmoniously together
that he compares them to a spark in a flame, and indeed they are singing
they hymn, "Hosanna."

One soul breaks away from the dance, and approaches Dante. The soul tells
how his fellow souls dance around a celestial prince whom Dante once
invoked in his Convivio, and promises to "bring him joy." So after Dante has
Beatrice's consent, he turns to the light and asks him who he is. This gives
the soul so much delight it grows brighter and says that he had a brief life,
but if he had been able to stay longer, he would've rid the world of much
evil.

He describes the geography of his homeland and we learn that he was once
a king of France. (He is Charles Martel, although he never reveals his name).
He says, his sons would've ruled Sicily if the ruler of that region hadn't been
so bad that the people revolted. Then he predicted about his brother, who's
still alive. If only Robert could see what lies in store for him, he would run
away from Catalonia.

Dante replies that the soul's words have made him happy. But Dante has a
question: how can bad sons come from good fathers? Martel answers that
God acts through providence, which means looking out for the ultimate well-
being of mankind. Providence is a force that keeps the universe from total
chaos. If the universe were chaotic, that would indicate an imperfect Creator.

Now Charles asks Dante if it is a good thing that men are citizens on earth?
Dante says yes. Charles asks if earth could have citizens if people were not
different, with different skills and duties? Dante answers no. So, continues
Charles, the earth needs diversity – lawmakers, warriors, priests, and
inventors. But the stars, although they influence mortals, do not make
people different. So, if it is left up to Nature, sons would always be carbon
copies of their fathers. Because the earth needs diversity, Providence makes
it possible for people to differ.

Charles adds that when a man comes across a task that doesn't come
naturally to him, he doesn't respond well. But if the world paid more
attention to people's natural dispositions – or their true natures – and didn't
force them into jobs they weren't good at, everyone would be more worthy.

Since the world tries to makes natural-born warriors into priests, and
natural-born priests into kings, it often gets it all wrong. Dante invokes
Charles Martel's wife, Clemence, telling her how their bloodline is headed for
bad luck. Dante claims that Charles told him to "be silent" about this; in
other words, Dante has sworn to secrecy, but vaguely tells Clemence that
her family's mistakes will be avenged. Then Charles turns towards the Sun
and Dante praises him for doing so.

Now another soul approaches Dante, growing brighter to show that she
wants to talk to him, and Dante secures Beatrice's permission. She talks
about her birthplace. She comes from the hills of Romano where a "firebrand
descended" and brought a lot of grief to the land. She reveals that this
firebrand is her kin, saying that she and he came from one root. She names
herself as Cunizza and identifies herself as a lover, which is why she's here
on Venus. She isn't bitter about being this low in Heaven because she has
turned her love towards God. She then introduces the shining soul beside her
as a man who is and will remain famous for centuries to come.

But now Cunizza turns away from her shiny friend to convey an ominous
prophecy about the people of March of Treviso whom she calls "rabble" and
the Paduan Guelphs who refused to listen to the crown. She talks about the
murder of despots, and about the ransom of the King's men. She
foreshadows that these people will spill so much blood that it would take a
huge vat to contain all of it.

She justifies her words by invoking the judgment of the Angelic Intelligences
that rule Venus, called the Thrones. She claims that since they shine down
with the judgment of God, it is her right to speak such truths. She joins the
dance of the spirits again while her shiny friend comes towards Dante.
Another soul approaches, he speaks starting with his birthplace. He details
the geography of his home city, Marseilles France. Finally, he identifies
himself as Folco. He was also lover. In his life, he was so "impressed with
Venus rays" that he claimed the title famous lover from Dido, Phyllis or even
Hercules.

But Folco says he's grateful that God put him here. Then, he said that he’s
had enough. He pointed on the soul beside him. Folco names his bright
neighbor as Rahab and says she has the "highest rank" in Venus. Since she
lived before Christ, she went to Hell upon death, but was the first one taken
up to Heaven when Christ harrowed Hell. This was a just act because she
was always sympathetic to Christ.

Then Folco discusses Dante's city, Florence. He claims Florence's founder

was Lucifer himself and the golden lilies, its emblem, turn good priests into
greedy men. Because of that, the Church no longer studies the Gospels but
only its own decrees. But don't worry, Folco says grinning, Florence will soon
be rid of those corrupt priests.

Questions

EASY
CAUSE
1. Our bodies are united with our souls.
2. Providence makes it possible for people to differ.
EFFECT
A. Sons will never have traits equal to their fathers.
B. Our body organs will become stronger and lights can never blind us
anymore.

AVERAGE
1. 2.

ST.
KING
THOMAS
FOLCO RAHAB SOLOMON
AQUINAS

DIFFICULT
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Answers:
EASY
1. B. Our body organs will become stronger and lights can never blind us
anymore.

2. A. Sons will never have traits equal to their fathers.

AVERAGE
1. 2.

ST.
KING
THOMAS
RAHAB SOLOMON
FOLCO AQUINAS
The Wise
Neighbor
MatchlessMen
Lover s Vision
Angelic
Prostitute Doctor

DIFFICULT
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enamel – mel + Cesium –ium = Angelic Intelligences

2. Probe – e + Video – eo + End – d + Cell = Providence