PURGATORIO

JOSEPH GAMALIEL R. JADIE

DENISE VIKTORIA T. VALENCIA
X - WISDOM
 PURGATORIO
• Purgatorio ("Purgatory" in English) is the second section
of the Divine Comedy, which is an epic poem written by
the great Italian poet, Dante. It follows after Inferno and
tells the story of his climb up Mount Purgatory,
accompanied by another Italian poet by the name of
Virgil, who serves as his guide. The climb is supposed to
teach him lessons about Christian life and God's love
and purify him of his sins before continuing on his
journey to God.
PURGATORIO
• Allegorically, the Purgatorio
represents the penitent
Christian life.

• Purgatory in the poem is

depicted as a mountain in the
Southern Hemisphere,
consisting of a bottom section
(Ante-Purgatory), seven levels of
suffering and spiritual growth
(associated with the seven
deadly sins), and finally the
Earthly Paradise at the top.
PURGATORIO

• The poem outlines a 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.
 ANTE-
PURGATORY
ANTE-PURGATORY

SHORE OF THE ISLAND (CANTOS I – II)

• At
At the
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shores of Purgatory,
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as approach
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the mountainof
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the approach has been
the much debated). The
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Purgatorio demonstrates the medieval knowledge of a spherical
Purgatorio demonstrates
Earth,[5][6] with Dante referencingthethemedieval knowledge
different stars of a
visible in the
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the altered referencing
position of the sun,the different
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the Earth.
position of the sun, and the various timezones of the
Earth.
ANTE-PURGATORY

SHORE OF THE ISLAND (CANTOS I – II)

• The poets begin to climb in the early hours of morning.

On the lower slopes (designated as "Ante-Purgatory" by
commentators), Dante and Virgil encounter two main
categories of souls whose penitent Christian life was
delayed or deficient: the excommunicate and the late
repentant.
 THE
EXCOMMUNICATE
 THE EXCOMMUNICATE
• The excomunicates are detained at the base of the cliff for
a period thirty times as long as their period of contumacy.
The excommunicate include Manfred of Sicily. Manfred
explains that prayer from those currently alive and in the
grace of God may reduce the amount of time a soul spends
in purgatory. The meeting with Manfred is over by about 9
AM (Canto III).
 THE
LATE REPENTANT
 THE LATE REPENTANT
• Includes:
(1) those too lazy or too preoccupied to repent (the Indolent),
(2) those who repented at the last minute without formally receiving
last rites, as a result of violent deaths, and
(3) the Negligent Rulers. These souls will be admitted to Purgatory
thanks to their genuine repentance, but must wait outside for an
amount of time equal to their lives on earth.

• Belacqua, Pia de' Tolomei of Siena, Sordello,

 THE LATE REPENTANT
• RULE OF MOUNTAIN - after sunset souls are incapable of climbing
any further
• Dante and his companions stop for the night in the beautiful Valley
of the Princes where they meet the negligent rulers (Cantos VII and
VIII)
• Rudolph, Ottokar, Philip the Bold, and Henry III
 THE LATE REPENTANT
• That following evening, Dante falls asleep and wakes up at the gates of
Purgatory Proper, after having a dream that an eagle carried him during
the night.
• The gate has three steps:
• polished white (purity),
• black (the colour of mourning),
• and red (the blood of Christ & the restoration of true life)
• The gate of Purgatory, Peter's Gate, is guarded by an angel who uses the
point of his sword to draw the letter "P" (peccatum) seven times on
Dante's forehead, bidding him "take heed that thou wash / These
wounds, when thou shalt be within.”
• The angel uses two keys, silver (remorse) and gold (reconciliation) to open
the gate – both are necessary for redemption and salvation.
SEVEN TERRACES
 7 TERRACES
• After passing through the gate of Purgatory proper, Virgil
guides the pilgrim Dante through the mountain's seven
terraces. These correspond to the seven deadly sins or
"seven roots of sinfulness": Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth,
Avarice (and Prodigality), Gluttony, and Lust
• Each terrace purges a particular sin in an appropriate
manner
 THE
PROUD
TERRACE 1: THE PROUD (PRIDE)
• This terrace that the poets enter first is full of those that were
prideful during their earthly lives.
• The walls of the terrace have sculptures with examples of
humility, which is the opposite of pride.
• The prayer for this terrace is an expanded version of the Lord's
Prayer.
• The prideful never get a chance to see these sculptures, since
their backs are arched due to the huge weights they must carry
using their backs as their sins get purged.
• Omberto Aldobrandeschi, Oderisi of Gubbio, Provenzano Salvani
TERRACE 1: THE PROUD (PRIDE)
• Dante bends over to converse with the souls and learns lessons
from them.
• After his conversations with the proud, Dante notes further
sculptures on the pavement below, this time illustrating pride
itself. The sculptures show Satan (Lucifer), the building of the
Tower of Babel, King Saul, Niobe, Arachne, King Rehoboam, and
others.
• When Dante reaches the exit of the terrace, an angel removes
the first “P” from his forehead, and the poets move on to the
2nd terrace.
 THE
ENVIOUS
TERRACE 2: THE ENVIOUS (ENVY)
• This terrace is filled with the souls of envious penitents. Their earthly
lives were spent desiring what made other people happy to the point
they would even harm them in order to deprive them of this. Soon as
they enter the terrace, they hear voices that speak examples of
generosity, which is the opposite of envy, and later on, they also
hear the voices speak examples of envy.
• Guido del Duca, Aglauros, Cain
• The penitents wear grey cloaks and cannot see where they are going
because their eyes have been closed and sewn with iron wire. As
they leave the terrace, the second “P” is removed.
 THE
WRATHFUL
TERRACE 3: THE WRATHFUL (WRATH)
• Next, the poets enter the third terrace, which is filled with souls of
wrathful penitents.
• Dante begins to have visions of gentleness, which is an example of the
opposite virtue of wrath.
• The souls of the wrathful walk around in acrid smoke.
• The souls in this part of the poem do not shout out any examples, but
Dante does have a conversation with Marco Lombardo about free will.
• Dante also sees visions with examples of wrath, such as Procne, Haman
and Lavinia.
• When they meet an angel, another “P” is removed and Dante and Virgil
exit the terrace.
• The prayer for this terrace is the Agnus Dei
 THE
SLOTHFUL
TERRACE 4: THE SLOTHFUL (SLOTH)
• On the fourth terrace we find souls whose sin was that of
deficient love – that is, sloth or acedia. Since they had failed in
life to act in pursuit of love, here they are engaged in ceaseless
activity. The examples of sloth and of zeal, its opposite virtue,
are called out by these souls as they run around the terrace.
• A scene from the life of the Virgin outlined in this terrace is the
Visitation, with Mary going "in haste" to visit her cousin
Elizabeth.
• Since the formerly slothful are now too busy to converse at
length, this section of the poem is a short one.
TERRACE 4: THE SLOTHFUL

• Dante's second night's sleep occurs while the poets are on this
terrace, and Dante dreams shortly before Tuesday's dawn of a
Siren, symbol of disordered or excessive love represented by
greed, gluttony and lust. The dream ends in the light of the sun,
and the two poets climb toward the fifth terrace
 THE
AVARICIOUS
TERRACE 5: THE AVARICIOUS (AVARICE)
• Dante and Vergil enter the terrace of the Avaricious and Prodigal.
Their punishment is to lie on the floor, face down, with their hands
and feet bound together. The souls are being punished and
purged for desiring material goods with extravagance, greed, or
ambition.
• Their prayer is Adhaesit pavimento anima mea, taken from Psalm
119:25 ("My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me
according to thy word")
TERRACE 5: THE AVARICIOUS (AVARICE)
• As the poets travel through the terrace, it is shaken by a
mysterious tremor, but Dante does not ask Virgil about it, even
though he is curious. They run into the Roman, Statius, and he
explains the mysterious tremor to Dante: it happens when a soul
is ready to move on from purgatory, and he, Statius, was the soul
that caused the tremor. He joins them on their journey. It also
turns out that Statius is an admirer of Virgil’s work. The next
angel they run into removes the fifth “P” from Dante’s forehead.
 THE
GLUTTONOUS
TERRACE 6: THE GLUTTONOUS (GLUTTONY)
• The next terrace contains the souls of the gluttonous, and the poets
witness their painful punishment: they experience excruciating hunger
and thirst while there are plenty of trees with fruit around them. The
souls experience this because they can never reach the trees. The
voices in the trees give examples of temperance, which is the opposite
of gluttony. Dante runs into his friend Forese Donati and his
predecessor Bonagiunta Orbicciani (who turns out to be poetic and has
nothing but kind words for one of Dante’s poems, “La Vita Nuova”).
• The prayer for this terrace is Labia mea Domine (Psalm 51:15: "O Lord,
open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise"
• As the three poets exit the sixth terrace, an Angel removes the sixth
“P”.
 THE
LUSTFUL
TERRACE 7: THE LUSTFUL (LUST)
• In the terrace of the lustful, the penitent souls must run through a
great wall of flames. As they run through it, they call out examples
of chastity, which is the opposite of lust. Everyone must run through
the wall before they leave, including Dante. Dante is hesitant
because he is afraid. Virgil tells him that Beatrice, the love of his
life, is waiting for him in the Earthly Paradise. This is enough to
convince Dante, who goes through the flames. They all fall asleep
shortly after that and in the morning, they all proceed to the Earthly
Paradise and the final “P” on Dante’s forehead is removed.
 THE
EARTHLY
PARADISE
THE EARTHLY PARADISE
• At the summit of Mount Purgatory is the Earthly Paradise or Garden of Eden.
Allegorically, it represents the state of innocence that existed before Adam
and Eve fell from grace – the state which Dante's journey up Mount Purgatory
has been recapturing.
• Here Dante meets Matilda
• Matilda clearly prepares Dante for his meeting with Beatrice, the woman to
whom (historically) Dante dedicated his previous poetry, the woman at whose
request (in the story) Virgil was commissioned to bring Dante on his journey,
and the woman who (allegorically) symbolizes the path to God (Canto XXVIII).
THE EARTHLY PARADISE
• With Matilda, Dante witnesses a procession which forms an allegory within the
allegory, somewhat like Shakespeare's play within a play. It has a very different
style from the Purgatorio as a whole, having the form of a masque, where the
characters are walking symbols rather than real people. The procession consists
of (Canto XXIX):
• "Twenty-four elders“ representing the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, as classified
by Jerome
• "Four animals" with "six wings as plumage“ a traditional representation of
the four Evangelists
• "A chariot triumphal on two wheels," bearing Beatrice, which is drawn by…
• A griffin, representing the conjoined divinity and humanity of Christ
THE EARTHLY PARADISE
• "Three circling women" coloured red, green, and white, representing the
three theological virtues: Love, Hope, and Faith, respectively
• "Four other women“ dressed in purple, representing the four cardinal
virtues: Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude
• "Two elders, different in their dress," representing the Acts of the
Apostles and the Pauline epistles
• "Four of humble aspect," representing the general epistles
• "When all the rest had passed, a lone old man," representing the Book of
Revelation
THE EARTHLY PARADISE
• The appearance of Beatrice, and a dramatic reconciliation scene between
Beatrice and Dante, in which she rebukes his sin (Cantos XXX and XXXI), help
cover the disappearance of Virgil, who, as a symbol of non-Christian
philosophy and humanities, can help him no further in his approach to God
• Dante then passes through the River Lethe, which erases the memory of past
sin (Canto XXXI), and sees an allegory of Biblical and Church history. This
allegory includes a denunciation of the corrupt papacy of the time: a harlot
(the papacy) is dragged away with the chariot (the Church) by a giant (the
French monarchy, which under King Philip IV engineered the move of the
Papal Seat to Avignon in 1309 (Canto XXXII)
THE EARTHLY PARADISE
• It is noon as the events observed in the Earthly Paradise come to a close.
Finally, Dante drinks from the River Eunoë, which restores good memories,
and prepares him for his ascent to Heaven (described in the Paradiso, the
final cantica). As with the other two parts of the Divine Comedy, the
Purgatorio ends on the word "stars" (Canto XXXIII)

"From that most holy wave I now returned to Beatrice; remade, as new
trees are renewed when they bring forth new boughs, I was pure and prepared
to climb unto the stars."