Dante AlighieriParadisefrom The Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy is an epic poem in three parts, describingthe poet’s imagined journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, andculminating in his vision of God.To this extent, it has much in common with the epicmasterpieces of Homer and Virgil whose roots are in history and myth; but theCommedia is also an allegory, dealing with nothing less than man’s relationshipwith and place within the universe. Dante’s universe was, of course, a medievalone in which the sun and stars revolved around the Earth, and while theCommedia takes account of contemporary science in minute detail, his vision ofthe way in which the regions of the afterworld might be contained within thisframework is brilliant in its originality. Hell (the Inferno) is conceived as a tapering funnel plunging down into the earthbeneath the Northern hemisphere. At its deepest point a passage leads out intothe Southern hemisphere, where Mount Purgatory — its shape mirroring that ofHell — tapers upwards towards Heaven. Paradise itself is conceived as a seriesof ten ‘spheres’ encircling the Earth, with God somewhere beyond the tenth,merely glimpsed by Dante as consciousness ebbs from him.This colossal construction is subdivided to create a zonefor every facet of human nature. In Hell and Purgatory a place is allotted forevery sin and foible, which exists within the world, while in Paradise, thepure and just, the saints and the Holy Trinity are arranged in a stricthierarchy. Dante peoples each region with figures from literature, history andfrom his own contemporary society. This allows him to comment on issues ofmorality not in merely abstract terms, but in relation to actual people andevents, many of them of titillating contemporary relevance. Because of this,many of the names encountered mean nothing to modern readers, and this is oneof the reasons why most editions of Dante incorporate many pages of notes foreach page of text (a practice which began, incidentally, within a few years ofthe poem’s first publication). The main purpose, however, is not to point thefinger or poke fun at friends and enemies (though there is undoubtedly anelement of this, especially in The Inferno), but to examine the reality ofman’s human and spiritual nature in all its various and complex manifestations.Dante calls the three books of The Divine Comedy ‘canzoni’.Each contains 33 chapters or ‘cantos’, except The Inferno, which has anadditional introductory canto — making 100 cantos in all. Each canto containsroughly 150 lines composed according to a strict metrical and rhyme scheme. Thelanguage of the poem is, importantly, not Latin (as was customary for high artin Dante’s day) but the language used by educated people in 14th centuryFlorence. In addition, Dante made liberal use of archaic language and regionaldialects, all of which makes life very difficult for the modern translator. ButDante’s purpose was to make his work readable by the ‘ordinary’ reader — notmerely clerics and academics — for despite its lofty theme and layers ofsymbolism, The Divine Comedy is intended to speak to us directly through thepower of Dante’s imagery and narrative skill.This work has not only endured, but has exerted a powerfulinfluence on Western thought for almost seven centuries, especially perhaps TheInferno, whose characters and images can be found peppered throughoutliterature and art right up to the present day. Tchaikovsky’s Francesca daRimini and Puccini’s Gianni Schicci are borrowed from it. Illustrations forDante editions inspired well-known masterpieces by Botticelli, Blake and Doré,while the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (his first name anobvious choice for a father who was a Dante scholar and reputedly able torecite the entire Commedia from memory) returned time and again to Dante forinspiration, notably in the enigmatic “Beata Beatrix”.Samuel Beckett’s plays and novels are full of allusions toboth The Inferno and Purgatory — shades walking slowly weighed down by leadencloaks (Inferno-Canto XXIII), creatures swimming in mud poking and whistling atone another (Inferno-Canto XXII), and indolent characters with littleinclination to struggle any further (Purgatory-Canto IV). Indeed, the characterBelacqua who Dante encounters here, is the primary source for all those laterBeckett characters that might say: “what’s the good in climbing?”One of the principal characters in The Divine Comedy isBeatrice, whose significance in Dante’s life needs to be understood. Dantefirst met and fell in love with Beatrice Portinari when she was eight and henine years old. He worshipped her from afar until her early death at the age ofTwenty-four. (Dante, in his La Vita Nuova, tells the full story of this strange‘love affair’). Beatrice then came to symbolize for Dante all that is pure andworthy. In the Commedia it is Beatrice who sends the poet Virgil to guide Dantethrough Hell and Purgatory. In Purgatory she herself assumes responsibility forhis journey of discovery, and it is she who later reveals to him the splendorsof Paradise, leading him eventually to “the love that moves the Sun and theother stars.”Though less well known, less quoted and less borrowed fromthan The Inferno and Purgatory, Paradise is quite as extraordinary a vision asthe two preceding books of the trilogy. Few authors have dared to attempt adescription of Heaven — how can one give concrete form to ‘purity’, ‘goodness’,and ‘faith’ etc? These are the problems facing Dante, and repeatedly he admitshis inability to contain his vision with mere words.While in the worlds below he was able to revel in thepainstaking description of strange creatures and fantastic landscapes, inParadise his task is to introduce us to the pure and just, whose abode is clearair adorned only with singing stars and ever more brilliant light. While in theabyss and on the mountain of Purgatory, ascent involved tremendous effort andwas impeded by numerous obstacles, in Paradise, Dante and Beatrice simply rise,ever faster, through space — passing from sphere to sphere, until they reach ‘the Empyrean’. Here, within the vast white Celestial Rose, encircled by ninerings of angels, sit the greatest of all the saints — John, Peter, Francis, andBenedict — along with the ancient fathers of Christianity — Adam and Moses —and the Virgin Mary herself. Incredibly, perhaps, Beatrice accompanies Danteall the way to this final sphere, and even takes her place close to the feet ofEve and the Blessed Virgin.In place of the fantastic images, colorful characterizationand political comment of the earlier works, in Paradise, Dante fills hisnarrative with theological argument and speculation. The souls he encountershere, though they retain a certain degree of venom to direct at the modernguardians of the faith, are most concerned with matters of the spirit.While St. Thomas Aquinas, in Canto XI, relates the life andachievements of St. Francis and decries the deterioration of the order inrecent times, St. Benedict himself addresses Dante in Canto XXII with similarcomplaints about the Benedictines. St. Peter, St. James and St. John examineDante quite closely (in Cantos XXIV-XXVI) on his own understanding of ‘faith’,‘hope’ and ‘love’; before he is permitted to rise to the final heavenly sphere.Constantly reassured by Beatrice, whose beauty increases with every Canto,Dante appears to pass every test. Unable, however, to find the words todescribe for us the intensity of the Divine Light, he claims to be at a loss toconvey his final vision, although — not surprisingly, perhaps — the final Cantorises, in that failure, to some of the most inspired poetry of the entiretrilogy: “Like the geometer who tries so hardto square the circle, but is unable,think as he may, to find the principle, -so did I strive to understand this newmystery; how could the image merge withthe circle, how could it fit and conform?But my own wings could not take me so high.Then a great flash of understanding struck,cleaving my mind with the truth I desired.In that instant power failed my fantasy,but, as a wheel in perfect balance spins,I could feel desire and will revolve with theLove that moves the sun and the other stars.” Notes by Roger Marsh CANTO IDante, purified, rises with Beatrice from the EarthlyParadise into the Sphere of Fire. He hears the music of the spheres. Beatriceexpounds the principle of order governing the universe. Apollo: the sun god, father of the Muses. One of MountParnassus twin peaks (Cyrrha) was sacred to him, and one to the Muses (Nisa).Marsyas: a satyr, defeated by Apollo in a singing contestpunished by being flayed alive.Peneian branches: laurel or bay, named for Daphne daughterof Peneus, the river god.No eagle: according to medieval belief eagles could stareunblinded at the sun.Glaucus: a fisherman who, seeing his catch revive whenplaced on a certain herb on the bank, ate some himself and was transformed intoa sea-god. CANTO IIDante and Beatrice rise to the Sphere of the Moon. Beatriceexplains theworkings of the heavenly bodies, and the reason for themoon’s markings. Minerva: goddess of wisdom, with Apollo, god of poetry andthe Muses, all act as Dante’s guides.The Bears: the constellations, Ursa Minor and Major.Men of glory: the Argonauts, who journeyed to Colchis toobtain the Golden Fleece from King Ætis. He demanded Jason plough a field withtwo fire-breathing oxen and sow it with dragon’s teeth, from which armed mengrew.Cain: was banished to the moon for the murder of Abel inmedieval Italianfable. The bundle of thorns he carries is furtherpunishment.Shared one virtue: varying degrees of brilliance are notjust from relativeintensity, they derive from differences in heavenly bodies’ virtueor specific nature. Since the universe displays the influence of the heavenlybodies in the various species and abilities of living forms, there cannot bejust one virtue.Formal principle: scholastic teaching distinguishes betweenthe materialprinciple i.e., first matter, which is the same in all; andthe formal (constitutive) principle that determines species and potential. CANTO IIIThe First Sphere; the Moon. Dante sees the pale faces of thelowest class ofthe blessed; the Inconstant, who failed to fulfill theirholy vows. He converses with Piccarda Donati who recounts her story and that ofthe Empress Constance. Love the pool: Narcissus fell in love with his ownreflection thinking itreal. Dante mistakes what is real for reflection.The slowest sphere: The moon, innermost of the nineconcentric spheres,furthest from the Empyrean is the slowest sphere. Speed likebrilliance isproportional to proximity to God. Waxing and waning makesthe moon a symbol of inconstancy.Desire a higher station: the blessed appear to Dante in thesphere that best reflects their earthly tendencies, but have a proper place inthe Empyrean where they experience as much bliss as they are capable of withoutwishing for more.Piccarda Donati: cousin of Dante’s wife Gemma, sister ofCorso Donati, his political enemy. Corso forced Piccarda to leave her conventand marryRossellino della Tossa of Florence in a political alliance.Higher in heaven: Saint Clare of Assisi, founder of theorder Poor Clares,disciple of St. Francis.This other radiance: Empress Constance d. 1198 heiress tothe crowns ofSicily and Naples and mother of Frederick II. Legendsuggests she was forced to leave her convent to marry Henry VI, son of EmperorFrederick Barbarossa.Blasts of Swabia: the three princes mentioned above. CANTO IVPiccarda’s story prompts two equally strong doubts in Dante— about freewill, and why Divine Justice lessened the merit of the soulsin this sphere.He wonders if it is possible to make recompense for BrokenVows. Nebuchadnezzar: ordered his sages executed for failing tointerpret a dream. Daniel appeased his wrath by explaining the dream.Plato: taught in the Timaeus that souls come pre-formed fromtheir various stars and return to them at the body’s death, a doctrine thatdenies freewill, and the possibility of souls returning to the Creator.Dante assumesthat Piccarda and the Inconstant have been assigned to themoon eternally,hence his confusion.Tobit: a blind man cured by Raphael, the third archangel.Lawrence: deacon of the early Roman church, grilled to deathin 258 AD.Reported as saying to his torturer “Thou hast roasted theone side, tyrant,now turn the other and eat.”Mucius: Mucius Scaevola, having failed in his attempt tokill Lars Porsenaduring the latter’s siege of ancient Rome, placed his righthand in the firekindled to execute him and held it there without flinching.Mucius courageearned Rome and himself a reprieve.Alcmaeon: murdered his mother at the instigation of his father. CANTO VBeatrice explains the nature of vows, and touches on freewill. They rise tothe Sphere of Mercury. Creatures created intelligent: angels and mankind.Evil greed: of certain religious orders offeringdispensations for money.The Jew: whose law on sacrifice remains uncorrupted.Veiled from mortals: Mercury is usually obscured by the sun,and seldomvisible from earth. CANTO VIIn the Sphere of Mercury, Justin Ian describes the spread ofRome’s eaglestandard through the ancient world and into medieval times. Constantine: moved the eagle (the seat of Roman authority)east toConstantinople in 324 AD, counter to the course of the sun,and reversingthe journey from Troy made by Rome’s founder Aeneas (who wedLavinia).Justinian: 6th century Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire,renowned for his codification of Roman law — his ‘high task’.Agapetus: pope from 535-536. Legend (erroneously) suggestshe convertedJustinian from heresy.Belisarius: a general under Justinian, to whom was entrustedthe re-conquest of Italy from the Goth.Pallas: son of Evander, king of Latium, killed in battlehelping Aeneas tovictory. When Aeneas married Lavinia, Pallas’ sister, heacquired rights tothe kingdom of Latium, present site of Rome.Three contended with three: the Horatii, three Romanchampions, fought the Curiatii, three champions of Alba Longa.Sabine’s rape: a local raid carried out by Romulus toacquire wives.Lucretia’s grief: Sextus son of the seventh king of Rome,TarquiniusSuperbus, violated Lucretia daughter of a patrician family,who killedherself. The resulting scandal led to the foundation of theRepublic.Arab pride: reference to the Carthaginians.Those hills: above Florence where Catiline, the conspirator,took refuge and was defeated.Rubicon: Caesar crossed the river Rubicon in default oforders from theSenate and started the Civil Wars.Its next chief: Augustus; Caesar’s nephew and successor, 44BC defeated two of his assassins Brutus and Cassius at Philippi, Marc Antony atModena, 43 BC and Marc Antony’s brother at Perugia.Janus: god of beginnings, porter of heaven. The temple doorswere onlyclosed in peacetime.The third Caesar: Tiberius, in whose reign Christ wascrucified 34 AD, bywhich event Adam’s sin was expiated.Titus: Emperor from AD 79-81, destroyer of Jerusalem, andthus avenger of the death of Christ.Lombard: Germanic invaders of Italy defeated by Charlemagne774 AD. CANTO VIIIn the Sphere of Mercury, Beatrice answers Dante’s unspokenquestion arising from Justinian’s discourse, further questions aboutredemption, and thedifference between primary and secondary creation. Man not born of woman: AdamJust vengeance… avenged: the crucifixion was justretribution for original sin, but the sinlessness of the person who sufferedmade it unjust. Titusexacted retribution in the destruction of Jerusalem.Fire, water, air, and earth: the four elements of matter ofwhich allsubstances are composed. Beatrice distinguishes betweenthem, the fruits ofsecondary creation, and the angels and the spheres, fruitsof direct creation. CANTO VIIIDante has been ascending to the planet Venus withoutrealizing. He meets the Amorous who gave way to immoderate passion in earthlylives, but did not turn from God.Dido: conceived a fatal passion for Aeneas, inspireddeceitfully by Cupiddisguised as Ascanius, Aeneas’ son.My life among men: the speaker is Charles Martel, d. 1295,son of Charles II of Anjou and a friend of Dante.Xerxes…Solon…Melchizedek: archetypes of war leader, lawgiverand spiritual leader respectively.lost his own son: Daedalus, father of Icarus CANTO IXStill in the Sphere of Venus, Cunizza da Romano and Folco ofMarseilles talk to Dante. Cunizza da Romano: (d. 1279) had four husbands and twolovers during her life. She lived to the great age of 80, and was well known inFlorence for her acts of compassion.Fire brand: Cunizza was the sister of the tyrant Azzolino daRomano placed by Dante in Circle VII of Inferno, the river of boiling blood.Bright and precious jewel: refers to Folco (Folquet) ofMarseilles, atroubadour poet who became bishop of Marseilles 1205-1231. Aleader of the harsh crusade against the Albigensian heretics.Belus’ daughter: Dido, whose passion for Aeneas led her tobetray her vow of constancy to Sicheus her dead husband, and to wrong Creusa,Aeneas’ wife, who had perished in the fall of Troy.The girl of Rhodopè: Phyllis daughter of the King of Thrace,believingPrince Demophöon abandoned her, hanged herself.Hercules: fell into a mad passion for Iole, and afterkilling her father,Eutryus, King of Oechalia, abducted her.Accursed flower of gold: Florentine currency had a lilystamped on one side.Decretals: texts of canon law CANTO XThey enter the fourth Sphere, of the Sun. St. Thomas Aquinasidentifies thegarland of twelve souls of philosophers and theologians whohave guided the church. Because the ray of grace: Thomas Aquinas d. 1274, ‘theAngelic Doctor’ most famous for the Summa Theologica, an exposition of churchteachings.Albert of Cologne: d. 1280 Dominican and teacher of Aquinas.Known as the Universal Doctor because of his vast learning especially onAristotle.Gratian: 12th century Benedictine monk, originator of thescience of canon law.Peter: Lombard, d.1160, known as the Master of theSentences, through his collection of the sayings of the church fathers.The fifth: King Solomon, the fairest light, who asked Godfor anunderstanding heart and was given unique wisdom.That candle: Dionysius the Areopagite, an Athenian convertedby St. Paulcredited with having written The Celestial Hierarchy, atreatise explainingthe angelic orders.Litle light: probably Orosius, a 5th century Spanish priestwhose SevenBooks of History against the Pagans was intended to show theworld had not deteriorated since Christianity, contrary to pagan belief.The eighth: Boethius (St. Severinus) author of theConsolation ofPhilosophy, died 524. Isidore, Bede and Richard: St. Isidore of Seville, d.636,and influentialwriter of the Middle Ages. The Venerable Bede d.735, anEnglish monk, known as the father of history, author of the EcclesiasticalHistory of theEnglish Nation. Richard of St. Victor, d.1173, known as thegreatContemplator, a mystic and scholastic philosopher.Siger: of Brabant d.1284, a distinguished Averroistphilosopher (after theMuslim thinker Averrhoes) who taught at the University ofParis, in the Ruede Fouarre. (‘Straw Street’ - now called Rue Dante). CANTO XIWithin the Sphere of the Sun, Aquinas resumes his discourse,relates thestory of Francis of Assisi and bewails the degeneration ofthe Dominican order. Aphorisms: a medical textbook attributed to Hippocrates.Seraphic in his love: the Seraphim are the highest order ofangels, symbolic of the greatest love for God, Francis is characterized by hisseraphic love. In his wisdom, Dominic’s learning and doctrinal clarityassociates him with the Cherubim, the second order of angels, acknowledged asthe wisest.Assisi: or Ascesi in Dante’s time, also means ‘I haverisen.’ Francis is described here as a sun, and Orient is a more appropriatename for a rising sun.Amyclas: a fisherman so poor he had nothing to fear from anyman, so lay at his ease on a bed of seaweed before Caesar himself.Bernard di Quintavalle: Francis’ first disciple. Egidius andSylvester wereother disciples.The damage to the plant: the erosion of the order. CANTO XIIIn the Sphere of the Sun a second circle of souls formsaround the first.St. Bonaventure tells the story of St. Dominic and commentson the decadence of the Franciscans, his own order.Her handmaid: Iris, goddess of the rainbow and Juno’smessenger. Twinrainbows occurred when Juno called Iris to her.Wandering nymph: Echo who wasted away to a voice for love ofNarcissus.One of those new splendors: St. Bonaventure, a scholar saintand theologian, given the title Doctor Seraphicus. As a child he wasmiraculously healed by St. Francis, hence his name buona ventura — goodfortune. Died 1274, canonized 1482 by Sixtus IV.His mother: dreamt that she gave birth to a black and whitedog. The LatinDomini canes; translates as the ‘hounds of the Lord’; blackand white arethe orders colors.Dominicus: the possessive form of Domine (the Lord). Dominicwas an austere man with an undeviating faith in pure doctrine. He took part intheAlbigensian crusade, preaching (and bearing arms) againstthe heretics, who denied the resurrection. Founded his order in 1215, d.1221,and canonized 1234.Illuminato and Augustine: early followers of St. Francis.Hugh of St. Victor: 12th century mystic.Peter of Spain: author of summary of logical principles,later John XXI;d.1277 when a ceiling collapsed on him in the papal palace.Peter Mangiadore: author of a famous work of Bible history,d.1164.Nathan: Hebrew prophet who rebuked King David for his sins.Anselm: 11th century Archbishop of Canterbury.Chyrysostom: ‘golden mouth’ in Greek, 4th century Patriachof Constantinople noted for his preaching.Donatus: 4th century Roman rhetorician.Rabanus: d 856, scholar, poet, Archbishop of Mainz.Joachim: of Fiore, d 1202, preacher and eschatologicalmystic. CANTO XIIISt. Thomas Aquinas explains the nature of perfect creationin Adam andChrist, and Solomon’s gift of Wisdom. He warns againstmaking hasty judgments. Minos’ daughter: Ariadne, whose wedding wreath at her deathwas turned into the constellation Corona Borealis.That great soul: Solomon.No mortal soul rose to be his equal: though Adam andChrist-as-man were wiser than Solomon, they were direct creations of God, apartfrom mortal creation; Solomon was a secondary creation arising from Nature. CANTO XIVIn the Sphere of the Sun Solomon expounds the doctrine ofthe resurrectedbody. Dante gradually becomes aware of a third circle ofsouls, Warriors forGod, then realizes he and Beatrice have ascended to theFifth Sphere, of Mars. One and Two and Three: the Trinity CANTO XVIn the Sphere of Mars the soul of Cacciaguida, Dante’sancestor, tells hisstory and extols the virtues of ancient Florence. Anchises: Aeneas’ father, who greeted him with great joy.Five and six from one: all numbers derive from one, as allknowledge derives from the Primal Thought.Sardanapalus: the last Assyrian king, a byword forwantonness and debauchery.Bellincone Berti…dei Nerli del Vacchio: ancient honorableFlorentinefamilies. CANTO XVICacciaguida speaks of his family’s history, contrastingearly Florence withDante’s corrupt city. St. John: Florence’s patron saint.This fire: Mars; the lion’s paw; Leo. By this calculation,Cacciaguida wasborn around 1090. Mars and the Baptist; the statue of Marson the PonteVecchio and the Baptistry of St. John marked the limits ofCacciaguida’sFlorence.Campi, Certaldo, and Figghine: small towns near Florencewhose inhabitants polluted pure Florentine blood.The lily: the white lily was the ancient standard ofFlorence. The Guelphsmade it bloody/red. Flying a captured standard upside downmocked thevanquished.CANTO XVIICacciaguida prophesies Dante’s banishment from Florence andentrusts himwith writing the Comedy. Clymene: mother of Phaëton. Hearing that Apollo was not hisfather, as hehad believed, Clymene urged her son to ask Apollo himself.To reassure him, Apollo let Phaëton drive his sun chariot, with fatalconsequences.Contingency…necessity: divine foreknowledge of contingentthings does not imply necessity because man has free will.Hippolytus: rejected the advances of his stepmother Phaedrawho then accused him of wanting what she had been denied. Theseus, Hippolytus’father, banished his innocent son.Great Lombard: Bartolemmeo della Scala of Verona. An eagleperched on a golden ladder formed part of the family arms.The seal of this star: Mars. Thus Can Grande della Scala towhom thisrefers, would achieve great things in the martial arts.Gascon: Clement V invited Emperor Henry VII to Rome, butlater threatened to excommunicate him. CANTO XVIIICacciaguida identifies the warrior saints in the cross oflight. Beatrice and Dante rise to the sixth sphere, the Sphere of Jupiter,where the souls of just monarchs and governors spell out messages, anddelineate the profile of an eagle.Joshua: led the Israelites into the Promised land.Maccabeus: Judas Maccabeus died freeing Israel from Syriantyranny.Charlemagne and Roland: Charlemagne, d.814, king of theFranks, Holy Roman Emperor. With Roland his nephew and greatest warrior, he defendedChristendom against the Saracens.William and Renouard: William, Count of Orange d.812, whosebattles against the Saracens in Southern France are retold in Old French epics.Renouard, a giant of Saracen birth, converted and served with William.Duke Godfroy: Duc de Bouillon leader of the First Crusade.Robert Guiscard: d. 1085, (the Weasel), took Apulia andCalabria from the Saracens.Martyrdom by a dance: John the Baptist. Dante refers tothose set on the image of the patron saint of Florence, stamped on the florin.In otherwords, the Papacy cares only for money.The Fisherman: St. Peter. CANTO XIXIn the Sphere of Jupiter, souls of the just and temperaterulers forming thesymbolic eagle discourse on divine justice, and itsinscrutability, and thefate of the good heathen. They denounce Christendom’spresent rulers. Another Kingdom: the angelic order of Thrones, which guidesthe Sphere of Saturn.First proud being: Lucifer the fallen angelAlbert: of Austria, laid waste to Bohemia in 1314.Seine: the grief inflicted on France by Philip the Fair whenhe debased thecurrency to pay for his Flanders campaigns. He was killed bya fall from hishorse hunting wild boar.Cripple of Jerusalem: Charles II, ‘the Lame’ of Naples,titular King of Jerusalem.M: The Roman symbol for 1000. CANTO XXThe souls of the imperial eagle identify those that make upits eye, twoJews, two pagans and two Christians, champions of justice onearth. Singer of the Holy Spirit: King David, the psalmist.He who consoled the widow: the Emperor Trajan. A legendexisted that Pope Gregory so prayed for Trajan, a pagan when he died, that hewas brought from Limbo back to life, and baptized by Gregory to salvation.Delayed his death: Hezekiah, King of Judah, informed of hisimpending death, prayed God to remember his service and was granted anotherfifteen years.Went to Greece: Constantine ceded the Western Empire to theChurch (the Shepherd) and moved the seat of Empire and its laws to Byzantium.William: King of Naples and Sicily d.1189, a just ruler.Naples passed toCharles the Lame and Sicily to Frederick II, see above.Ripheus: the one just man among the Trojans, and proof ofhow inscrutable is Divine Justice.Quiddity: the ‘thingness’ of something — its essence. CANTO XXIIn the Sphere of Saturn, the seventh Heaven, a golden ladderappears, onwhich the souls of the contemplatives gather. St. PeterDamian speaks to Dante. Semele: was reduced to ashes when Juno, jealous of her lovefor Jupiter,persuaded the girl to beg Jupiter to show her his fullsplendor.That dear leader: Saturn, father of Jupiter, ruled as Kingof Crete in theGolden Age, before malice.Peter Damian: d.1072, rose from humble beginnings to beCardinal-bishop of Ostia, and was a zealous reformer of Church discipline. Hesigned some of his later work Peter the Sinner. The hat: his cardinal’s hat.Cephas: rock in Hebrew, i.e., St. Peter. CANTO XXIIDante is addressed by St. Benedict on his order’s decline,then ascends theladder to the Eighth Heaven, the Sphere of Fixed Stars. Largest and most luminous: St. Benedict, d. 543, founder ofthe monastery of Monte Cassino on the site of an active pagan sanctuary. Hedrew up the general rule of worship, labor, and service, which have sinceregulated western monasticism.Impious cult: of ApolloMaccarius: the Younger, d. 404. St. Benedict’s counterpart,founder ofEastern monasticism.Romoaldus: d. 1027, founded the Order of Camaldoli, reformedBenedictines, who emphasized contemplation.Latona’s daughter: Diana, the Moon.Your son, Hyperion: Hyperion was father of Helios, the Sun.Diöne and Maia: Diöne was the mother of Venus. Maia,Mercury’s mother, was one of the seven Pleiade sisters.Tempering Jupiter: between Mars his hot son, and Saturn hiscold father. CANTO XXIIIThe Eighth Heaven of the Fixed Stars. Dante witnesses thespectacle of theChurch Triumphant; Christ and the Virgin, with the souls ofthe redeemed. Trivia: another name for Diana; the moon.Substance Radiant: the figure of Christ.Polyhymnia: the Muse of sacred songs.The Rose: the Virgin Mary.The lilies: souls that share in Triumph.I am angelic love: Gabriel, speaking on behalf of allangels. CANTO XXIVThe Eighth Heaven of the Fixed Stars, St. Peter examinesDante on Faith. CANTO XXVStill in the Eighth Heaven, St. James examines Dante onHope. Another radiance: St. James, brother of St. John, killed byorder of HerodAgrippa. At death, his body was mysteriously transported toGalicia, Spain, where he once preached, to become the center of pilgrimage,Santiago de Compostela.The breast of the Pelican: At the last supper, John Christ’sfavorite disciple reclined on his breast. In medieval legend, the pelicansuccored its young with blood pecked from its breast.By looking is blinded: Dante is trying to resolve themedieval puzzle ofwhether St. John had been translated to heaven in body andsoul at his death. CANTO XXVISt. John examines Dante on love. Adam answers Dante’squestions on his life in Eden and after.Ananias: cured St. Paul’s blindness on the Damascus road.A fourth light: Adam.Nimrod’s people: built the Tower of Babel.Hell’s agonies: According to Dante (following Eusebius),Adam was created in 5198 BC, died aged 930, and was released from Hell byChrist in 34 AD.YAH: from the initial letter of Jehovah.El: from Elohim the other Hebrew name for God.On that peak: Adam spent only half a day in Eden. CANTO XXVIISt. Peter denounces papal corruption. Dante and Beatriceascend to the ninth and highest of the material heavens, the Primum Mobile. Four torches: Peter, James, John, and Adam. Peter glows red.The man who now usurps my throne: Boniface VIII, thereigning pope in 1300.Linus and Cletus: Peter’s two martyred successors.Sixtus, Pius, Calixtus and Urban: Bishops of Rome who diedfor their faith.Europa: was carried from Phoenicia by Jupiter.Nest of Leda: the constellation of Gemini, named for Leda’stwin sons,Castor and Pollux, born from eggs sired by Jupiter in theform of a swan. CANTO XXVIIIIn the Primum Mobile, Dante has a vision of God as a pointof light ringedby Nine glowing spheres — the angel hierarchy which Beatriceexplains. A point: the point of light is God, representing the centerof all Heaven.Boreas: the North wind, blowing from his left cheek,produces northeastwinds, storms and cloudy skies. His gentler right cheek,produces ilmaestrale the cloud clearing northwesterly. Blowing straightproduces anorth wind of bitter winter cold.Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones: the angelic orders are groupedinto three sets of trinities, and these comprise the first. Seraphim aredistinguished by fervor of love, while cherubim excel in knowledge. Thrones areGod’s aspect as Supreme Justice.Aries: rises with the night in autumn and with the sun inspring.Dominions, Virtues, Powers: the second Trinity. God’smajesty is manifested through Dominions. Virtues work miracles on earthand are bestowers of grace and valor. Powers work towards keeping order and preside over demons.Principalities, Archangels, Angels: Principalities areprotectors of religion and watch over leaders of people. Archangels and angelsare the lowest in the hierarchy and make propitious to God for the sins of theignorant and the righteous. CANTO XXIXBeatrice discusses the creation of angels and the fall ofLucifer, condemning foolish teachings and preaching on the subject. Latona’s children: Apollo and Diana.Eternal love: God’s motive for all creation was that thingscreated mightparticipate in his goodness.A party of angels fell: Lucifer and the rebellious angels.The bird that nests: in medieval superstition the deviloften took the shape of a rook crow or woodpecker. CANTO XXXDante and Beatrice ascend to the Empyrean, the highestsphere and the abode of God. Dante describes it as a rose. Handmaid of the sun: Aurora, the dawn.Noble Henry: Henry VII of Luxembourg Emperor of the HolyRoman Empire, through whom Dante hoped Italy would be cured of its troubles andChristendom returned to order.Who travels on Henry’s path: Clement V, pope 1305-14, atfirst supported Henry, then changed sides to support the Frenchmonarch Philip IV. Dante predicts his death and his fate among the simoniacpopes — Alagni, Boniface VIII — inInferno. CANTO XXXIDante sees the angelic host and the elect in the Empyrean.Beatrice takesher place, leaving Dante in the care of St. Bernard ofClairvaux. Dantelooks upon the Virgin. Her faithful Bernard: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, d 1153. Themost famous Abbott of the Benedictine Order. His writings are characterized byan ardent devotion to the Virgin Mary.Oriflamme: the standard supposedly given to the kings ofFrance by the angel Gabriel, a flame on a golden background. CANTO XXXIISt. Bernard identifies the elect born before and afterChrist, seated in the Rose shaped court of the Empyrean. The presence ofunbaptized children is explained. Mary: mother of God, sits in the top most tier of the roseEve, mother ofman directly below and Rachel, symbolizing the ContemplativeLife below her. On her right, Beatrice, who lights the intellect to truth.Sarah, Rebecca and Judith: Sarah, Abraham’s wife, mother ofIsaac. Rebecca, wife of Isaac, bore Esau and Jacob. Judith, a biblical heroinemurdered Holofernes, an Assyrian general, while he slept, saving the Jews.Great grandmother: Ruth.That singer: David, whose sin was sending Uriah to die inbattle so he might marry Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba.Great John: the Baptist.Childlike treble voices: the lower half of the rose,contains the souls ofthose who died before they grew to reason and faith, and wonsalvationthrough the prayers of others.Two roots: Adam, father of mankind, St. Peter, father of thechurch.The great leader: Moses to the left of Adam.