I recently ran through Allen Mandelbaum’s translation of Dante’s epic. I did not need an English translation, because I had already read the work in English several times. However, since the publication included the entire text in Italian, I decided to buy “Paradiso”, the third and last part of Dante’s work.
I embarked on the ambitious project of recording a poem in Italian. So far I have only finished the first canto, so that the following study will concentrate on this canto, in which Dantes begins his ascent to heaven.
The Divine Comedy is based on middle conceptions. Hell is supposed to lie beneath the surface of the earth. Dantes believed in purgatory, and thought the location to be on a mountain here on earth, opposite the city of Jerusalem and surrounded by water on all sides, God dwelt in the eighth heaven from the stars.
It is necessary to say, I do not believe in purgatory, because it is not mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. Further, heaven and hell are not in space and time, but in eternity. Science fiction and even legitimate science talk about dimensions other than length, width and height. Are heaven and hell in one of these other dimensions? I personally don’t think so, since these extra dimensions, if they really exist, lie in the created universe. However, it is clear from this knowledge that it is not inconsistent to believe that heaven and hell exist in regions where the explorer of science cannot find them.
In the first two parts of the “Divine Comedy,” the Latin poet led Dantes through the regions of hell and purgatory. In the highest purgatory, they entered the earthly paradise in which Adam and Eve originally lived. Here Dantes meets Beatrix, a dead girl whom Dantes has wondered about. He treats her as the personification of Christian theology. He was the leader of Dante’s visit to the ten heavens.
In the first canto of the first “Paradiso”, Dantes points out that the attempted description of heaven is the most difficult to write< /a>. In the highest heaven he saw things which he cannot perfectly remember. But he promises to reveal whatever he can store in his heart.
He implores Apollo as he attempts this arduous task. For his works alone in hell and purgatory, the Muses alone gave him all the necessary inspiration; but now he needs Apollo and the Muses for the difficulty he is about to undertake. But if he told Apollo, who is mentioned in the heavenly kingdom, Dantes feels that he deserved the crown of laurel leaves, which Apollo is wont to give to emperors and poets after a notable triumph.
Some Christian critics question the propriety of inserting pagan gods into Christian works. They may be right, but Dantes uses the gods as mere poetic ornaments. In any case, I cannot throw stones myself because I have done similar things in my poetic works. Certainly these features do not prevent us from enjoying Dante’s poetic beauty.
Dantes reached the summit of purgatory at the time of the vernal equinox. The poet points out that on that day the sun rises when the sun occupies the place where the four circles join to form three crosses. Three circles are known to us: the horizon, the equinox of the earth (more precisely, its projection on the celestial sphere known as the celestial equinox), and the ecliptic (the apparent path of the sun through the sky). The angles between these three circles are small. And the fourth circle makes an acute angle with each of the other three, so that this fourth circle makes a cross with each of the other three circles passing through the vernal equinox. This fourth circle is called color. The vernal and autumnal equinoxes are connected with the celestial poles (the projection of the north and south poles of the earth in the celestial sphere).
(I am confused that Dante attributed this time to the sun. Dante’s descent into hell was thought to have begun on Parasceves of the year 300, and he did not come out of hell until Easter Sunday. Matthew’s ascent to Purgatory a few days later. Now Easter regularly occurs after the vernal equinox. How the sun at the equinox could spring be placed a few days after Easter? tag/ver-match”> It is true that the Julian calendar in 1300 did not match the true position of the sun, and the precession of the vernal equinox had been moved from the position of the sky, which it still occupied in astrological terms. This thing however I don’t think problem solving is poetic, just as Shakespeare distorts history with suitable purposes.}
Several hours had passed since the time when the equinoctial sun first shed its propitious rays upon Purgatory. It was now noon. Suddenly Beatrix turned and looked at the sun. Dantes followed his example, and to his surprise he found that he could see into this world, at least for a while. He had acquired this unusual power for himself, because he would stand in the earthly paradise for the originally created man.
Dantes eyes are soon tired, and instead of the sun he decided to look at Beatrice. Suddenly Dante noticed that the skies were much brighter than usual and he heard a strange sound (without the spherical music).
Beatrice could read Dante’s mind, and knew that he wanted to know the cause of these little phenomena. And he shows that he is no longer on earth, but upwards towards heaven. for he was swifter than lightning moving.
Dantes’ curiosity was satisfied when he heard this answer. But he wondered how it could be higher than the light, which he looked around. What these light things are, the text does not teach. According to the note in the book to which I referred above, the light bodies were air and fire, and this is probably to be interpreted correctly. According to the middle thought, a sphere of fire surrounded the earth, and Dantes had to pass through this sphere before reaching the sky of the moon.
The rest of the first canto is taken up in a lengthy speech about why Beatrice can ascend to heaven.
He shows that each created thing has a degree determined by its form. This order or form places some creatures nearer to their source, others more remote. For every creature has an inclination to its place in the order of things, so that they naturally move to the place where they are. Hence the fire moves upwards towards the moon, but the earth remains here where God intended it to be.
These principles apply not only to creatures who lack intelligence, but also to those who are endowed with understanding and love. Providence, which arranged the world in a wonderful way, calms Empyrean with its light. When Dante’s place is close to God, he ascends upward and will eventually reach Empyrean.
For it often happens that creatures do not seek their place. It shines down, even if it rises. And in the same way, someone can deviate from the right course, led by false pleasures.
Beatrice tells Dante that his ascension is no more to be admired than the movement of water down from the top of a mountain. For when Dantes was surrounded by all obstacles, it would be surprising if he remained on earth.
At the end of the speech, Beatrix again raised her eyes to heaven.
The comment is in order that the ascension of Dan would facilitate the removal of obstacles. It is true that the obstacle of sin was removed by Jesus Christ through his death on the cross. By faith in Jesus, our place is with God.
But a note in my book says that the baggage of the Giver was cleansed by his passage through purgatory. Since the theological basis of the “Divine Comedy” is Thomas Aquinas’s “Summa Theologica”, I have a very uncomfortable feeling that the statement in my book accurately reflects Dante’s mind. Indeed, no soul can be cleansed by its own good works or atoning passions. The work of Jesus Christ is the only source of salvation.
Note that many of Dante’s ideas ultimately come from Aristotle, through Thomas Aquinas, of course. For example, form is an important concept in Aristotle’s philosophy. (I do not profess to be an expert on Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, but Aristotle’s works on metaphysics in Spanish translation and also portions of Thomas Aquinas in the original Latin, so that the reader may know that my presentation of the last discourse. in this canto is based on certain knowledge).
Reference
“The Divine Comedy of Dantes Alagherii”; “Paradise”; Translated by Allen Mandelbaum; Anthony Oldcorn et al.
