Purgatorio is the geographical antithesis of Inferno. Located in the southern hemisphere, the mountain of purgatory was formed by the land that withdrew in horror at Lucifer’s fall, and is thus juxtaposed to the chasm under Jerusalem. It is guarded by Cato and subdivided into three sections. At the foot of the mountain is the shore of the ante-purgatory, where Dante places the souls of the excommunicated, those who delayed in repenting, those who died a violent death, and negligent princes, each remaining for varying periods of time. The seven terraces of Purgatory proper follow, each being the place of penitence for, in decreasing gravity, the seven cardinal sins. These terraces are divided into three groups, according to Virgil in Purg., XVII, on the basis of perverted love, defective love and excessive love respectively. In the first case love turns to evil towards another, thus becoming pride, envy and wrath. Love that turns weakly to God becomes sloth, and when excessive it becomes a sin of avariciousness, gluttony and lasciviousness. In each terrace the demons of hell are replaced by angels, and in addition to the physical punishments, here too regulated by the law of contrappasso, are meditations on sins punished and the contrary virtues of expiated sins; moreover, the prayers of the living can also speed up the penitent souls’ ascent to paradise. On the summit of the mountain lies the luxuriant forest of the earthly paradise, where two rivers flow: the Lethe, which erases the memory of sin; and the Eunoe, which reactivates the memory of good. On the threshold of the earthly paradise Dante is met by the beautiful Matelda, a personification of human happiness before original sin. This encounter heralds the rather more important meeting with Beatrice, the new guide who takes over from Virgil when Dante’s journey moves on to paradise. The soul of Statius also takes on a special significance in Purgatory, for it is he who accompanies Dante and Virgil through its final terraces.
Purgatorio
