Voyage into Dante‘s ‘Purgatorio’

The true measure of a man lies in his ability to cope with failure. Defeat presents us only two alternatives: despair or hope. Dante Alighieri chose the latter.

Author of the Divine Comedy, Dante was an Italian statesman during the Middle Ages. He served as ambassador, councilor and magistrate; but internecine politics saw him exiled. This embittering experience set his mind to a daunting mission: to understand the problem of evil and to solve it. This drive incited him to write the Divine Comedy, which is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. Of the three, I liked the Purgatorio best, as much for its literary appeal as for the noble intention that spurred its creation.

At first, I had difficulty appreciating the Purgatorio, written as it was as a narrative poem. Poetry seldom holds my interest; I find it difficult to understand. Yet, after mustering enough resolve to continue reading, I discovered its unique beauty. Dante adeptly combined philosophy, science, religion and art to create a very important story: the story of the human soul’s journey. To one who is willing to listen, the book contains many a lesson. It also discusses social ills – and possible solutions as well – that plague our world. It was written for the unquiet heart of a Christian, who lives in this world and yet knows that his true goal lies beyond. Life is a journey of the mind to God. The true Christian does not wait for death to begin his ascent to heaven; he begins this journey even in his present life. Indeed, I see myself as but one of the many souls who must undertake that arduous journey. In presenting man’s other-worldly goal, Dante never intended to devalue the present life, for it is in the present that we must act to prove our love and faith.

Dante, accompanied by Virgil, emerges from the pit of hell and ascends to the Mountain of Purgatory, "where the human spirit is purged and becomes worthy of rising to heaven." The mountain is divided into two parts: Ante-purgatory and Purgatory. Purgatory is further divided into seven cornices, one for each of the deadly sins: pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony and lust. The seven capital sins are punished in different ways. Seven P’s are engraved on Dante’s forehead to be erased after passing through each cornice. Dante and Virgil climb the mountain with Dante sharing in the purgatorial process himself. The poets meet a panoply of colorful characters. Conversations with the souls who are being cleansed form the greater part of the narrative. At the summit, he reaches the Earthly Paradise, which Adam and Eve lost because of their sin. Virgil pronounces Dante possessing inner justice and vanishes, leaving Dante with Beatrice. Beatrice accompanies Dante to the heavenly spheres.

The story may seem too medieval for the modern mind, yet it contains valuable lessons worth learning. The book didn’t present me with novel ideas; it only stirred my memory to teachings I had already mastered in childhood. It reminded me of the difference between good and evil, of my need for God’s grace, of the life beyond the here and now, and of the transcendent meaning in my life. Simple lessons, yes, but sometimes I tend to forget them in the face of harsh realities.

Nothing is confusing to the mind of a child. He has a clear-cut picture of good and evil. This clear image slowly fades with the wear of time, and when we reach adulthood, sometimes, all we see are gray areas that can be expediently twisted to our advantage. Purgatorio reminded me of my Christian heritage. More than that, it reminded me that I have a soul.

The poet’s ascent through Purgatory is emblematic of the soul’s journey to self-actualization. Just as the seven P’s were erased from Dante’s forehead after passing through each ledge, so too are the dross in our characters erased after surmounting difficulties and trials. The book prompts us to face sufferings courageously; they are the fires that will cleanse our souls. Experiences are but opportunities to help us see the God in ourselves.

This brings to mind my bitter experiences of sadness and failure. It was during those times of dejection that I clung to God even more. I often use the rope to symbolize my relationship with God. Sufferings cut this relationship rope, and when God steps in to remedy the situation, he ties the severed ends together making it shorter. The more the suffering, the shorter the distance between the two ends get; thus suffering helps us become closer to God.

Dante’s choice of the seven deadly sins as the unifying structure of the Purgatorio is a good one. The seven deadly sins may no longer seem as deadly to us as they were to the Medieval man, who viewed every sin as a gate to hell, yet they are no less real for seeming so. I think that the seven deadly sins are the archetypes of human weaknesses. They are the roots of evil. Corruption in the government can be traced to the deadly sin of avarice; sexual scandals in the Church, to lust; crab mentality, to envy. We must guard ourselves from these sins. I share Dante’s view that the infliction of wrong on one’s neighbor is really the pursuit of what appears to the distorted vision as a good.

For example, a thief could justify his action as an attempt to support his family. This becomes a question of perception. It is here that faith comes in. I believe that man must not only rely on his cognitive faculties, but also on his faith. Dante depicted this need for divine grace in Canto I of the Divine Comedy. It is from a sort of overdependence on secular wisdom that Dante is rescued by Virgil from the dark wood of error, surrounded as he was by three fearful beasts. Faith in God brings us the proper perspective. Aristotle, the eminent Greek philosopher, described God as the Unmoved Mover. Only in our attachment to Him, Who is eternally constant, can we objectively perceive the essence of morality.

The system of rewards and punishments in the afterlife as described by Dante may not appeal to the contemporary mind. Still, I see it as a manifestation of the justice and mercy of God. Justice is always dispensed with mercy, for justice without mercy is an antithesis to the ultimate self-sacrifice of Christ. One of the most beautiful insights imparted to me by the book is the view that humans are vulnerable to failings, but it is possible to overcome them with divine help. I do not intend to play down the importance of independence, I only assert that independence be based on a truthful assessment of human nature. We are not infallible. We make mistakes, but God could help us overcome them. The seven capital sins are the archetypes of human weaknesses. Just as Dante conquered them, so too can we.

Dante ended Purgatorio with his readiness to ascend the stars. I like the ending because it shows us that we can only begin to tap our true potentials after we have been reconciled with ourselves – with our strengths, and more importantly, with our weaknesses.