SYMBOLISM OF 
 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
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SYMBOLISM OF 
 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 BY 
 
 JEFFERSON B. FLETCHER 
 
 Professor of Comparative Literature 
 
 Columbia University- 
 Published by Columbia University 
 in Commemoration of the Six Hundredth 
 Anniversary of Dante's Death 
 
 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 1921 
 
 dll rights reserved 
 
Copyright, 1921 
 . . BX COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 Printed *f rem type. Published November, 1921 
 
CONTENTS ^^ /A y 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Ariadne's Crown 1 
 
 The "Three Blessed Ladies" of the Divine 
 Comedy 114 
 
 The Comedy of Dante 210 
 
 «) 1) ♦ i • 1 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 This scholarly and significant study of 
 the symbolism of Dante's Divine Comedy 
 is appropriately published at a time when 
 the whole world is celebrating the greatness 
 of the poet as it marks the 6ooth anniversary 
 of his death. Of the millions of human voices 
 a few score are heard for a generation, per- 
 haps as many as a dozen for a century, and 
 but very, very few for all time. To strike 
 the chord of human insight and human 
 feeling that will vibrate unceasingly while 
 time flies is a mark of genius so rare that 
 it is the highest form of human achievement. 
 The poet of mankind must speak a particular 
 language, but he may speak it in a way that 
 will confound the Tower qf^BabeJ and make 
 the whole world understand. This has been 
 done by Homer in Greek, by Dante in Italian, 
 by Shakespeare in English, and by Goethe 
 in German. Each of the four was in and for 
 his time not only poet but philosopher; 
 and it is the philosophy which has made the 
 poetry live and which has given it a universal 
 appeal. 
 
viii INTRODUCTION 
 
 Of all the forces which make for the soli- 
 darity and common interest of mankind, that 
 set in motion by these four poets is the most 
 powerful, the most constant, and the most 
 long-continuing. They have taught men of 
 different lands, of conflicting creeds, and of 
 varying tongues, to think and to feel in 
 common about the noblest experiences and 
 the loftiest aspirations of life. They are both 
 the prophets, the heralds, and the makers 
 of a world's progress, seemingly so slow and 
 so painful, toward those higher things which 
 are, for human thinking, the aim and the 
 purpose of all creation. 
 
 Nicholas Murray Butler 
 
 November i, 1921 
 
SYMBOLISM OF THE 
 DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 ARIADNE'S CROWN 
 
 As has often been remarked, each canticle 
 of the Divine Comedy ends with the word 
 "stelle" or stars. Usually, these "stars" have 
 been understood to be emblems of hope. 
 This symbolism holds, but only as one item 
 in a rich and complex system. Taken in the 
 larger sense, as including the planets, the 
 stars are the instruments by which the angels, 
 God's agents, inform and govern all earthly 
 things, physical and spiritual. It is a natural 
 metaphor, therefore, to ascribe to the stars 
 themselves, proportionably, the divine powers 
 that act through them; and, further, by 
 second intention, to describe as stars all 
 human powers of analogous function. This is 
 the central metaphor of the whole poem, and 
 indeed of Christian theology itself, so far as 
 that clothed its abstract ideas in sensuous 
 
2 SYMBOLISM. OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 imagery. And- this theology did habitually ; 
 since, as Beatrice told Dante, 
 
 "Cosi parlar conviensi al vostro ingegno, 
 Pero che solo da sensato apprende 
 Cio che fa poscia d'intelletto degno." l 
 
 If the use of sensuous symbols was thus 
 primarily to bring the supersensible home 
 to creatures of sense, yet in the handling of 
 subtle and ingenious metaphysicians and 
 mystics it too often ceased to be illustrative 
 and simplifying, and became — in almost a 
 mathematical sense — an intricate and esoteric 
 symbolic logic. There were, moreover, two 
 contributory reasons for this esoterism in 
 theological writing. One was the belief that 
 God revealed himself not only under the 
 letter of Scripture, but also under the visible 
 forms of nature, — that in fine "the heavens 
 declare the glory of God, and the firmament 
 sheweth his handiwork," actually as a picture- 
 language, or system of hieroglyphs, intelli- 
 gible to specially illumined eyes. And the 
 second reason followed from this last notion. 
 Since God, the great Teacher, hides his 
 deeper meaning from all but a few chosen 
 ones, so should these thus taken, as it were, 
 
 1 Par. iv, 41-42. 
 
ariadne's crown 
 
 into his confidence, keep jealous guard over 
 his secret, communicating it only under seal 
 to others like themselves ordained and 
 initiate. So the justifying purpose of symbolic 
 writing was deliberately inverted : from being 
 a method of bringing abstruse ideas to the 
 comprehension of simple minds it became 
 virtually a cipher decodable only by those 
 holding the key. At most, outsiders, the laity, 
 might be given such general and practical 
 direction as might serve for their immediate 
 need. There were plenty of scriptural texts to 
 warrant this exclusiveness. Thus St. Bona- 
 venture quotes Matthew vii, 6: "Give not 
 that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast 
 ye your pearls before swine." 2 St. Thomas 
 emphasizes St. Paul's text: "Non plus sapere 
 qiiam oportet sapere." 3 And St. Thomas sums 
 up the whole esoteric argument in his 
 explanation of Christ's parabolic teaching: 
 "Christ spoke certain things in secret to the 
 crowds, by employing parables in teaching 
 them spiritual mysteries which they were 
 either unable or unworthy to grasp : and yet 
 
 2 Illuminationes ecclesiae, i, prin°. 
 
 3 In Rom. xii, 3. Dante substantially translates it in 
 the "Non domandar piu che utile ti sia" of Vita Nuova 
 xii, 40-41. 
 
4 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 it was better for them to be instructed in the 
 knowledge of spiritual things, albeit hidden 
 under the garb of parables, than to be de- 
 prived of it altogether. Nevertheless our 
 Lord expounded the open and unveiled truth 
 of these parables to His disciples, so that they 
 might hand it down to others worthy of it." 4 
 Dante accepted this doctrine, which also for 
 him was accentuated by the literary esoterism 
 of such poetic models as his favorite Arnaut 
 Daniel. Indeed, he is almost supercilious in 
 his recommendation to the intellectually 
 "ungentle" reader of his symbolic canzone: 
 
 "Ponete mente almen com' io son bella." 5 
 
 And with like haughtiness he advises all 
 small craft to put back to shore from the 
 deep waters of his Paradise, lest they lose 
 their bearings. 6 Dante has not left his course 
 uncharted, but the right reading of his log 
 demands, among other things, a more inti- 
 mate familiarity with what I may call the 
 theological "shop-talk" of the thirteenth 
 century than it is easy at this date to acquire. 
 
 4 S. T. Ill, xlii, 3 — transl. Domin. Fathers, London, 
 1914. 
 
 5 Conv. II, Canz. 1, 61. 
 
 6 Par. ii, 1-6. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 5 
 
 For instance, the schoolmen would appear to 
 have indexed, as it were, intellectual leaders, 
 contemporary and earlier, by special "virtues" 
 — in Walter Pater's sense of that word. It 
 is a habit, more or less critical, of all times. 
 Petronius illustrates it when he tagged the 
 poets, — "Homerus testis et lyrici, romanusque 
 Vergilius et Horati curio sa felicitas." 7 So 
 Thomas Lodge, when he indexed "Lilly, the 
 famous for facility in discourse : Spencer, best 
 read in ancient Poetry : Daniel, choise in word, 
 and inuention: Draiton, diligent and formal: 
 Th. Nash, true English Aretine," etc. 8 In 
 recent times, Arnold and Pater have made 
 the formulation of such special "virtues" 
 of authors the principal business of literary 
 criticism. Once authoritatively so indexed, 
 any author is likely to become popularly 
 fixed in that particular frame. It is what, to 
 the general mind, he "stands for." Others 
 besides Horace have exhibited a "curious 
 felicity" in style ; still "curiosa felicitas" as a 
 critical tag means Horace, and vice versa. 
 Ask almost any fairly educated middle-aged 
 person today what Wordsworth "stands for," 
 and he will probably reply, — "the healing- 
 
 7 Sat. 1 1 8. 
 
 8 Wits Miserie, p. 57. 
 
6 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 power of Nature." Mention the phrase, and 
 he will at once name Wordsworth. The poet's 
 "virtue" has become his identification-card. 
 Now the medieval intellectual, drilled his 
 life long in the categories and schematisms of 
 scholastic logic, was even more addicted to 
 such short-hand formulas and classificatory 
 tags. 9 To him would have been apparent, I 
 think, the identifying clue to the various sym- 
 bolic arrangements which Dante makes of the 
 doctors and saints listed in his heaven of 
 the Sun. What for the present writer at 
 least, is frankly but laborious inference or 
 more or less plausible guess, would have been 
 for him immediate and certain recognition. 
 Dante and his theologically trained reader — 
 remember he warned off all others from the 
 Paradise — spoke the same language. And so 
 would be accounted for his manner of intro- 
 ducing his various personages. Some he cites 
 merely by name. These are presented mani- 
 festly on the ground of their currently 
 accepted "virtues." To the names of others he 
 adds a few words or lines of characterization. 
 These pithy, and for us sometimes enigmatic, 
 descriptions are not, like Tennyson's in his 
 
 9 Cf. the striking example from St. Bona venture, below 
 p. 30. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 7 
 
 Dream of Fair Women, merely for dramatic 
 or picturesque effect. On the contrary, they 
 are rigorously didactic. By them Dante 
 selects from current appreciations — or, it 
 may be, originates — an appreciation of his 
 character's virtue special to Dante's present 
 use of him. It is the method of the Comedy 
 throughout. Thus the name of Bonaventure 
 might by itself suggest some special virtue of 
 eloquence or doctrine. I do not know. But 
 Dante wishes us to see in him the ideal 
 ecclesiastic who rightly "set aside the lefthand 
 care" of things temporal, who renounced as 
 cardinal what the pope and the Church as a 
 whole should renounce. That renouncement 
 is, in Dante's message, his virtue, what he 
 "stands for" in heaven. St. Anselm, on the 
 other hand, is merely named. In his case, 
 Dante would appeal to the current apprecia- 
 tion, which hailed Anselm as the subtle 
 reasoner of the Cur Deus Homo, — an apprecia- 
 tion which, I believe, still holds. 
 
 Fortunately, indeed, we are not dependent 
 solely upon such positive knowledge of fact. 
 Behind Dante's symbols and lists of person- 
 ages is a philosophical system. That is, of 
 course, what he means by calling his poem a 
 multiple allegory. So if we know his philo- 
 
8 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 sophical system, we can reasonably expect to 
 set the representatives of its categories where 
 in accordance with generally accepted or 
 specially declared appreciation they fit. To 
 do this is at once the purpose and the method 
 of the following enquiry. 
 
 The present writer, then, expects to have 
 many of his particular conclusions traversed. 
 He is well aware of the tenuousness of some 
 of his chains of evidence, and of the doubtful- 
 ness of his choices of particular symbolic 
 interpretations. The chief trouble, however, 
 lies not in the lack of evidence and authority 
 for such interpretations, but in the bewilder- 
 ing variety of interpretations authorized by 
 Dante's theological masters. The writer 
 feels confident, therefore, that Dante intended 
 such things as are contained in this essay, 
 and that to seek them out is necessary if we 
 wish to understand his great poem in its full 
 range. Let others, if they so will, be content 
 to consider merely how beautiful it is, — 
 though even so they will miss much of its 
 deeper beauty. 
 
 The particular symbol presently discussed, 
 — the "sign in the heavens" of Ariadne's 
 Crown, — proves to be no mere incidental 
 metaphorical image, but one central to the 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 9 
 
 whole imagery, and therefore to the whole 
 conception, of the Comedy. This is natural; 
 since that abstract conception is clothed and 
 conveyed most deeply in symbolic imagery, 
 and that imagery is based, as already said, 
 upon the assumed equivalence of God, primal 
 giver of the two life-controlling factors of 
 intellect and will perfected in wisdom and 
 love, with the Sun, which centrally radiates 
 light andUeat lessen t ial factors of physical 
 life and growth. This analogy appears 
 everywhere. The Bible becomes the Sun, 
 whose light-ray bred Dominic and his dis- 
 ciples, w r hose heat-ray Francis and his. The 
 "three blessed ladies," — Mary, Lucia, Bea- 
 trice, — who conspire to save Dante repeat 
 the same triad. From Mary's divinity as 
 "Sun," comes the light-ray of spiritual insight, 
 which is St. Lucia, and the heat-ray of love, 
 which is Beatrice. And the focussing of these 
 two upon one soul produces that intelletto 
 d'amore which is the perfection of human 
 nature and the faculty in common of angels 
 and the blest. Again, on the highest plane, the 
 same relationship is repeated for the Trinity. 
 As Lucia proceeds from Mary, carrying her 
 light, and Beatrice proceeds from them both, 
 carrying her heat of love, so the Son, the Lo- 
 
10 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 gos, proceeds from the Father as the "Light of 
 the world," and the Holy Spirit from them 
 both as the principle of burning love. 10 
 Dante's own salvation is explained by St. 
 Thomas in terms of this metaphor: 
 
 "Lo raggio della grazia, onde s'accende 
 Verace amore, e che poi cresce amando 
 Multiplicato, in te tanto risplende 
 Che ti conduce su per quella scala 
 U'senza risalir nessun discende." u 
 
 At first mediately through the "three blessed 
 ladies" and their various agents and instru- 
 ments, at last Dante's sight is strengthened to 
 receive the direct ray of the divine Sun itself. 12 
 In this "fulgore" not only is Dante illumined 
 
 10 Cf. Albert. Mag., De. Laud. b. Mar. Virg. XII, v, i, 2: 
 "Per solem saepius interpretatur Pater, per radium velsplen- 
 doremsolis Filius qui est splendor gloriae etfigura Patris,per 
 calorem Spiritus sanctus . . . Spiritus enim sanctus est 
 amor Patris et Filii. Sicut autem radius vel splendor solis, 
 ex quo sol fuit, processit a sole et procedit semperque 
 procedet : sic Filius aeternaliter procedit a Patre. Et sicut 
 calor aeternaliter procedit tarn a sole quam a radio: sic 
 Spiritus sanctus ab utroque, id est Filio et Patre . . . 
 Aliter: In sole quia circuit mundi machinam, signatur 
 Patris potentia: in splendore qui totum illuminat, Filii 
 sapientia: in fervore qui totum calefacit, Spiritus sancti 
 benevolentia." 
 
 11 Par. x, 83-87. Cf. Purg. xv, 64-73; Par. v, 7-9; xxi, 
 83-87. 
 
 12 Par. xxxiii, 140-141. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN II 
 
 as to God's essence, so achieving in the in- 
 stant of rapture that perfect understanding of 
 the mystery of the Trinity which is the eter- 
 nal reward of the doctors of his heaven of the 
 Sun, but also receives the chrism of apostle- 
 ship by which, like his model the Apostle 
 Paul, he will himself pass on the light to 
 others. There will be fulfilled the promise 
 symbolized in the "apostolic light" of St. 
 Peter thrice encircling him, 13 as this symbol 
 is in effect a variant of the threefold crowning 
 by the spirits of the Sun. For St. Peter indi- 
 vidually, as these spirits collectively, repre- 
 sents the teaching and authority of the 
 Church. 
 
 So Dante himself becomes a "sun" to light 
 the minds and kindle the hearts of his fellow- 
 men, or — to pass to the equivalent biblical 
 image — a "chosen vessel" u filled with wis- 
 dom, "bread of angels," a pot of manna of 
 true faith deposited in the ark of the cove- 
 nant embodied in the Church. 
 
 Thus the symbolic implications and ana- 
 logues of the radiant Sun extend themselves 
 into all parts and personages of the poem. 
 The maze of their intricate correspondences 
 
 13 Par. xxiv, 151-154. 
 
 14 Cf. Inf. ii, 28; Par. i, 14. 
 
12 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 has hardly been explored, yet by exploring it 
 we can, I think, attain to the very center of 
 Dante's meaning and also by the way chart 
 accurately the bearings of particular mean- 
 ings hitherto obscure. A good instance in 
 point is the perplexing glorification of the 
 heretic Sigier of Brabant. 15 Indeed, the diffi- 
 culty of such investigation is to avoid being 
 drawn on into a commentary on the whole 
 poem when the investigator would fain con- 
 centrate on a particular part of it. Corre- 
 spondence calls to correspondence. Any path 
 entered upon opens into innumerable others, 
 and each of these into as many more. 
 
 THE TRIPLE CROWN 
 
 The two poles of the Christian heaven are 
 the vision of God and the provision of God. 
 The terms are manifestly ambiguous. They 
 may mean, on the one hand, God's vision of, 
 and provision for, man; and, on the other 
 hand, man's vision of, and provision towards, 
 God. God's vision and provision — or provi- 
 dence^ — are both immediate and eternal. The 
 execution of his plan, however, is temporal, is 
 indeed the course of the world in time. 16 
 
 15 See below, pp. 48 et seq. 
 
 16 St. Thomas, Summa Theol. I, xxii, 1. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 1 3 
 
 Man's vision of God may be either imme- 
 diate and eternal, or mediate and temporal. 
 Immediate and eternal vision of God is for 
 man the reward of salvation in the future life, 
 when his soul shall have been separated from 
 the earthly body, but — after the Judgment- 
 Day — reclothed with the heavenly and glori- 
 fied body. In that beatific vision, he shall, in 
 St. Paul's phrase, see God "face to face," 17 
 or, in theological phrase, know God in his 
 essence. The intellectual vision is the essen- 
 tial reward. Effect of it upon man's will, in 
 the disposition of perfect charity, perfect 
 love of God, is the accidental reward. 18 
 The doubly perfect conjunction of the soul 
 with God in intellect and will is called the 
 golden crown {corona aurea) — or simply aurea 
 — of the blest, and signifies participation in 
 God's "royal power" and "a certain perfection 
 by reason of its circular form." Also, certain 
 chosen ones shall receive for especially meri- 
 torious works a second crown, the aureole. 19 
 And the aureole is due above all to virgins, 
 victorious over the flesh, martyrs, victorious 
 over the world, doctors, who by preaching the 
 
 17 1 Cor. xiii, 12. 
 
 18 Cf. Par. xxxiii, 142-145. 
 
 19 St. Thomas, IV Sent, xlix, 5, 1, c. 
 
14 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 faith are victorious over the devil. 20 All three 
 are teachers, — by example if not by precept. 
 
 The two crowns, aurea and aureole, really 
 but express the spiritual joy of the blest, 21 
 "yet by a certain redundance they shine also 
 in the body." And this refulgence of the 
 resurrected body may be conceived as a dis- 
 tinct aureole. 22 Until the Judgment-Day 
 however, this aureole of the glorified body 
 must remain for the blest the one unfulfilled 
 desire. 23 
 
 In Dante's heaven of the Sun, the twenty- 
 four blessed spirits form of themselves two 
 crowns, 24 signifying the aurea and aureole 
 already theirs. But presently, as if in confir- 
 mation of the assurance by one of them, Solo- 
 mon, that their "desire of their bodies dead" 
 shall be fulfilled, a third crown forms "out- 
 
 20 lb. xlix, 5, 3, sol. 3, i m . All in Dante's heaven of the 
 Sun are declared "victorious" — Par. x, 64. 
 
 21 St. Thomas, 5. T. Ill, xcvi, 2, c: "... aurea con- 
 sistit in gaudio, quod habetur de Deo; aureola vero in 
 gaudio, quod habetur de operum perfectione." 
 
 22 St. Thomas, IV Sent, xlix, 5, 1, c: ". . . sicut supra 
 beatitudinem animae gloria corporis adjungitur, unde et 
 ipsa gloria corporis interdum aureola nominatur." 
 
 23 St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, lxvii, 4, 3 m . Cf. Par. xxv, 
 91-96. 
 
 24 Par. xii, 1 et seq. 
 
ariadne's crown 15 
 
 side" the other two, but equal in radiance. 25 
 It is fitly "outside" 26 the other two, for they 
 signify the joy in the soul, whereas it signifies 
 the glory of the new body that reclothes the 
 soul. The spirits cannot themselves form it, 
 for they do not yet possess it. It is formed by 
 "new subsistences," who are also called "the 
 veritable sparkling of the Holy Spirit." 27 
 These subsistences must be angels. Them 
 only the divine light irradiates without 
 mediation, so making them its direct {recta), 
 or "veritable sparkling." 28 They are the 
 messengers of the Holy Spirit; and their 
 business it will be on the Judgment-Day 
 miraculously to collect from the grave dust 
 for the remaking of the bodies of the blest. 29 
 Moreover their own reward of joy will be 
 increased by such benefit to men. 30 And 
 
 25 Par. xiv, 67: "di chiarezza pari." Cf. St. Thomas, 
 5. T. Ill (Suppl.), xcvi, 1, c. 
 
 26 "Di fuor"— Par. xiv, 75. 
 
 27 lb. 73-78. 
 
 28 Cf. Conv. Ill, xiv, 35-37. 
 
 29 St. Thomas, IV, Sent, xliii, 1, 2, sol. 3: ". . . in 
 omnibus quae corporaliter a Deo fiunt, utitur Deus minis- 
 terio Angelorum. In resurrectione autem est aliquid 
 ad transmutationem corporum pertinens, scilicet collectio 
 cinerum, et eorum praeparatio ad reparationem humani 
 corporis; unde quantum ad hoc in resurrectione utetur 
 Deus ministerio Angelorum." 
 
 30 lb. xii, 2, 1,2, c. 
 
1 6 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Dante also himself makes a more subtle 
 association. As "angelic love" in Gabriel 31 
 announced the incarnation of Christ in the 
 corruptible body, efficient cause of salvation, 
 so now the third crown of angels announces 
 symbolically the reincarnation of man in the 
 incorruptible body, final causes — or ultimate 
 reward — of salvation; and to point this 
 implied association Dante is at pains to note 
 likeness between the "modest voice" of Solo- 
 mon promising the new incarnation of the 
 blessed spirits, and the voice of "the angel to 
 Mary." 32 
 
 THE HEAVEN OF PRUDENCE 
 
 To merit reward of salvation man must 
 make provision towards it, that is, towards 
 union with God. But to make provision, he 
 must have provision — that is, prevision or 
 foreknowledge — of God; since he cannot 
 make provision towards an end unless he 
 knows what that end is. In the beginning 
 man had adequate foreknowledge of God. 
 Indeed, Adam in the state of innocence had 
 more intimate knowledge of God than any 
 later man on earth. 33 But by the blinding of 
 
 31 Par. xxiii, 103. 
 
 32 Par. xiv, 34-36. 
 
 33 St. Thomas, S. T. I, xciv, 1. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 1 7 
 
 original sin he and his descendants lost sight 
 of God, and by natural reason could not again 
 find him out. So Virgil to Dante: 
 
 "Matto e chi spera che nostra ragione 
 Possa trascorrer la infinita via 
 Che tiene una sostanza in tre persone. 
 
 State contenti, umana gente, al quia; 
 Che se potuto aveste veder tutto, 
 Mestier non era partorir Maria." 34 
 
 By the "parturition of Mary," God revealed 
 himself again to man. The Word that was 
 with God, and was God, was spoken through 
 Christ. Faith in Christ is grace to foreknow 
 God. And foreknowledge of his perfection 
 induces the love of him which is charity. 
 Love is the desire to be united with the object 
 loved, and since faith gives assurance of the 
 possibility of union with God, there springs 
 from faith and charity, hope. 35 
 
 God's self-revelation in the Incarnation is 
 the supreme executive act in time of divine 
 Providence. By it saving grace, forfeited by 
 Adam's lapse, was regiven to man. From it 
 flowed the three theological virtues — faith, 
 hope, and charity, — which move directly to 
 
 34 Purg. iii, 34-39- 
 
 35 Cf. Purg. xxix, 127-128. St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, 
 xvii, 7-8. 
 
1 8 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 the end of salvation, or union with God. By 
 these theological virtues the moral virtues, 
 reducible to four cardinal — prudence, forti- 
 tude, justice, temperance, — are directed to 
 that end. Of these cardinal virtues, prudence 
 is directive in respect to the things which 
 make towards that end (ea quae sunt ad 
 finem). 36 In other words, prudence, derived 
 in name from providence, 37 determines the 
 ways and means by which man's plan of living 
 is conformed to the plan of Providence. And 
 as thus illumining the way of right living, of 
 rectitude, prudence fitly is associated with 
 the Sun, 
 
 "pianeta 
 Che mena dritto altrui per ogni calle" 38 
 
 to the Mount of Rectitude, il dilettoso 
 tnonte. 39 Like the Sun, prudence is "padre 
 d'ogni mortal vita" 40 and — significantly in 
 connection with the constellation of the 
 Carro, or Wain, presently to be discussed — 
 "il carro delta luce" 41 Again, the truly pru- 
 
 36 St. Thomas, 5. T. II— II, xlvii, 6. 
 
 37 lb. xlix, 6, i m . 
 
 38 Inf. i, 17-19. 
 
 39 lb. 77. 
 
 40 Par. xxii, 16. 
 
 41 Purg. iv, 59. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 1 9 
 
 dent man is God's most perfect instrument in 
 the temporal execution of his divine plan, 
 since the prudent man has most perfect pro- 
 vision of ways and means towards the ap- 
 pointed end. 42 Proportionally, therefore, in 
 function the prudent man is most like God. 
 And as God is the "Sun of the angels," 43 
 so the prudent man may be regarded as the 
 Sun of men. Again, as the Sun is 
 
 "Lo ministro maggior della natura 
 
 Che del valor del ciel il mondo imprenta, 
 E col suo lume il tempo ne misura," u 
 
 so the greatest minister of human nature is the 
 prudent man who imprints upon the world the 
 worth of heaven, and with his light measures 
 for men the proper disposition of their time. 45 
 As in a mirror the prudent man reflects God. 46 
 
 42 St. Thomas, 5. T. II— II, clxxxviii, 7, i m : ". . . in- 
 strumentum non propter se quaeritur, sed propter finem, 
 non tanto aliquid fit melius, quanto magis est instrumen- 
 tum, sed quanto est magis fini proportionatum." 
 
 43 Par. x, 53. 
 
 44 Par. x, 27 -29. 
 
 45 This function is implied in the image of the clock- wheel 
 (orologio) of Par. x, 139-148. See below, p. 69. 
 
 46 St. Thomas, 5. T. II— II, clxxiii, 1, c: ". . . illus- 
 tratio mentis propheticae potest dici speculum aeternitatis, 
 quasi repraesentans Dei praescientiam, qui in sua aeterni- 
 tate omnia praesentia liter videt." 
 
20 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Fittingly, therefore, those in the heaven of 
 Prudence are called "suns." 47 
 
 Dante is justified, then, in associating the 
 virtue of prudence with the heaven of the 
 Sun. Prudence determines man's way; char- 
 ity moves him on the way; grace makes his 
 going in the way at all possible. So the fac- 
 tors of salvation are reducible to these three, 
 — divine grace, charity, and prudence. 48 
 
 Prudence looks not directly to the end, but 
 to the things which make towards the end. So 
 it moves to the end mediately and indi- 
 rectly. Its line of approach is not rectilinear 
 (motus rectus), but oblique (motus obliquus) 
 or spiral. In this, again, prudence has analogy 
 with the Sun, the beneficent influence of 
 which depends, as Dante explains by way of 
 introduction to the heaven of Prudence, 49 on 
 
 47 Par. x, 76. 
 
 48 Cf. St. Thomas, De veritale, XXVII, v, 5 m : ". . . 
 prudentia dicitur forma omnium virtutum moralium. 
 Actus autem virtutis sic constitutus in medio, est quasi 
 materialis respectu ordinis in finem ultimum, qui quidem 
 ordo apponitur actui virtutis ex imperio caritatis; et sic 
 caritas dicitur esse forma omnium aliarum virtutum. 
 Ulterius vero efficaciam merendi adhibet gratia; nullus 
 enim operum nostrorum valor reputatur dignus aeternae 
 gloriae, nisi praesupposita acceptatione divina; et sic 
 gratia dicitur esse forma et caritatis et aliarum virtutum." 
 
 49 Par. x, 13-24, 27-33. 
 
ariadne's crown 21 
 
 the obliqueness of the ecliptic, in which the 
 Sun's actual path describes a spiral. Dante's 
 own ascent to the Empyrean so describes a 
 long spiral from the point of his entering 
 Hell. 50 And in the heaven of the Sun itself 
 he points the analogy. The Sun was ascend- 
 ing in its spirals, he says, — "Ed io era con 
 lui." 51 There are indeed moments when 
 Dante's spiral course changes to vertically 
 rectilinear, or to circular in the same plane. 
 But these exceptions only reenforce the point. 
 By Lucia he is carried in sleep straight up to 
 Purgatory Gate. 52 By Beatrice he is virtually 
 lifted up the Ladder in the heaven of the 
 contemplatives. 53 But obviously, these 
 straight upward ascents are by supernatural 
 aid. x\gain, he circles with the heavenly 
 spheres while in them, and finally around the 
 luminous point which is God. 54 This circular 
 
 50 To be exact, the line of his movement about the 
 superimposed cones of Hell and Purgatory is helical. It 
 should be observed that he dojes not ever change direction 
 of approach. In other words, the axis of the whole spiral 
 is rectilinear. 
 
 51 Par. x, 28-34. 
 
 52 Purg. ix, 52-57. 
 
 53 Par. xxii, 100-105. 
 
 54 Cf. Par. xviii, 61-62; xxxiii, 142-145. 
 
22 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 motion symbolizes attainment. 55 The point 
 is that man cannot know God directly, any 
 more than he can look at the Sun directly; 
 therefore he must by indirection find direc- 
 tion out. And the virtue which so does is 
 prudence. 
 
 The most intimate reflection of God for 
 mankind was in Christ, the Word incarnate. 
 After Christ's Ascension, the Word was left 
 with the Church, as recorded in the Scrip- 
 tures and as interpreted and administered by 
 Peter and his successors. Salvation lies in 
 obedience to these authorities: 
 
 "Avete il vecchio e il nuovo Testamento, 
 E il pastor della Chiesa che vi guida : 
 Questo vi basti a vostro salvamento." 56 
 
 God in his mercy, however, has given special 
 grace to certain men further to advance the 
 faith by preaching and example. So St. 
 Thomas in his Summa, after defining virtues 
 and vices affecting all men in common, dis- 
 cusses those affecting specifically these God- 
 gifted ones. 57 His argument controls, I think, 
 the Paradise. 
 
 55 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. II -II, clxxix, i, 3 m ; clxxx, 6. 
 
 66 Par. v, 76-78. 
 
 57 1 1 — II, clxxi et seq. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 23 
 
 PLAN OF THE PARADISE 
 
 Like the Purgatory, the Paradise is divided 
 into three parts, so expressing the Trinity. 
 The first three planetary heavens, though 
 lighted by the Sun, are still within the shadow 
 of the earth. The personages associated with 
 them played their earthly parts under the 
 shadow of some infirmity of will. Picarda's 
 inconstancy was an act of imprudence, argu- 
 ing imperfect provision — or prevision — of the 
 right way. 58 In the last analysis, she showed 
 herself weak of faith. Justinian did good 
 works in hope of temporal glory, sinning in 
 so far against the hope of eternal glory. 59 
 Again, true love, or charity, is the love of 
 God. Cunizza mixed with charity sensual 
 love, so showing defect of charity. 
 
 Thus the spirits of the three lowest heav- 
 ens — Moon, Mercury, Venus — are imperfect 
 in faith or in hope or in charity, the holy 
 virtues which lead directly to salvation. 
 Mercifully saved in spite of weakness, they 
 constitute the proletariat of heaven, humble 
 subjects in the kingdom of God. Manifestly, 
 
 58 St. Thomas, S. T. II — II, liii, 5: ". . . dicitur aliquis 
 esse inconstans, quod ratio deficit in praecipiendo ea, 
 quae sunt consiliata, et judicata." 
 
 59 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. II — II, cxxxii, 1-2. 
 
24 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 the vast majority of the human race, so far as 
 it attains salvation at all, would be with 
 them. 
 
 Balancing these three lowest heavens are 
 the three highest — Starry, Crystalline, Empy- 
 rean, — associated respectively with the tri- 
 umph of the whole congregation of the 
 faithful, of the angels, and of the perfected 
 providence of God in reuniting to himself 
 errant man. This ultimate reunion, repre- 
 sented by Dante's rapture, is through charity; 
 its consummation has been the hope of the 
 angels, primary agents thereof; and the way 
 and means of consummation were found 
 through the faith of which the Church Mili- 
 tant is repository. Thus the last division of 
 the Paradise also reflects the three holy vir- 
 tues, but in their perfection. 
 
 Between are the four planetary heavens 
 beyond the shadow of the earth, — Sun, Mars, 
 Jupiter, Saturn. Physically, the Sun lights 
 them all. Morally, since they signify perfec- 
 tion of the four cardinal virtues, of these four 
 prudence is light-giver to the rest. All four 
 together represent all there is on earth of guid- 
 ance of man by man; and by prudence all 
 guidance is guided. For prudence in the large 
 sense applies to all human cognition, specula- 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 25 
 
 tive as well as practical. 60 Hence the spirits 
 of the Sun should represent severally pru- 
 dence in its various aspects or categories. 61 
 
 THE PROPHETS OF THE SUN 
 
 Prudence guides — that is, counsels, judges, 
 commands — in those things which make for 
 the end, cognition of God. 62 Considered in its 
 entirety the operation of prudence exceeds 
 man's natural faculty. For to guide to an 
 end, one must know the end; and knowledge 
 of the end, which is God, is not in human 
 power as such. So God has graciously given 
 certain men special insights, or illuminations, 
 above the normal. This "grace freely given" 
 (gratia gratis data) need not be possessed by 
 them habitually, 63 and is independent of their 
 merit. 64 Those who receive it may even lack 
 grace to be saved themselves (gratia gratum 
 faciens). But in so far as the foresight, or far- 
 sight, of prudence is so divinely illumined, it 
 
 60 St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, xlvii, 2, 2 m . 
 
 61 Cf. ib. clxxi, 1, 4 m : ". . . Dominus omnia quae sunt 
 necessaria ad instructionem fidelis populi, revelat Prophe- 
 tis; non tamen omnia omnibus, sed quaedam uni, quaedam 
 alii." 
 
 62 Ib. xlvii, 8. 
 
 63 Ib. clxxi, 2, c. 
 
 64 Ib. clxxii, 3, c. 
 
26 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 becomes prophecy. Indeed, according to 
 thirteenth century etymology, prudence and 
 prophecy mean the same thing, to wit, pro- 
 culvidens, farseeing. 65 And in fact, both kinds 
 of farseeing are really foreseeing, the one of 
 future events in time, the other of the future 
 event beyond time, or beatitude. 
 
 The gift of prophecy expresses itself in some 
 particular act, or acts, of revelation. The 
 prophet is not always inspired. Nathan, re- 
 marks St. Thomas, advised David to build 
 the temple at once; later forbade him. Only 
 in the prohibition did the Holy Spirit speak 
 through him. 66 On the other hand, wisdom 
 and knowledge may also be habitually pos- 
 sessed as gifts of the Holy Spirit, and in such 
 degree that all, or most, of the revelations of 
 their possessor have the quality of true pro- 
 phecy. 67 Preeminently, this "infused" wis- 
 dom as to things divine and' "infused" knowl- 
 edge as to things human was given to Solo- 
 mon; who therefore, for such divine wisdom 
 is classed by St. Thomas with the apostles, 68 
 and by such knowledge of the world and of 
 
 65 lb. xlvii, I, c; clxxi, I, c. 
 
 66 Quol. XII, xxvi, i m . 
 
 67 St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, li, 4, c. 
 
 68 II — II, clxxiii, 2, c. 
 
ariadne's crown 27 
 
 men as the supreme judge. 69 To him also 
 was given the grace of discourse (gratia 
 sermonis), so that he wrote as if by direct 
 inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 70 and in his 
 three books revealed truth to all men accord- 
 ing to their capacity: in Proverbs, by parables 
 and also openly to the young and the un- 
 learned, incipient in wisdom; in Ecclesiastes , 
 openly but intimately (proprie) to the profi- 
 cient ; in the Song of Songs, parabolically and 
 secretly to the perfect. 71 Finally, Solomon 
 was divinely anointed king, that he might 
 exemplify perfect rule of a multitude, which is 
 the highest active function of prudence. 72 
 Moreover, his governance was informed by 
 worship of God, for which grace must be 
 given. 73 Hence in him supremely the virtue 
 of prudence was raised to the gift of prophecy. 
 These various claims of Solomon to pru- 
 
 69 De veritate, xii, 12, c: ". . . inquantum de moribus 
 hominum et naturis rerum, quae naturaliter accipimus, 
 divino instinctu ceteris certius judicavit." 
 
 70 St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, clxxiv, 2, 3. 
 
 71 St. Bonaventure, In Ecdes., Proem., ad fin. 
 
 72 St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, 1, 1, c: "... ideo regi, ad 
 quern pertinet regere civitatem, vel regnum, prudentia 
 competit secundum specialem, et perfectissimam suam 
 rationem." 
 
 73 lb. clxxii, 1, 4 m : ". . . in ordine ad cultum divinum, 
 ad quern natura non sufncit, sed requiritur gratia." 
 
28 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 dential and prophetic preeminence are care- 
 fully, if briefly, indicated by Dante. Moved 
 by charity to prophesy charity, Solomon 
 wrote the Song of Songs. And this he wrote as 
 Jedidiah, or Dilectus, the Beloved. 74 So, for 
 this spirit of charity, St. Thomas tells Dante 
 that Solomon, 
 
 "La quinta luce, ch'e tra noi piu bella, 
 Spira di tale amor che tutto il mondo 
 Laggiu ne gola di saper novella." 75 
 
 St. Thomas also declares him supreme by 
 wisdom "infused" (messo), 76 and on the prac- 
 tical side, in "kingly prudence," "without 
 second," even if Christ be reckoned. 77 Thus 
 his light among the illumined prophets of the 
 Sun is not only "fairest" in charity, but also 
 divinest, piu dia, in wisdom. 78 
 
 Yet to man may be given — at least in mo- 
 ments — a higher insight into things divine 
 and above sense than even Solomon had. 
 This is cognition, immediate and direct, of 
 truth in God. Such cognition is, indeed, an 
 habitual possession (habitus) only of the blest, 
 
 74 St. Thomas, In Cantic. Canticor., Proem., med°. 
 76 Par. x, 109-111. 
 
 76 lb. 112-114. 
 
 77 Par. xiii, 34-1 11. 
 
 78 Par. xiv, 34. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 29 
 
 but by special grace it may be, and has been, 
 given to certain mortals momentarily. So 
 Moses saw God personally in a sensible form, 
 and St. Paul saw him even more perfectly in 
 his suprasensible essence. Theirs was the 
 highest reach of prophetic inspiration. 79 
 And Dante himself, whether in poetic feign- 
 ing or by serious claim, received in rapture 
 and by "abundant grace" immediate knowl- 
 edge of all natural truth in its unity, 80 and 
 later of God's essence itself. 81 Moreover he 
 received the prophet's gift to express some- 
 what of his vision for the edification of 
 others. 82 
 
 Two spirits of the Sun are credited with 
 some participation in this miraculously per- 
 fect insight : Dionysius, 
 
 "Che giuso in carne piu addentro vide 
 L'angelica natura e il ministero," 83 
 
 and Richard of St. Victor, 
 
 "Che a considerar fu piu che viro." 84 
 
 79 St. Thomas, S. T. 1 1 — II, clxxiv, 3, c; clxxv, 3, 1 m . 
 
 80 Par. xxxiii, 82-105. 
 
 81 lb. 1 39-141. Cf. Par. i, 4-9; also Epistle to Can 
 Grande, the whole argument of which focusses to this 
 claim. 
 
 82 lb. 10-27. 
 
 83 Par. x, 116-117. 
 
 Si Par. x, 131-132. Cf. Ep. x, 28. 
 
30 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Also, according to St. Bonaventure, Diony- 
 sius and Richard preeminently taught the 
 anagogical sense of Scripture, which teaches 
 how is to be attained union with God. Scrip- 
 ture is man's chief illumination, he says, "be- 
 cause it leads to higher things, making mani- 
 fest those which are above reason. Besides 
 the literal, there is a threefold spiritual sense 
 of Scripture: (i) allegorical, teaching what is 
 to be believed concerning divinity and 
 humanity; (2) moral, teaching how to live; 
 (3) anagogical, teaching what is union with 
 God. . . ,. The first concerns faith; the sec- 
 ond morals; the third, the end of both. Study 
 of the first is for doctors; of the second for 
 preachers; of the third for contemplatives. 
 Augustine preeminently taught the first; 
 Gregory the second; Dionysius the third. 
 Anselm follows Augustine; Bernard, Gregory; 
 Richard, Dionysius. Anselm surpasses in 
 reasoning; Bernard in preaching; Richard in 
 contemplation. Hugh of St. Victor follows all 
 three, — Augustine, Gregory, and Diony- 
 sius." 85 
 
 St. Bonaventure speaks categorically, as 
 if no justification were needed. Such classifi- 
 cations were current. "Unicuique autem datur 
 
 85 Opusc. de reductione artium ad theologiam, me°. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 3 1 
 
 manifestatio Spiritus ad utilitatem . . . ad 
 aedificationem Ecclesiae" 86 St. Paul's dictum 
 gave warrant for assigning to each light of the 
 Church a special virtue, a specific function. 
 So in listing Anselm and Hugh, for instance, 
 among the great prophesiers of the faith, 
 Dante gave no explanation of their respective 
 virtues, because none was needed by the 
 informed, — and he expected only such to 
 follow him. 87 St. Anselm's famous Cur Deus 
 Homo exactly fits the category of allegorical 
 interpretation of Scripture; for the subject 
 of that is, as St. Bonaventure says, "the eter- 
 nal generation and incarnation of Christ. 88 
 Again, Hugh of St. Victor, adept in three 
 senses of Scripture, may well fill the bracket 
 left vacant by Dante's use of St. Bernard else- 
 where in the Comedy. His most authoritative 
 work on the sacraments — De sacramentis 
 Christianae fidei — interpreted the moral sense 
 of Scripture, that is, the rule of right living, of 
 which the sacraments are the sign and token. 89 
 
 86 / Cor. xii, 7; xiv, 12. 
 
 87 Par. ii, i et seq. 
 
 88 Loc. cit. 
 
 89 St. Thomas, S. T. Ill, lxv, I, c: ". . . sacramenta 
 Ecclesiae ordinantur ad duo; scilicet ad perficiendum 
 hominem in his quae pertinent ad cultum Dei secundum 
 religionem christianae vitae, et etiam in remedium contra 
 defectum peccati." 
 
32 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Incidentally, he was St. Bernard's intimate 
 friend. 
 
 We have seen that Solomon fitly rep- 
 resented the supreme practical function 
 of prudence, "regal prudenza" or — in St. 
 Thomas's phrase — "prudentia regnativa. 90 
 But as there should be the right ruler of men 
 in temporal affairs, so should there be in 
 spiritual affairs. Some prophet should ex- 
 press the right Prelate, prince of the Church. 
 Dante's choice, I think, is clearly implied. 
 
 "Io son la vita di Bonaventura 
 
 Da Bagnoregio, che nei grandi offici 
 Sempre posposi la sinistra cura." 9I 
 
 St. Bonaventure had been general of the Fran- 
 ciscan Order, bishop, and cardinal. The 
 "lefthand care" is temporal interests, whether 
 his own or of the Church. Now Dante's fun- 
 damental conviction, ever and everywhere 
 urged, was that the Church should discard 
 temporal interest, temporal power, that 
 baleful "second load" now crushing her into 
 the mud. 92 St. Bonaventure, spiritually 
 
 90 S. T. II-II, xlviii, c. 
 
 91 Par. xii, 127-129. 
 
 92 Purg. xvi, 127-129. Cf. Inf. xix, 11 5-1 17; Purg. xxxii, 
 124-160; vi, 91-96; De Mon. passim. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 33 
 
 minded, world-forgetting, corrected by ex- 
 ample and teaching the fatal error of ambi- 
 tious prelates. His was the right conception 
 of the elder of the two guides of mankind, — 
 the supreme Pontiff, "who according to things 
 revealed should lead the human race to eter- 
 nal life." 93 
 
 Prudentia regnativa applies also to rule 
 within the Church. Three things, says St. 
 Thomas, are required of a prelate: to govern 
 his flock, to suffer for it, to cast out black 
 sheep. 94 With one other spirit Dante names 
 his ecclesiastical office, namely, "U metropo- 
 litano Crisostomo" 9 ' St. John Chrysostom, 
 Metropolitan of Constantinople, was sainted 
 for having so well fulfilled these require- 
 ments. 96 Also, for his prophetic gift of elo- 
 quence (gratia sermonis) he was called Chry- 
 sostom, "golden-mouth." 
 
 Immediately subordinate and auxiliary to 
 prudentia regnativa is prudentia politica, of 
 which the principal part is legispositiva, the 
 formulating and codifying of law. Gratian so 
 well accomplished this task for Canon, or 
 
 93 De Mon. Ill, xvi, 75-79. 
 
 94 In Joan, x, 3. 
 
 95 Par. xii, 136-137. 
 
 96 Brev. Roman, ad 27 Jan.; also Aurea Legenda, cap. 
 xxxiv. 
 
34 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 ecclesiastical, law, that his Decretum pleased 
 Heaven 97 — and Dante. For it effectively de- 
 marked the jurisdictions of Church and 
 State, and so served the same reform as St. 
 Bonaventure. 
 
 The Church Militant is, as the term im- 
 plies, not only a congregation of the faithful, 
 but also an army against the unfaithful, the 
 infidel. 98 Regulative of a multitude mobilized 
 "for combat" is prudentia militaris. It is pru- 
 dence directive not of the whole of life, but to 
 a certain need. 99 Physical warfare against 
 the enemies of the Cross Dante represents in 
 Mars, the heaven of Fortitude. But intel- 
 lectual warfare — defence of the faith — belongs 
 to the prophets. Supreme defender of the 
 faith was St. Dominic, 
 
 Tamoroso drudo 
 Delia fede cristiana, il santo atleta 
 Benigno ai suoi, ed ai nemici crudo," 10 ° 
 
 and so conceived as the left-wheel of the war- 
 chariot (biga), 
 
 "In che la santa Chiesa si difese 
 E vinse in campo la sua civil briga." 101 
 
 97 Par. x, 103-105. 
 
 98 Cf. Par. xii, 37: Tesercito di Cristo." 
 
 99 St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, xlviii, c. 
 
 100 Par. xii, 55"57- 
 
 101 lb. 107-108. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 35 
 
 His manifest successor is the Dominican St. 
 Thomas Aquinas, author of the Summa 
 catholica contra gentiles.™ 2 
 
 St. Thomas is a defender of the Christian 
 faith. Another, Paulus Orosius, defended 
 Christianity as an institution. His Histori- 
 arurn adversus paganos libri vii supplemented 
 St. Augustine's De civitate Dei in rebutting 
 pagan accusations that the establishment of 
 the Christian state caused the fall of the 
 Roman state. 
 
 Prudence has jurisdiction not only over all 
 men collectively, but also over organized 
 groups such as households and families, and 
 over individuals. Prudence directing house- 
 holds and families is called prudentia oecono- 
 rnica; prudence directing individuals, pru- 
 dentia monastica. 103 Religious orders are con- 
 ceived as families. 104 Rabanus Maurus was 
 for twenty years, 822 to 842, abbot of the 
 
 102 In Dante's time, St. Thomas appears to have been 
 chiefly famous as the author of this work. It is the only 
 work of his Dante ever mentions by title. As to positive 
 doctrine, St. Thomas humbly calls himself the pupil of 
 Albertus — Par. x, 98. In any case, Dante uses historical 
 personages to make his points. The Paradise is not a 
 literary critique. 
 
 103 St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, xlviii, c. 
 
 104 Cf. Par. xi, 86;xii, 115. 
 
2,6 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 great Benedictine monastery at Fulda, made 
 its school celebrated throughout Europe, and 
 wrote the De institutione clericum — reputed 
 his chief work. He so satisfactorily repre- 
 sents prudentia oeconontica. 
 
 Prudentia monastica is directive of the 
 private individual, whether layman or cleric. 
 For the laity, both for precept in the De con- 
 solatione, and for example of the virtue of 
 fortitude, for which he was canonized as 
 martyr, Dante could name no one more 
 representative than Boethius, St. Severinus, 
 
 "L'anima santa che il mondo fallace 
 Fa manifesto a chi di lei ben ode . . . 
 
 ed essa da martiro 
 E da esilio venne a questa pace." 105 
 
 For prudentia monastica in the narrower and 
 derived sense — that is, as applying to indi- 
 viduals, not in authority, in the monastic 
 orders, — he cites two Franciscan friars,— 
 Illuminato and Augustino, 
 
 "Che fur dei primi scalzi poverelli 
 Che nel capestro a Dio si fero amici." 106 
 
 The primary function of prudence is counsel. 
 Christ is the supreme counsellor, and his 
 
 105 Par. x, 125-126, 128-129. 
 1( ' 6 Par. xii, 131-132. 
 
ariadne's crown 37 
 
 counsels are reducible to three, — poverty, 
 chastity, obedience. 107 Self-dedication after 
 these counsels to imitation of Christ is the 
 perfection of the religious life. And this rule 
 of life was most perfectly ordered and lived 
 by St. Francis, — a second Sun after Christ, 
 illumining and warming mankind. 108 Illu- 
 minato and Augustino, who followed him 
 immediately, having shared his intimacy, 
 would have therefore an apostolic sanction 
 like that of the apostles themselves, who had 
 been with Christ. They also represent two 
 grades of the religious life. "Per la sete del 
 martiro" Illuminate accompanied St. Francis 
 into Egypt to preach Christ to the Sultan. 109 
 Apostle, preacher, willing martyr, Illuminate 
 exemplifies the highest grade of religious vo- 
 cation and prudent counsel. Augustino, on 
 the other hand, was the gardener of the con- 
 vent. But though his service was humble, his 
 
 107 St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, cviii, 4. 
 
 108 p aTt x ^ 49-54. St. Bonaventure, in ProL, Legenda 
 S. Francisci, uses the same figure. 
 
 109 Par. xi, 100. Cf. St. Bonaventure, Leg. S. Francis., 
 ix: "Assumpto igitur socio fratre, Illuminato nomine, viro 
 utique luminis, et virtutis, cum iter coepisset, obvias 
 habuit oviculas duas, quibus visis exhilaratus vir sanctus, 
 dixit ad socium: Confide, frater, in Domino, nam in nobis 
 evangelicum illud impletur: Ecce ego mitto vos sicut oves 
 in medio luporum." 
 
38 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 end was exaltedly edifying. In his last illness, 
 he had lost the power of speech; when sud- 
 denly he cried out: "Wait, my father, wait! 
 I am coming with you." Asked by those about 
 him what he meant, he replied: "Do you not 
 see our father Francis walking in heaven?" 
 And when he had so spoken, dying, he re- 
 joined the master. 110 But although thus at 
 the end prophetically illumined, he fulfilled 
 in manual labor the lowest calling of the reli- 
 gious life. 111 
 
 Prudence has three eyes. 112 The prudent 
 man has "right knowledge of past things, and 
 right understanding of present things, and 
 right provision of future things." 113 Of 
 these parts, or bases, of prudence, the princi- 
 pal is foresight; "inasmuch from past things 
 remembered, and present things understood, 
 we gather how to provide for things future." 114 
 It is "useful" (ad utilitatern), therefore, that 
 grace be given to interpret the revelations of 
 others in the past. 115 Thus among the 
 
 110 Leg. Aurea, cxlvii. 
 
 111 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. II — II, clxxxvii, 3; clxxxviii, 6. 
 
 112 Purg. xxix, 132. 
 
 113 Conv. IV, xxvii, 42-46. Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. Ill, xi, 
 
 I, 3 m - 
 
 114 St. Thomas, S. T. I, xxii, 1, c. 
 
 115 lb. II— II, clxxiii, 2, c. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 39 
 
 prophets of the Sun there are three whose 
 special mission seems to have been such: 
 Pietro Mangiadore, or Petrus Comestor, 
 whose Historia Scholastica is an interpretative 
 account of the Church as a repository of reve- 
 lations from the beginning of the world down 
 to the times of the apostles; Bede, whose 
 famous Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum 
 interprets the Apostolic Church and the early 
 propagation of the faith in the far parts 
 of the world; 116 and Peter Lombard, whose 
 Sententiarum libri quatiior is an interpretative 
 commentary on the sentences, or conclusions, 
 of the Church Fathers. In the thirteenth 
 century, Peter Lombard was by no means 
 regarded as a mere compiler. St. Bonaven- 
 ture, for instance, indignantly rejects such an 
 estimate. Distinguishing between scribe, 
 compiler, commentator, and author, he as- 
 serts Peter's title to be rightly author, "since 
 he posits his own conclusions, and confirms 
 them by the conclusions of the Fathers. . . . 
 And because there are therein (in his book) 
 many sayings of others, does not lessen the 
 authority of the Master, but rather attests 
 
 116 Dante gives such a prophetically interpretative his- 
 tory in outline of the Roman Empire in Par. vi. 
 
40 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 his authority and humility." 117 Dante also 
 emphasizes the humility of Peter, 
 
 "che con la poverella 
 Offerse a Santa Chiesa suo tesoro." ll8 
 
 In respect to future things, inspired pru- 
 dence, or prophecy, has a threefold degree: 
 (i) when these are perceived or known by 
 some, but not all; (2) when they are beyond 
 human understanding, yet not in themselves 
 unknowable — such as the mystery of the 
 Trinity; (3) when they are in themselves — 
 except for God — unknowable — such as future 
 contingencies. 119 The revelations of the pro- 
 phets of the Sun hitherto considered are of the 
 first two classes ; but Dante offers two of the 
 third class. These are "Natan prof eta," 120 and 
 
 "II calabrese abbate Gioacchino, 
 Di spirito profetico dotato." m 
 
 Two prophecies are recorded of Nathan, — one 
 as to the building of the temple, 122 the other 
 as to David's guilty love of Bathsheba. 123 
 
 117 I Sent., Proem., fin. 
 
 118 Par. x, 107-108. 
 
 119 St. Thomas, 5. T. II -II, clxxi, 3, c. 
 
 120 Par. xii, 136. 
 
 121 lb. 140-141. 
 122 II Sam. vii. 
 123 lb. xii. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 4 1 
 
 Both foretold the consequences of disobedi- 
 ence. The latter illustrates the transiency of 
 the prophet's inspiration. Nathan first ad- 
 vised David to build the temple, then forbade 
 him on pain of God's displeasure. The first 
 time he spoke for himself, the second time in- 
 spired by God . 124 The virtue of prudence may 
 be habitual and immanent, but is of itself 
 fallible. Prudence raised by grace to the in- 
 fallibility of prophecy is a transient power. 125 
 The object of prophecy is "that which exists 
 in the divine cognition above the human fac- 
 ulty." A future event exists in the divine 
 cognition in two ways: (i) as in its cause, 
 (2) as in God's intention {utfiendum ab ipso). 
 Prophecy as to the former is of "commina- 
 tion;" prophecy as to the latter is of "pre- 
 destination." 126 Nathan, predicting the con- 
 sequences of David's possible disobedience, 
 illustrates comminatory prophecy. Joachim's 
 
 124 St. Thomas, Quodlibet XII, xxvi, 1 m : "Aliquando etiam 
 aliqua dicunt a se ipsis; sicut patet de Nathan, qui con- 
 suluit David quod aedificaret templum, postea autem a 
 Domino reprehensus et quasi retractus prohibuit hoc ipsi 
 David ex parte Dei." 
 
 125 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, clxxi, 2, c. 
 
 126 lb. clxxiv, 1, e. Since God has prescience of the free 
 acts of mankind, prophecy as to them may be formally 
 included under predestination. 
 
42 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 at least most noted prophecy was predestina- 
 tive. In his Expositio in Apocalypsin, he pre- 
 dicted a third dispensation, revealed in the 
 Apocalypse, to follow those of the Old and 
 New Testaments. 127 As the Father revealed 
 the old law; the Son the new law; so the 
 Holy Spirit should reveal its law, which would 
 be above need of any disciplinary institution 
 whatever. St. Thomas indeed had condemned 
 this teaching. 128 Dante would also have re- 
 jected the anarchistic corollary, but was at 
 least sympathetic to the promise of a new and 
 better era to come. He himself predicted a 
 divinely ordained leader, the Veltro 129 or 
 DXV,™ who should drive off the Wolf of 
 greed, and so recall the Church to its proper 
 spiritual mission. Also, in declaring Francis 
 and Dominic princes and captains of the 
 Church, the two wheels of its chariot, 131 he 
 conforms to Joachim's theory of the rightful 
 primacy in this mission of contemplatives 
 and monks. 132 
 
 127 In another of his writings, he predicted the line of 
 future popes. 
 
 128 S. T. I— II, cvi, 4, 2 m . 
 
 129 Inf. i, ioi-iii. 
 
 130 Purg. xxxiii, 43. 
 
 131 Par. xii, 31-45, 106-108. 
 
 132 Also, cf. below, pp. 69 et seq. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 43 
 
 The third provision of prudence — in rela- 
 tion to past, present, and future — is of present 
 things. Of these also there must needs be 
 prophesying. 133 Present things are existing 
 facts of nature and human nature. All pro- 
 phecy is indeed in a sense of the present, in 
 that it regulates present thinking or acting by 
 things beyond, either in time or existence. 
 But the regulative principle of the inspired 
 interpreters so far adduced has been the 
 Word revealed in Scripture. 134 But God also 
 is revealed in the works of creation, that is, in 
 corporeal things. These are the subject mat- 
 ter of Physics, to which all demonstrative 
 sciences are subordinate. 135 Physics in turn is 
 subordinated to Metaphysics, in that the 
 latter considers Being in itself, the former 
 Being as sensibly known. 136 Supreme master 
 of the double science of Being, as interpreted 
 
 1S3 Cf. St. Gregory: "Aliquando spiritus prophetiae 
 praesenti tangit animum prophetantis, et ex futuro 
 nequaquam tangit; aliquando autem ex praesenti non tan- 
 git, et ex futuro tangit." Quoted by St. Thomas, 5. T. 
 1 1 — 1 1, clxxi, 4, b. 
 
 134 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. I, lxxix, 9, c. 
 
 135 lb. II-II, xlviii, c. 
 
 136 St. Thomas, De nat. generis, Opusc. XLII, vi, prin°: 
 "... naturalis scientia, quae applicat naturam entis ad 
 naturam sensibilem, est sub Metaphysica, quae considerat 
 de ente absolute." 
 
44 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 by reason, was Aristotle, "il maestro' di lor che 
 sanno" lzl It had been the mission of Albertus 
 Magnus, doctor universalis, to interpret Aris- 
 totle's Physics and Metaphysics, his doctrine 
 of Being, in the light, supernaturally given, of 
 true Being, which is God. St. Thomas there- 
 fore, humbly presents Albertus as his mas- 
 ter. 138 Albertus fitly represents that special 
 grace which makes possible interpretation 
 "according to divine truth of those things 
 which man apprehends in the course of na- 
 ture." 139 
 
 The most perfect instrument of science is 
 the demonstrative syllogism, "which from 
 necessary premises draws necessary conclu- 
 sions," 140 that is, certain knowledge. But we 
 must often reason from probable premises to 
 conclusions short of certain, or opinion, tech- 
 nically defined as "an act of the intellect which 
 
 137 Inf. iv, 131. 
 
 138 Par. x, 97-99. 
 
 139 St. Thomas, S. T. 1 1 — 1 1 , clxxiii, 2, c: "lumen autem 
 intelligibile quandoque quidem iniprimitur menti humani 
 divinitus ... ad dijudicandum secundum divinam veri- 
 tatem ea, quae cursu naturali homo apprehend it." This 
 dictum applies exactly to Dante's illumination in Par. 
 xxxiii, 85-91, by which the scattered leaves of Nature's 
 book are gathered for him legibly together. 
 
 140 St. Thomas, I Anal. 1. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 45 
 
 leans to one side of a contradiction, whilst in 
 fear of the other." 141 Instrument of this mode 
 of procedure is the dialectic syllogism. A 
 third mode from various conjectures induces 
 suspicion, that is, an act of the intellect which 
 "not altogether leans to one side of a contra- 
 diction, but leans rather to one side than to 
 the other." 142 This is the mode of persuasion, 
 and appertains to Rhetoric, as the first two 
 modes to Logic. All three modes are essential 
 to the operation of prudence and prophecy as 
 influencing others. The business of the 
 prophet is threefold: (i) to instruct, (2) to 
 induce conviction, and (3) to effect loving 
 obedience. And so to make the act of pro- 
 phecy effective, the Holy Spirit confers the 
 grace of discourse. 143 
 
 The Holy Spirit may possess the prophet 
 absolutely, — as when David declared that 
 "The spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his 
 word was in my tongue." 144 But the grace 
 of discourse may be given in any less degree ; 
 in which case the prophet, to declare his mes- 
 sage efficaciously, must be trained in the arts 
 
 141 St. Thomas, S. T. I, lxxix, 9, 4 m . 
 
 142 lb. xlviii, c. 
 
 143 lb. clxxvii, 1, c. 
 
 144 II Sam. xxiii, 2; cf. St. Thomas, 5. T. clxxiii, 4, c. 
 
147 
 
 46 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 of discourse, Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric. 
 Thus Dante, while asserting himself to be the 
 mere "scribe" of the Holy Spirit, 145 yet attrib- 
 utes his "fair style" to Virgil's guidance. 146 
 
 As representative of the "first art," Gram- 
 mar, Dante explicitly names 
 
 "quel Donato 
 Ch'alla prim'arte degno por la mano." 
 
 Donatus so humbled his genius to profit 
 others. Imputing the beneficent motive to 
 the working within him of the Holy Spirit, 
 St. Thomas would admit him a prophet in 
 a qualified sense. 148 
 
 To understand any discourse we must 
 understand the terms, or names, used. 149 
 
 us p ar> x> 27. Cf. St. Bonaventure, / Sent., Prol., con- 
 clus.: "Aliquis enim scribit alienam materiam nihil addendo, 
 vel mutando; et iste mere dicitur scriptor." Cf. Purg. 
 xxiv, 52-54- 
 
 146 Inf. i, 85-87. 
 
 147 Par. xii, 137-138. 
 
 us "Propheta secundum quid. Cf. 5. T. II-II,clxxiv, 3,0: 
 ". . . cum aliquis ex interiori lumine illustratur ad 
 cognoscendum aliqua, quae tamen non excedunt limites 
 naturalis cognitionis." Grammar, of course, does not 
 exceed the limits of human cognition. 
 
 149 St. Thomas, De usuris, I, prin°: "Cum enim nomina 
 sint signa rerum, et ipsas res nobiscum ferre non possimus 
 in disceptatione veritatis ipsarum; ideo ipsis nominibus 
 
ariadne's crown 47 
 
 To this end is dedicated that branch of Gram- 
 mar which is called Etymology. And Isidore 
 is its prophet. His Origines, sen Etymologiae 
 passed as an encyclopedia of universal 
 knowledge, yet proceeds chiefly by etymolo- 
 gical definitions. 150 Possibly, also, Dante 
 introduced St. Isidore as representing one 
 function of the prophet's "gift of tongues." 
 The mind may be illumined, St. Thomas says, 
 "to the end of understanding, and expound- 
 ing, whatever may be obscure in discourses, 
 whether on account of the difficulty of the 
 things signified, or also on account of un- 
 known words introduced," etc. 151 
 
 As auxiliary to prophetic discourse, Logic 
 must be conceived on its formal side, as the 
 art or science of verbal reasoning {scientia 
 sermocinalis) , rather than of mental reasoning 
 {scientia rationales) . As representative of the 
 
 pro rebus utentes, necesse habemus scire quid ipsa nomina 
 significent." And St. Thomas proceeds to explain the 
 term "usura" etymologically. 
 
 150 Occasionally, indeed, the limitation of etymological 
 definition was recognized, as for instance by St. Thomas, 
 S. T. II— II, xcii, 1, 2 m . Medieval writers, however, in- 
 cluding Dante, gave to it an importance at times mystical, 
 — especially when applied to proper names. The practice 
 is illustrated frequently in this essay. 
 
 151 S. T. II— II, clxxvi, 2, 4 m . 
 
48 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 art of Logic in general Dante presents Peter 
 of Spain, — 
 
 "Pietro Ispano, 
 Lo qual giu luce in dodici libelli," 152 
 
 that is, the twelve parts of the Summulae 
 Logicales, a manual authoritative in Dante's 
 time. 
 
 Of Logic as regulative of reasoned dis- 
 course, or argumentation, designed to force 
 conviction, or to win assent, the instrument is 
 the syllogism, demonstrative or dialectic. 
 The former, which Aristotle treats in his 
 Posterior Analytics, is in effect represented by 
 Albertus Magnus, master of the demonstrative 
 sciences. The dialectic syllogism leads, as 
 already stated, to probable conclusions, or 
 opinions. "And because in these deception 
 lies, sophistical arguments, or topics, are 
 added, 153 that men may know how to resolve 
 them." 154 Fallacy is to sound argument as 
 hypocrisy to virtue, being error under the 
 mask of truth. The human mind readily 
 accepts the apparent truth for the real, and 
 
 152 Par. xii, 134-135. 
 
 153 According to the ordering of the Organon, by Aris- 
 totle. 
 
 154 St. Bonaventure, Illuminationes Eccles. iv. 
 
ari'adne's crown 49 
 
 therefore needs to be protected from its own 
 sophistry as well as from that of others. 
 
 "O insensata cura dei mortali, 
 Quanto son difettivi sillogismi 
 Quei che ti fanno in basso batter Tali!" 155 
 
 Therefore, says Aristotle, beginning his essay 
 on fallacies, the Sophistical Elenchi, we must 
 learn how to recognize and to resolve sophis- 
 tical syllogisms, both verbal and substantial. 
 Forewarned is forearmed. 
 
 Now exactly this preventive medicine for 
 the mind was offered by Sigier of Brabant, 
 
 "Che, leggendo nel Vico degli Strame, 
 Sillogizzo invidiosi veri." 156 
 
 One of the most celebrated works of this dia- 
 lectician was the Impossibilia, a collection of 
 six paradoxical conclusions, first syllogisti- 
 cally demonstrated as true, and then shown 
 to be exactly counter to the true. Inciden- 
 tally, the fallacies involved are exposed. The 
 little work is a model of clarity and brevity, 
 and would be of disciplinary value to-day. 157 
 The six sophistical conclusions are: (1) God 
 
 155 Par. xi, 1-3. 
 
 156 Par. x, 137-138. 
 
 157 Reprint in Pierre Mandonnet, Siger de Brabant et 
 VAverroisme Latin au XIII™* Steele, Louvain, 191 1. 
 
50 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 does not exist; (2) All things that appear to 
 us are simulacra and as dreams, so that we 
 cannot be certain of the existence of anything ; 
 (3) The Trojan War is going on at this very 
 moment; (4) A heavy object, even if not 
 prevented, will not fall; (5) Among human 
 acts there is no evil act, which ought to be 
 prohibited or punished as malicious ; (6) Any- 
 thing may at the same time be and not be, 
 and contradictories are both of them true 
 reciprocally and of the same thing. Of these 
 paradoxes Mandonnet remarks: "Le sujet de 
 chaque sophisme revile au premier abord que 
 nous sommes en presence de simples exercices 
 scolaires." 158 The remark is perhaps just, only 
 we should remember that they are the "exer- 
 cises" of a master, and at a time when syllo- 
 gistic demonstration was the chief instrument 
 of scientific procedure. Of course, Sigier did 
 not expect his hearers to accept his fantastic 
 conclusions as really proved. The manifest 
 point would be to show up the tricks of the 
 sophist. In the work as printed, the solutions 
 are given ; so that it is virtually a little text- 
 book on fallacies, and a useful supplement to 
 Aristotle's treatise, which lacks illustrative 
 examples. 
 
 158 Op. cit. I, p. 126. 
 
ariadne's crown 51 
 
 The caption of the Impossibilia runs : "To 
 the learned members of the University of 
 Paris assembled a certain sophist undertook 
 to prove and defend a number of impossible 
 (theses)." 159 This declaration conforms as to 
 locality to Dante's statement that Sigier, 
 
 "leggendo nel Vico degli Strame, 
 Sillogizzo invidiosi veri." 16 ° 
 
 For the Vico degli Strame, or rue du Fouarre, 
 ran by the Sorbonne. The difficulty has been 
 to interpret the term "invidiosi veri" 
 
 The natural meaning of the term would be 
 "invidious truths." It happens also that Sigier 
 actually argued as truths doctrines that the 
 Church had officially declared invidious, and 
 so condemned as heretical. 161 Dante's char- 
 acterization, in its natural intention, is there- 
 fore exact and just. There is no reason what- 
 ever for doubting that he meant it so. 
 
 The obvious difficulty is how and why he 
 should have not only admitted a condemned 
 heretic into Paradise, but even have exalted 
 
 159 "Convocatis sapientibus studii Parisiensis proposuit 
 sophista quidam impossibilia multa probare et defendere." 
 
 160 Par. x, 137-138. 
 
 161 Dissemination of false doctrine is an act of envy, 
 in that it breaks the unity of the Church. Cf. St. Bon- 
 aventure, after St. Augustine, In Joan, vii, circa fin. 
 
52 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 him among the divinely illumined and illum- 
 ining prophets of the Sun. To pretend that 
 Dante so glorified Sigier in sheer ignorance is 
 a libel on "il gran teologo" One of Sigier's 
 severest critics was Thomas Aquinas, who had 
 publicly attacked him. 162 Even if Dante did 
 not know this, even if — incredibly — he had 
 not heard of Sigier's formal condemnation — 
 made in 1277, in Dante's own boyhood — he 
 could hardly have read Sigier's writings with- 
 out at least detecting their antagonism to his 
 own doctrines. That he did not read Sigier's 
 writings, but deliberately honored as one of 
 the twenty-four great teachers and light- 
 givers of Christendom a contemporary known 
 only by hearsay, and mistakenly at that, — 
 well such assumption is rather an act of pre- 
 sumption which should bar him who makes it 
 from Purgatory 
 
 "Per ogni tempo ch'egli e stato, trenta, 
 In sua presunzion." 
 
 To be saved, Sigier must have recanted his 
 errors. Dante may have had reason to sup- 
 pose that he did ; or he may have assumed it, 
 exactly as in the case of the contumacious 
 
 162 Cf. Mandonnet, op. cit. I, iv. 
 
ariadne's crown 53 
 
 Manfred. 163 Certainly, befitting a penitent is 
 the description of Sigier as 
 
 "uno spirto che, in pensieri 
 Gravi, a morir gli parve venir tardo." 164 
 
 And Dante needed Sigier in heaven to repre- 
 sent that exposure of fallacious reasoning 
 which, as Aristotle had insisted in the Sophis- 
 tical Elenchi, is so manifestly a requirement of 
 intellectual prudence. That Sigier in his own 
 theological reasoning had himself been guilty 
 of sophistries only made his exposure of 
 sophistries in the Impossibilia the more edi- 
 fying. Dante could say to him : "Out of thine 
 own mouth will I judge thee." 165 For, as 
 already said, 166 grace may be given for true 
 prophesying in some things to men false and 
 even damnable in others. 
 
 The Impossibilia is not only a work of high 
 and useful inspiration ; it also offers a second- 
 ary meaning for the term invidiosi veri that 
 exactly fits the case. 167 
 
 163 Purg. iii. 
 
 164 Par. x, 134-135. 
 
 165 Luke, xix, 22. 
 
 166 p. 25. 
 
 167 Use of double-meaning terms was habitual with 
 medieval theologians, by conviction esoteric in their teach- 
 ing. Dante abundantly illustrates the practice. 
 
54 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 The very danger of the sophistical syllo- 
 gism, said Aristotle, is that it assumes the 
 mask of the demonstrative syllogism, and so 
 appears to draw a necessary conclusion from 
 necessary premises. And such a demon- 
 strated conclusion is, for the mind that sees 
 no defect in the syllogism, a truth. Apart 
 from immediate experience or dogmatic 
 authority, there is no other criterion of truth. 
 So each one of the impossibilia first "syllo- 
 gizes" with apparent necessity a conclusion, 
 or truth; then, correcting the latent am- 
 biguity or irrelevancy in the premises, syllo- 
 gizes another conclusion, or truth, contra- 
 dictory of the first. But Sigier reserves to the 
 last the crowning paradox that two contra- 
 dictories may be at the same time both true. 168 
 Now two contradictory truths, whether 
 accepted by the mind in sequence (as in the 
 first five impossibilia) or at the same time (by 
 apparent demonstration of their possible 
 coexistence in the sixth) , would be manifestly 
 invidiosi veri, — that is, truths invidious or 
 hostile to each other. For if one stands, the 
 other falls : 
 
 "Ogni contradizzion e falsa e vera." 169 
 
 168 Mandonnet, op. cit. II, p. 91: "Quare contradictoria 
 simul vera." 
 
 169 Par. vi, 21. 
 
ariadne's crown 55 
 
 Sigier's positive and specific service, then, 
 was to correct the hasty judgment that jumps 
 to false or faulty conclusions, or mistakes for 
 demonstrated truths smooth and plausible 
 fallacies. In fact, he taught the very lesson 
 which Thomas Aquinas drives home at length 
 in his last words, warning Dante against 
 everyone 
 
 "Chi pesca per lo vero e non ha l'arte." 17 ° 
 
 Sigier is the last of his group named by 
 Thomas. Joachim is the last named by Bona- 
 venture, who then adds: 
 
 "Ad inveggiar cotanto paladino 
 Mi mosse la infiammata cortesia 
 Di fra Tommaso, e il discreto latino; 
 E mosse meco questa compagnia." m 
 
 By the context the "paladin" would naturally 
 be Joachim. 172 Bonaventure and his circle are 
 moved to give Joachim enviable rank by the 
 courtesy, kindled by charity, and the dis- 
 criminating 173 words of Fra Tommaso. If 
 Thomas in his great charity could exalt the 
 culpable and personally obnoxious Sigier, 
 
 170 Par. xiii, 123. Cf. ib. 109-142. 
 
 171 Par. xii, 142-145. 
 
 172 Cf. L. Filomusi-Guelfi, Giorn. dant. xxiii, 222-223. 
 
 173 Cf. discreta in Inf. xxxi, 54. 
 
56 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Bonaventure assuredly might Joachim, even 
 though disapproving him in some ways. 
 Speaking of one of Joachim's writings Bona- 
 venture comments: "By the just judgment of 
 God his book was condemned in the Lateran 
 Council." 174 Yet, on the other hand, Bona- 
 venture gave assent to Joachim's prophecy of 
 a holy age to come on earth. 175 
 
 Dante presents no representative of the art 
 of Rhetoric, — perhaps because his choice 
 would have been ineligible to the Christian 
 heaven. For he has named as his masters in 
 style Virgil and Horace. 176 Also, the art of 
 Grammar covered much more in the matter of 
 style than to-day. Isidore defines it compre- 
 hensively as "skill in speaking," (loqitendi 
 peritia). Rhetoric, on the other hand, was 
 chiefly concerned with legal and forensic 
 argumentation . x 7 7 
 
 Finally, there goes to the equipping of a 
 complete prophet the special grace of confirm- 
 ing his prophecy by working miracles. 178 
 But grace is only given ad utilitatem. Mira- 
 
 174 / Sent, v, dub. 4. 
 
 175 See below, p. 73. 
 
 176 Inf. i, 85-87; Vulg. eloq. II, iv, 34. 
 
 177 Cf. St. Isidore, Etymol. i, 1. 
 
 178 St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, clxxviii, 1. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 57 
 
 cle-working would be supererogatory where 
 prophecy obtains credence without it. And 
 the prophets of the Sun have, each according 
 to his own particular gift, so obtained cre- 
 dence. Indeed, the greater miracle is that 
 without miracle-working they should have 
 convinced mankind of their truth and utility. 
 It is with them as with the winning of the 
 world by the apostles, as Dante said : 
 
 "Se il mondo si rivolse al Cristianesmo," 
 Diss'io, "senza miracoli, quest'uno 
 E tal che gli altri non sono il centesmo." 179 
 
 Indeed, Dante conceived his twenty-four 
 prophets — and himself — as called to continue 
 the work of the apostles. 180 
 
 CONVERGENCE OF THE TWENTY-FOUR LIGHTS 
 UPON THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY 
 
 The diverse gifts of all twenty-four proph- 
 ets converge in operation to one end, — 
 "cognition of divine truth, by contemplation 
 of which we are not only instructed in the 
 
 179 Par. xxiv, 106-108. Cf. St. Thomas, In Matt, x, 
 prin°: "... hoc est maximum (miraculum), quia per 
 duodecim vilissimos homines piscatores totus mundus con- 
 versus est." St. Thomas is speaking after St. Augustine. 
 
 180 See below, pp. 95 et seq. 
 
58 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 faith, but also governed in our acts." 181 Our 
 faith turns chiefly, however, on these two, — 
 true cognition of God as three in one, and the 
 mystery of the Incarnation. Christ incarnate 
 revealed the mystery of the Trinity; and on 
 this revelation "is founded the whole faith 
 of the Church, according to the words of 
 Matthew (xvi, 18): Super hanc petram, 
 scilicet confessionis tuae, aedificabo Ecclesiam 
 meant." 182 So the reward of the prophets will 
 be perfect understanding of this prime article 
 of their faith prophesied. 
 
 "Tal era quivi la quarta famiglia 
 Dell 'alto padre che sempre la sazia, 
 Mostrando come spira e come figlia." 183 
 
 And we are constantly reminded of this, 
 their supreme preoccupation. 184 And thus, 
 collectively, the twenty-four prophets in 
 their specially inspired works embody the 
 fourfold illumination of the Church, and the 
 "reduction" of these to the highest illumina- 
 tion, "the light of grace and holy Scripture." 185 
 The first illumination is by "external light, 
 
 181 St. Thomas, S. T. 1 1 — II, clxxiv, 6, c. 
 
 182 lb. 
 
 183 Par. x, 49-51. 
 
 184 E. g., Par. x, 1-3; xiii, 25-27, 52-57; *iv, 28-30. 
 
 185 St. Bonaventure, Reductio artium ad theologiam. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 59 
 
 i. e.of mechanical art," which illumines as to 
 "artificial form"; the second is by "inferior 
 light, i. e. of sense-cognition," which illumines 
 as to "natural form" ; the third is by "interior 
 light, i. e. of philosophic cognition," which 
 illumines as to intellectual truth; the fourth 
 is "by light of grace and holy Scripture," 
 which illumines as to "salutary truth." In 
 Dante's scheme, artificial or artistic form in 
 exposition and argument is controlled by 
 Grammar and Dialectic {logica utens) ; sense- 
 cognition, observation of things, supplies 
 data for the demonstrative sciences controlled 
 by Logic {logica docens), of which Physics 
 concerns the truth of concrete things, Meta- 
 physics the truth of abstract things, Ethics 
 the truth of human acts; and finally, Theol- 
 ogy brings truth salutary, or sum of all profit- 
 able truth, as contained under the fourfold 
 sense of Scripture. And this, as said, alto- 
 gether hinges on interpretation of the mystery 
 
 of the Trinity : 
 
 "da quel punto 
 
 Depende il cielo e tutta la natura." 
 NUMBER AND GROUPING OF THE SUN-SPIRITS 
 
 As expressive of the totality of illumina- 
 tions of the Church, the Sun-spirits are, 
 
60 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 according to medieval number-symbolism, 
 twenty-four, or twelve doubled. 186 Specifical- 
 ly, however, the considerable if mysterious 
 part played by the "twenty-four elders" in 
 Revelations is certainly in Dante's mind. 
 Church writers constantly if variously inter- 
 pret these elders. Most often they are said to 
 represent the patriarchs of the Old Testament 
 and apostles of the New Testament. 187 From 
 this, however, the step to their identification 
 with the representative exponents, doctors, of 
 the two Testaments is easy. 188 They are 
 called "elders" for their wisdom. 189 Also "all 
 preachers" — twenty-four as Fathers of the 
 Old and New Testaments, 190 also "wise 
 judges" to make manifest the mysteries of the 
 Law, and fulfil God's will to save mankind. 191 
 Dante's sun-spirits include doctors, preachers, 
 
 186 Cf. Albertus Magnus, De laud. b. Mar. Virg. XIII, 
 vii, v, 1 1 : "Per viginti quatuor sicut et per duodecim . . . 
 universitas figuratur." 
 
 187 E. g., St. Bonaventure, Expos, in reg. frat. minor. 
 iii; Albert. Mag., De laud. b. Mar. Virg. XII, vii, v, II, 
 In Apoc. b. Jo. 
 
 188 So e. g. Albert., In Apoc. v, 14: "Et viginti quatuor 
 seniores, id est, universi doctores, etc." Cf. xix, 4. 
 
 189 lb. 
 
 190 lb. xi, 17. 
 
 191 lb. v, 10. 
 
ariadne's crown 6i 
 
 and judges. But another text of Revelations 
 Albert interprets even more relevantly. "Et 
 in circuitu sedis sedilia viginti quatuor: et 
 super thronos viginti quatuor senior es sedentes, 
 circumamicti vestimentis albis, et in capitibus 
 eorum coronae aureae." 192 Collating this text 
 with Matthew xix, 28, 193 in which promise is 
 made by Christ of only twelve seats with 
 twelve that shall sit upon them, Albert 
 harmonizes the two by declaring that one 
 seat or throne refers to judiciary power, the 
 other to apostolic dignity, and that there are 
 so twelve seats in each class; or, twenty-four 
 on account of the merits of the apostles and 
 prophets. 194 Furthermore, he distinguishes 
 between the twenty-four seats and the twen- 
 ty-four sitting upon them, in that the seats 
 themselves represent all those in whom God 
 "sits," i. e. the congregation of the faithful or 
 lay-members of the Church, whereas those 
 sitting upon the seats are so called, "because 
 of their duty to govern and instruct in good 
 works these as subject to them." Besides 
 
 192 iv, 4. 
 
 193 Jesus autem dixit illis: "Amendico vobis, quod vos 
 qui secuti estis me, in regeneratione, cum sederit Filius 
 hominis in sede majestatis suae, sedebitis et vos super 
 sedes duodecim, judicantes duodecim tribus Israel." 
 
 194 lb., iv, 4. 
 
62 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 their golden crowns of victory over the vices, 
 they are clothed in white stoles, which Albert 
 interprets as their resurrected bodies, so offer- 
 ing to Dante another suggestion for the third 
 crown. 195 Finally, in connection with the 
 following verse, Rev. iv, 5, Albert adds to the 
 previous classes intended under the "elders" 
 "the greater personages in the Church, . . . 
 prelates." 196 
 
 In the light of these indications, I think it 
 may be said with confidence that the originals, 
 so to speak, of Dante's twenty-four prophets 
 of the Sun were St. John's twenty-four elders, 
 as interpreted by the theologians. I have 
 used Albert's interpretations for convenience, 
 not meaning to imply that Dante necessarily 
 used them rather than others. Not only were 
 such interpretations widely current, but each 
 writer added his own amendment or exten- 
 sion according to his learning and inge- 
 nuity. 
 
 Thus in collective, as well as in individual, 
 
 195 lb. Cf. above, p. 14. Dante himself uses "bianche 
 stole" for the resurrected bodies in Par. xxv, 95, and ex- 
 plicitly after St. John in Revelations. 
 
 196 lb. 5. This verse also, among others, warrants 
 interpretation of the seven lamps, or candelabra, as the 
 gifts of the Holy Spirit possessed by the prophets of the 
 Sun. Cf. below, pp. 64 et seq. 
 
ariadne's crown 63 
 
 symbolic derivation, the twenty-four prophets 
 may be considered together as constituting 
 one whole group. Actually, however, Dante 
 presents the first circle of twelve as a 
 complete unit, and then the second circle as 
 if springing 197 from the first. It may be as 
 well, then, to consider the symbolic develop- 
 ments as he presents them, and first of the 
 first circle by itself. 
 
 SIGNIFICATION OF THE FIRST CIRCLE 
 
 Dante first sees this circle as a crown of 
 "living and victorious gleams" centered in 
 himself and Beatrice. 198 As presently indi- 
 cated, however, she, as the fair lady who 
 renders him worthy of heaven, is the true 
 center. 199 In this connection, as equivalent in 
 function towards him, Beatrice may repre- 
 sent the Church, the Bride, — or the Lady on 
 whose intercession the Church depends, the 
 Virgin Mary. Dante himself is the ftdelis 
 anima, representing the congregation of the 
 faithful or membership of the Church. The 
 twelve gleaming lights crowning — or rather 
 
 197 Nascendo. Par. xii, 13. 
 
 198 Par. x, 64-65. 
 
 199 Par. x, 92-93. 
 
64 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 girdling — them, is first compared to the halo 
 about the Moon : 
 
 "Cosi cinger la figlia di Latona 
 
 Vedem tal volta, quando l'aere e pregno 
 Si che ritenga il fil che fa la zona." 200 
 
 As Christ, bridegroom and king, is symbolized 
 in the Sun, the Church — or Mary — bride and 
 queen, is also symbolized in the Moon. 201 We 
 have already learned that the Sun makes 
 "Delia's girdle" of seven colors corresponding 
 with those of the seven "streamers" of the 
 candelabra, and that these streamers repre- 
 sent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. 202 So 
 the Church, or Mary, pregnant from the 
 Holy Spirit, contains the Filium, the Son, 
 who makes her girdle of the gifts, possession 
 of which makes salvation possible. 
 
 CARRIERS OF THE SEVEN GIFTS 
 
 The seven gifts, which are "certain habitual 
 dispositions of the soul, by which it is prompt- 
 ly moved by the Holy Spirit," 203 are needed 
 to supplement with divine instinct the natural 
 
 200 Par. x, 67-69. 
 
 201 Cf. Albert. Mag., op. cit. VI, xiii; III, iv. 
 
 202 p ur g, xxix, 73-78. 
 
 203 St. Thomas, 5. T. II— II, cxxi, 1. 
 
ariadne's crown 65 
 
 instinct of reason, from which the moral 
 virtues flow. 204 They are given to all that 
 have charity, and each of them implies the 
 rest. 205 Yet the meritorious action of one man 
 may illustrate one gift especially; another 
 that of another. So the individual living lights 
 that constitute their symbol, the moon- 
 girdle, might be expected severally to illus- 
 trate the seven particular gifts. And Dante's 
 hints seem to bear out the expectation. 
 
 Four of the gifts appertain to cognition; 
 three to volition. The four are understanding 
 (intellectus) , wisdom (sapientia), knowledge 
 (scientia) , and counsel {consilium) ; the three 
 are piety (pietas), fortitude (fortitudo), and 
 fear of the Lord (timor Dei). The four gifts 
 are ordained to supernatural knowledge which 
 in us takes its foundation from faith. By the 
 gift of understanding the mind penetrates and 
 grasps things beyond its natural faculty. 206 
 Dionysius and Richard of St. Victor clearly 
 illustrate this gift. By the gift of wisdom 
 man judges these supernatural things aright, 
 esteeming that he should adhere to them and 
 
 204 lb. I-II, lxviii, 2. 
 
 205 lb. 5. 
 
 206 St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, viii, 6, c. 
 
66 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 turn away from their opposites. 207 Solomon 
 and St. Thomas illustrate this gift, the former 
 on the positive, the latter on the negative 
 side in the Contra Gentiles. By the gift of 
 knowledge man judges created things. Alber- 
 tus Magnus, recognized authority on natural 
 science, illustrates this gift, especially for the 
 demonstrative sciences. St. Isidore, inter- 
 preter of the names of things, and Sigier, 
 corrector of false inference from propositions 
 concerning names of things, would illustrate 
 dialectic science. 208 By the gift of counsel 
 man judges individual actions. 209 Gratian's 
 counsel clarified actions under both laws. 
 Again, "the gift of counsel corresponds to 
 prudence, as aiding and perfecting it." 210 
 Orosius, "avvocato dei tempi cristiani" by his 
 Historiae adversns paganos aided and per- 
 fected St. Augustine's De civitate Dei, which 
 as "concerning those things which make for 
 the ultimate end," was preeminently a pru- 
 dential work. 
 
 Of the three gifts affecting the will, that of 
 
 207 lb. 
 
 208 "Scientia" is "rectitudo cognitionis . . . circa con- 
 clusiones." St. Thomas, I Anal. 44. 
 
 209 St. Thomas, 5. T. II— II, viii, 6, c. 
 
 210 lb. II— II, Hi, 2, c. 
 
ariadne's crown 67 
 
 fortitude is illustrated by Boethius, martyr. 
 For martyrdom is the supreme act of forti- 
 tude. 211 Piety is owed, after God, Pater 
 omnium, to parents and fatherland, patria. 212 
 Bede is specially cited for piety by Dante. 213 
 His Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is 
 deeply inspired by patriotism, pietas patriae, 
 as well as by piety towards God. Fear of the 
 Lord is given against pride, and is the begin- 
 ning of humility, 214 and corresponds to the 
 beatitude of the "poor in spirit." 215 Dante 
 commends Peter Lombard rather for his like- 
 ness in humility to the "poor widow," la 
 poverella, than for the value of his mite. 216 
 
 The second group of twelve spirits form 
 later a bow "like-colored" 217 with the first, and 
 should therefore show like correspondences 
 
 211 St. Thomas, 5. T. 1 1 -I I, cxxiv, 2. 
 
 212 lb. ci, 1. 
 
 213 Ep. VIII, vii, 117. 
 
 214 St. Thomas, 6". T. II— II, xix, 9, 4 m . 
 
 215 lb. 12. 
 
 216 Par. x, 106-108. St. Bonaventure cites the poor 
 widow as the most perfect example of poverty in spirit : 
 "paupertas . . . altissima sibi subtrahit etiam necessaria, 
 sicut ilia vidua, qui in gazophylacio de suis necessariis duo 
 dedit minuta." Redes. Hierarch. I, iv. Cf. De paupertate 
 Christi, I, i. 
 
 217 Par. xii, 11. 
 
 / 
 
68 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 with the gifts. Some indeed fall readily into 
 place. Supernatural understanding was given 
 to Nathan and Joachim as foretellers. Il- 
 luminate, courting martyrdom with his mas- 
 ter St. Francis, so expressed the gift of for- 
 titude. Augustino, as related above, 218 showed 
 superabounding piety towards his spiritual 
 father, St. Francis. St. Anselm and Hugo of 
 St. Victor would fill the bracket of wisdom 
 for inspired judgment of supernatural things; 
 Sts. Bonaventure and Chrysostom that of 
 counsel in the temporal actions of men; 
 Rabanus, Peter of Spain, and Donatus that 
 of knowledge or science. Pietro Mangiadore, 
 or Petrus Comestor, would so be left to repre- 
 sent "fear of the Lord," and if, as before, we 
 may take humility and poverty in spirit as 
 special marks of that gift, Peter's famous 
 punning epitaph on himself would give war- 
 rant. It ran: 
 
 "Petrus eram, quern petra tegit; dictusque 
 
 Comestor 
 Nunc comedor. Vivos docui nee cesso docere 
 Mortuus, ut dicat, qui me videt intumulatum: 
 Quod sumus, iste fuit; erimus quandoque, 
 
 quod hie est." 
 
 218 
 
 P P- 37-38. 
 
ariadne's crown 69 
 
 secondary symbolism of the circles 
 
 The primary business of all prophets is as 
 spokesmen of the Holy Spirit to counsel men. 
 In the exercise of this gift they resemble most 
 the Holy Spirit itself, which is said "by the 
 means of counsel to move the rational crea- 
 ture." 219 To be so moved, however, the crea- 
 ture must be "well-disposed," and the condi- 
 tion of docility results from possession of all 
 the gifts. The final image in Canto x sums 
 this doctrine. The wheel of twelve counselling 
 prophets, moved by the Holy Spirit through 
 its gifts, sounds a concordant note as a "clock- 
 wheel," orologio, sounding harmonious chimes, 
 invites the "well-disposed soul" to morning- 
 worship. 220 The figure of the clock is also 
 pertinent, since the right timing of actions is 
 an important function of the gift of counsel. 221 
 
 PRIMACY OF CONTEMPLATIVES 
 
 That the Bride, the Church, might keep 
 straight on her way to Christ, the Bride- 
 
 219 St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, Hi, i, c. 
 
 220 Par. x, 139-148. 
 
 221 St. Thomas, 5. T. Ill Sent, xxxv, 2, 4, sol. 1: ". . . 
 recte consiliatur quis ... si tempus sit conveniens 
 rebus agendis, ne per diuturnitatem consilii tempus tran- 
 seat." So Nathan wrongly advised David to build the 
 Temple at once. 
 
70 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 groom, Providence ordained two "princes" 
 to escort her, one on either side, and one 
 seraphic in heat of charity, the other cherubic 
 in light of wisdom. 222 Both together represent 
 perfect prudence, "which to the end of all life 
 rightly counsels, judges, and commands." 223 
 These two, Dominic and Francis, were or- 
 dained to lead the Church 
 
 "per cammino 
 U'ben s'impingua, se non si vaneggia." 224 
 
 For making the founders of the two great 
 religious orders guiding "princes" of the 
 Church Militant Dante had the authority of 
 St. Bonaventure. In the subtly symbolical 
 treatise, Illuminationes Ecclesiae in Hexae- 
 meron 22b St. Bonaventure orders the ecclesias- 
 tical hierarchy after the angelic. Highest 
 are the contemplatives, who, moved by the 
 Holy Spirit, are dedicate to divine things in 
 three ways: (i) by supplication, (2) by 
 speculation, (3) by ecstasy or rapture. 226 To 
 
 222 p ar x ^ 28-39. 
 
 223 St. Thomas, S. T. 1 1 — 1 1 , xlvii, 13, c. 
 
 224 Par. x, 95-96. 
 
 225 Sermo xxii. 
 
 226 "Sursumactivam, scilicet excedentium." "Excessus 
 mentis," is the schoolmen's translation of the Greek 
 
 e/ccTTatns. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 7 1 
 
 the first of these three grades belong the 
 monastic orders dedicated to prayer and 
 devotion, such as the Cistercian, Premon- 
 strant, Carthusian, etc. These correspond 
 to the Thrones. To the second grade be- 
 long those orders dedicated to "speculation," 
 that is, principally doctrinal interpretation 
 of Scripture. These correspond to the Cher- 
 ubim, and are "the Preachers and the 
 Minors," i. e. Dominicans and Franciscans. 
 The Preachers, as their name implies, are given 
 primarily to speculation, and secondarily to 
 "unction," or holy meditation; 227 the Minors 
 vice versa. And St. Bonaventure quotes St. 
 Francis as having said that he wished his 
 friars to study, provided they "did some- 
 thing" first: "for to know much, and taste 
 not, what boots it?" 228 Whatever St. Francis 
 may have meant, Bonaventure the mystic 
 interpreted the word "taste," gustare, as an 
 emotional experience. Gustus is the fifth 
 
 227 Unctio is the second of the seven grades of contempla- 
 tion, and is defined in St. Bonaventure's figurative language 
 as "quidam roseus liquor, qui per totam animam se diffun- 
 dens ipsam erudit, corroborat et confortat, disponens earn 
 suaviter ad veritatis luculentias suscipiendas, atque 
 pariter contemplandas, etc." De septem gradibus con- 
 template prin°. 
 
 228 lb. 
 
7 2 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 grade of contemplation, and defined as "a 
 certain instilled and delectable foredraught of 
 the superinestimable divine sweetness." By 
 receiving it, "we are conformed to the cogni- 
 tion of supercelestial substances." 229 St. 
 Bonaventure's distinction, then, between 
 Dominican and Franciscan activity is, to 
 speak simply, one between the mystic's 
 absorption in his own emotional experience 
 and the theologian's doctrinal study and 
 preaching. It is a distinction, however, of 
 degree only. Both orders correspond, he 
 declares, to the Cherubim, who signify "plen- 
 itude of knowledge or wisdom," as the 
 Seraphim signify "fire of charity." 230 In St. 
 Francis himself, indeed, so intense was 
 charity that it exalted him to the sixth grade 
 of contemplation, which is nearly that of the 
 blest. From this "quiet," or absolute and 
 habitual self -absorption in God, he rose 
 momentarily to the seventh and final grade 
 of "glory" when the six-winged Seraph 
 appeared to him in vision to confer the 
 
 229 lb.: "Beneficio hujus gradus cognitio experientiae 
 tribuitur, per quam supercoelestium substantiarum cog- 
 nitioni conformamur." 
 
 230 lb., and II Sent, vi, i, I, concl. Cf. St. Thomas, 
 S.T.I, lxiii, 7, i m . 
 
ariadne's crown 73 
 
 stigmata. So St. Bonaventure conceives St. 
 Francis as constituting by himself a third, or 
 "Seraphic order," which in the fulness of time 
 may become an actual brotherhood, con- 
 summating the Church. 231 As consummative, 
 this future "Seraphic order" is correspondent 
 to the Holy Spirit. So after the age of the 
 Old Testament, or of the Father, and after 
 that of the New Testament, or of the Son, 
 shall come the age of the Apocalypse, or of 
 the Holy Spirit, — as indeed Joachim had 
 prophesied. 232 
 
 It is quite possible, I think, that Dante 
 intended this future third order in those dim 
 "new subsistences" which make a third circle 
 around the other two in the heaven of the 
 Sun, and which are hailed as "the true spark- 
 ling of the Holy Spirit." 233 This interpreta- 
 tion may coexist with that already given. 234 
 Though critics may forget it, Dante's allegory 
 is multiple. The "new subsistences" remain 
 angels; none else could represent a brother- 
 
 231 Ilium, eccles. xxii. 
 
 232 lb.: "Sex sunt tempora, quorum sextum tempus 
 habet sex tempora cum quiete. Et sicut Christus in sexto 
 tempore venit, ita opportet quod in fine generetur Ecclesia 
 contemplativa." 
 
 233 Par. xiv, 67-78. 
 
 234 pp. 14 et seq. 
 
74 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 hood not yet existent. Also, the interpreta- 
 tion gives point to the suggestive likeness of 
 the three concentric circles in the Sun to those 
 in the Empyrean avowedly signifying Father, 
 Son, and Holy Spirit. 235 St. Thomas, indeed, 
 is severe on the "vanity of those who say that 
 any age of the Holy Spirit is to be expected." 236 
 Dante may have differed on this point, or he 
 may have saved his loyalty by a distinction. 
 I do not know. But at least St. Thomas 
 would agree that the religious orders are right 
 leaders in spiritual instruction. 237 Moreover, 
 he was himself a friar. 
 
 DOMINICAN AND FRANCISCAN DOCTRINES 
 
 Dante's discipleship to St. Thomas is at 
 any rate manifest in the symbolic relations 
 between the first two circles, presided over by 
 St. Thomas himself and St. Bonaventure. 
 As the latter says, though both Preachers and 
 Minors correspond to the Cherubim as seekers 
 and d iff users of divine wisdom, yet the former 
 proceed rather by the mode of the intellect, 
 
 235 Par. xxxiii, 1 15-120. 
 
 236 S. T. I— II, cvi, 4, 2 m . 
 
 237 Quol. IV, xxiii, 18: "Status religionis est spiritualis 
 militia proficientibus, et exercitium tirocinii incipientibus." 
 
ariadne's crown 75 
 
 the latter rather by the mode of the will. 238 
 In other words, in his two groups of prophesi- 
 ers Dante presents the two sides of the great 
 medieval issue as to the primacy of the 
 intellect or of the will. The two schools 
 dividing on this issue were (1) the Platonic- 
 Augustinian, dominant during the first half 
 of the thirteenth century, and (2) the Aristo- 
 telian-Thomistic, which from 1245, when 
 Albertus Magnus began his teaching at Paris, 
 was becoming more and more influential, 
 until Dante could declare its doctrines "vir- 
 tually Catholic opinion." 239 The Franciscans 
 generally adhered to the older school, assert- 
 ing the preeminence of the idea of the good 
 over that of the true, and defining the latter 
 by the former. Also, they maintained the 
 primacy of will over intellect, both in God 
 and in man. So by act of will man attains to 
 God. 240 Consequently, they emphasized the 
 moral and mystical side of religious teaching, 
 whereas their opponents, the Thomists, em- 
 phasized its intellectual and doctrinal side. 
 For these the prime agency and the essential 
 
 238 Ilium, eccles. xxii. 
 
 239 Conv. IV, vi, 145-150. 
 
 240 Cf. P. Mandonnet, Siger de Brabant, etc., I, ii. 
 
76 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 reward of salvation was the intellectual vision. 
 So Dante: 
 
 "Quinci si puo veder come si fonda 
 L'esser beato nell'atto che vede, 
 Non in quel ch'ama, che poscia seconda." 241 
 
 Dante's first circle, then, are either Thom- 
 ists, or such as abetted or anticipated in 
 principle the Thomist point of view. The 
 second circle is of Augustinians and their 
 natural allies. 242 The distinction may be 
 variously illustrated. Thus Sigier served the 
 discipline of the Aristotelian syllogism and 
 logical argumentation, natural intellectualist 
 mode of convincing. Donatus, as gram- 
 marian, more fitly served the Augustinian, 
 who appealed rather to the affective side of 
 human nature, and so employed rhetorical 
 persuasion. Again, the Augustinians were 
 indifferent, or even averse, to natural science; 
 so that there is no exact pair to Albertus 
 Magnus in the second circle. On the other 
 hand, Illuminato and Augustino are presented 
 as examples of right spiritual conduct solely. 
 They wrote nothing. All of the first circle 
 taught primarily by their writings. 
 
 241 Par. xxviii, I 09-11 I. 
 
 242 Cf. Mandonnet, op. cit. I, p. 287 K 
 
.». 
 
 ARIADNE S CROWN 77 
 
 COOPERATION OF THE TWO ORDERS 
 
 The important point of Dante's argument, 
 however, is that the two schools are not 
 antagonistic, but complementary. 243 St. 
 Thomas and his group communicate by 
 science the true; St. Bonaventure and his 
 group communicate by charity the good. Of 
 both groups it may be said, that "ad un fine 
 fur I'oper e sue." 2U Both are needed. 
 
 "Degno e che dove l'un, l'altro s'induca 
 Si che com'elli ad una militaro, 
 Cosi la gloria loro insieme luca." 245 
 
 St. Thomas, as well as St. Dominic, was 
 
 "L'amoroso drudo 
 Delia fede cristiana, il santo atleta 
 Benigno ai suoi, ed ai nemici crudo." 246 
 
 Also, "gran dottor," 247 he was granted, in his 
 Contra Gentiles, 
 
 "contro al mondo errante 
 Licenza di combatter per lo seme 
 "Del qual ti fascian ventiquattro piante." 248 
 
 243 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, clxxxiii, 2. 
 
 244 Par. xi, 42. 
 
 245 Par. xii, 34-36. 
 
 246 lb. 55-57- 
 
 247 lb. 85. 
 
 248 lb. 94-96. 
 
78 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 So St. Bonaventure, who always "set aside 
 the left-hand care/' 249 wedded like his master, 
 St. Francis, Poverty — in spirit as in material 
 things; and so attained 
 
 "alia mercede 
 Ch'ei merito nel suo farsi pusillo." 25 ° 
 
 The extreme of the Franciscan principle of 
 voluntary renunciation appears in the "nihil- 
 ism" of Jacopone da Todi, according to whom 
 the soul, to become all love, renounces even 
 its own faculty of intellect, and enters into 
 the "darkness": 
 
 "Priuato lo ntellecto, 
 
 sguardando ne l'arfecto, 
 
 la luce che luce tenebria me pare." 261 
 
 SYMBOLS OF THE JOINT SERVICE 
 
 Dante illustrates this complementary serv- 
 ice of the two groups of spiritual leaders 
 by a remarkable variety of symbolic images 
 and similes. These are none of his own inven- 
 tion, however, but derive ultimately from 
 Scripture, and occur constantly and variously 
 applied in the writings of earlier and con- 
 
 249 Par. xii, 129. 
 
 250 Par. xi, iio-iii. Cf. St. Bonaventure, Sermones de 
 tempore, Domen. xiv post Pentecost. II: "Pusilli sunt 
 homines, quorum est haereditas regni coelestis." 
 
 261 Lauda lxxxxij, 49-51. Ed. G. Ferri, Roma, 19 10. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 79 
 
 temporary theologians. Some of the figures 
 are merely descriptive, such as comparison 
 of the leaders of the two orders to "cham- 
 pions" of the army of the Church Militant, 252 
 to "pilots" of the "ship of Peter," 253 to "shep- 
 herds" of Christ's sheep, 254 to keepers of his 
 vineyard, 255 or of the "Catholic orchard." 256 
 But the rest allegorically enrich the concep- 
 tion of reciprocity itself. As "suns," 257 the 
 two groups respectively light the world with 
 wisdom, and warm it with charity. 258 That 
 the one act needs the complement of the 
 other is implied in the image of the "holy 
 millstone," i. e. the first circle, which 
 
 "nel suo giro tutta non si volse 
 Prima ch'un'altra di cerchio la chiuse, 
 E mo to a mo to e canto a canto la colse." 259 
 
 252 Par. xii, 37-45. 
 
 253 Par. xi, 1 18-120. 
 
 254 lb. 124-132. 
 
 255 Par. xii, 86-87. 
 
 256 lb. 104-105. 
 
 257 Par. xi, 50. 
 
 258 The conception of St. Dominic as primarily the light- 
 giver would explain the implied prophetic signification of 
 his mother's name of Giovanna. In the Vita Nuova, cap. 
 xxiv, Giovanna is declared to be so named to correspond 
 with Giovanni, precursor of the true Light. So Giovanna, 
 as his mother, is the precursor of the light-bringer Dominic. 
 
 259 Par. xii, 3-6. 
 
80 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Two millstones are needed for grinding. 
 
 This point made, Dante immediately 
 metamorphoses the two concentric circles 
 into the likeness of 
 
 "Due archi paralleli e concolori . . . 
 Nascendo di quel d'entro quel di fuori 
 (A guisa del parlar di quella vaga 
 Ch'amor consunse, come sol vapori)." 
 
 260 
 
 In this sequence speaks the Thomist, giving 
 the primacy to intellect represented by the 
 first, or inner, circle, of which the circle dedi- 
 cated primarily to charity is "born" as a 
 reflection, or echo. For although charity is 
 before faith in the "order of perfection," it is 
 subsequent in the "way of generation." 261 
 The rainbow has also a symbolic signification 
 of its own, making 
 
 "qui la gente esser presaga 
 Per lo patto che Dio con Noe pose 
 Del mondo, che giammai piu non si allaga." 262 
 
 "By the rainbow is signified Christ, by 
 whom we are protected from spiritual 
 
 260 lb. ii, 13-15. 
 
 261 St. Thomas, 5. T. II— II, iv, 7. Cf. Ptirg. xxix, 127- 
 129. 
 
 262 Par. xii, 16-18. 
 
ariadne's crown 8i 
 
 flood." 263 The two groups of interpreters 
 have revealed Christ in his twofold nature 
 and his twofold effect of light and love, further 
 refracted by the Holy Spirit into the seven 
 gifts. 
 
 Immediately, again, the two bows turn in 
 Dante's imagination into two "garlands" of 
 "sempiternal roses." 264 The Rose as a symbol 
 signifies, according to context, Christ or Mary 
 or the Church or the faithful soul. Christ 
 indeed was the "true Rose," and Mary — or 
 the Church or the faithful soul — may be 
 conceived as a rose stained red with Christ's 
 blood. And red is the color of flame, and by 
 flame charity is signified. 265 
 
 Again, the two leaders, Dominic and 
 Francis — and by implication their later repre- 
 
 263 St. Thomas, Quol. iii, 30. St. Bonaventure elaborates 
 the image in connection with the Sun: "Arcus ille est Ver- 
 bum increatum et incarnatum, radius Solis ingeniti excep- 
 tus in nube concava humanitatis assumptae." Compend. 
 princip. in libros Sentent. {Opera ed. Peltier, VI, p. 623.) 
 
 264 Par. xii, 19-21. Cf. Par. x, 91-93. 
 
 265 Albert. Mag., De laud. b. Mar. Virg. XII, iv, 33-34: 
 "Et nota, quod Christus rosa, Maria rosa, Ecclesia rosa, 
 fidelis anima rosa . . . Christus . . . vera fuit rosa, 
 sanguine proprio rubricatus. Ipsa (Maria) non suo san- 
 guine, sed sanguine Filii rubricata . . . Rosa enim 
 coloris est ignei, et per ignem charitas designatur." Cf. 
 Purg. xxix, 122-123. 
 
82 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 sentatives and spokesmen, Thomas and 
 Bonaventure — are called the two wheels of 
 the chariot of the Church. 266 The straight- 
 forward progress of the Church depends upon 
 the perfect circularity of its wheels. If either 
 get out of plumb, the pilot-car runs off the 
 road, and the folk following are thrown into 
 confusion, or — Dante changes his figure: 
 
 "... tosto si vedra della ricolta 
 
 Delia mala cultura, quando il loglio 
 Si lagnera che l'arca gli sia tolta." 267 
 
 In the surface-connection, the word area 
 means "bin." A special appropriateness of its 
 being taken away, if the chariot of the Church 
 swerves from the path, will appear present- 
 ly. 268 
 
 ariadne's crown 
 
 The final self-revealing image is formed by 
 the two circles of gleaming lights, conceived 
 as stars. Dante likens the resulting "sign in 
 heaven" to the constellation known as 
 Ariadne's Crown, doubled as by a shadow of 
 itself. 
 
 266 Par. xii, 106-108. 
 
 267 lb. 1 12-120. 
 
 268 p. 86. 
 
Ariadne's crown 83 
 
 "E Tun nell'altro aver li raggi suoi, 
 
 Ed ambedue girarsi per maniera 
 
 Che l'uno andasse al prima' e l'altro al poi,' — 
 Ed avra quasi l'ombra della vera 
 
 Costellazion e della doppia danza 
 
 Che circulava il punto dov'io era." 269 
 
 The primacy of the intellectualist group 
 emphasizing faith is so again insisted on. 
 Their common song, however, is of the first 
 two fundamental articles on the Trinity and 
 the Incarnation, 270 of which, according to St. 
 Thomas, explicit profession is obligatory. 271 
 
 COMPOSITION OF ARIADNE S CROWN 
 
 The symbol of the doubled Crown serves 
 visibly to sum the lesson of the Sun, as later 
 the Cross in Mars, 272 the Eagle in Jupiter, and 
 the Ladder in Saturn. The Crown, moreover, 
 
 269 Par. xiii, 16-21. 
 
 270 St. Thomas, S. T. 1 1 — II, clxxiv, 6: "Fides nostra in 
 duobus principaliter consistit: primo quidem in vero Dei 
 cognitione . . . secundo in mysterio Incarnationis Christi." 
 
 271 S. T. II — II, ii, 7-8. Cf. Dante's own confession of 
 faith in Par. xxiv, 130-147. 
 
 272 As one possible suggestion for these heavenly signs 
 may be cited the "burning Cross" which Constantine saw 
 in the sky, and which carried the motto — "Triumph by 
 this sign." Eusebius, Vita Constant. I, 28-29. 
 
84 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 is a symbol of symbols; and Dante carefully 
 indicates these, its component parts : 
 
 "Imagini chi bene intender cupe 
 
 Quel ch'io or vidi (e ritenga 1 'image 
 Mentre ch'io dico, come ferma rupe) 
 
 Quindici stelle che in diverse plage 
 Lo cielo awivan di tanto sereno 
 Che soperchia dell'aere ogni compage; 
 
 Imagini quel Carro a cui il seno 
 
 Basta del nostro cielo e notte e giorno, 
 Si ch'al volger del temo non vien meno ; 
 
 Imagini la bocca di quel corno 
 
 Che si comincia in punta dello stelo 
 A cui la prima rota va dintorno — 
 
 Aver fatto di se due segni, etc." 273 
 
 Dante solemnly exhorts his reader to hold 
 to this complicated image "as to a solid rock." 
 We may well do so, for the image indeed is 
 of the "rock," the spiritual foundation, on 
 which the Church is built. 
 
 We are given then, (i) the fifteen fixed 
 stars of the first magnitude, according to the 
 Ptolemaic astronomy; (2) the brighter seven 
 of Ursa Major, which form the so-called 
 Wain, or Carro; (3) the brighter two of Ursa 
 Minor, which, connected with imaginary lines 
 with "the point of the axis" of the celestial 
 
 273 Par. xiii, 1-13. 
 
ariadne's crown 85 
 
 sphere, would outline a "Horn." Further- 
 more, we are reminded that the Wain, or 
 Car, is perpetually above the horizon of the 
 habitable earth, provided that its "pole" is 
 not swerved aside. I say "reminded" advised- 
 ly, for we have heard already of the Car 
 drawn by the Griffin in the procession of the 
 Church in the Earthly Paradise, and more 
 recently of the Chariot of which Dominic and 
 Francis are the two wheels. 2 74 The war-chariot , 
 biga, is the Church Militant against the 
 world, the flesh, and the devil. The car, 
 carro, is the Church conceived as the vehicle, 
 or vessel, in which man is conveyed to heaven, 
 and of which the prototype would be the car 
 of Elijah. 275 Also, as alternative to carro 
 Dante uses the word plaustro. 276 Plaustrum 
 is the term used in the Vulgate for the car, 
 or cart, on which the ark of the Covenant 
 was carried in the exodus of Israel from 
 
 27A Purg. xxix., 106 et seq.; Par. xii, 106 et seq. The 
 correspondence of the verse numbers may be noted. 
 
 275 Inf. xxvi, 35. Dante uses also the figure of the 
 "ship," — e.g. Par. xi, 1 17-120. Cf. St. Bonaventure, IV 
 Sent, xiv, 1, dub. 1: ". . . mare est mundus iste . . . 
 Navis per quam homo transit super undas hujus maris 
 est . . . Ecclesia." 
 
 276 Purg. xxxii, 95. 
 
86 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Egypt. 277 Dante twice interprets that ex- 
 odus to signify allegorically our redemp- 
 tion. 278 The ark of the Covenant contained 
 the tables of the Law, Aaron's rod, and the 
 pot of manna, 279 to which articles, as will be 
 shown presently, a spiritual signification was 
 given in the Christian Church. The word 
 area is also used by Dante for the body of the 
 car of the Church. 280 We may see, then, the 
 meaning of the passage in which it is said that 
 if the car of the Church swerve from the right 
 path, the "ark" shall be taken away from the 
 "tare." 281 From the "tare," i. e. the unfaithful 
 soul, shall be taken away the ark of the Cov- 
 enant by which he might have been saved. 282 
 
 277 II Reg. 6. 
 
 278 Ep. x, sect. 7; Conv. II, i, 62-65. It is also sung of 
 by the spirits entering into Purgatory — Purg. ii, 46. Cf. 
 also Par. xxv, 55-57. 
 
 279 Exod. xxxvii, 1 ; Hebr. ix, 4. 
 
 280 Purg. xxxii, 125. 
 
 281 Par. xii, 1 12-120. 
 
 282 An extension of this metaphor appears in the last 
 image of the Comedy: 
 
 "... gia volgeva il mio disiro e il velle 
 Si come ruota ch'egualmente e mossa, 
 L'Amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle." 
 The adverb egualmente implies a twofold "equality." 
 (1) Dante's now superrationally ordered appetitive nature, 
 — ordered, that is, by a divinely infused intelletto d'amore, — 
 rolls like a perfectly circular wheel evenly with the divine 
 
ariadne's crown 87 
 
 The Wain, as a constellation, gives guid- 
 ance to mariners — and so figuratively to the 
 "ship" of the Church — because the line 
 through its two hinder stars points to the 
 
 "fiery wheel" of the Love which is of God, and is God. 
 (Albert calls "celestial essences" "fiery wheels" — ignea 
 rota — Opera XXXII, p. 362.) (2) The two wheels by which 
 the human soul is carried into action are instinctive desire 
 (disiro) and rational will (yelle). By its act of judgment 
 the rational will accepts, or rejects, the desire as a motive 
 of action. ("Velle est actio manens in voluntate." St. 
 Thomas, Cont. Gent. I, lxxix, fin.) Obviously, acceptance 
 of any desire as a motive of action is rational only if the 
 desire in question is possible of attainment. In other 
 words, the two wheels of il disiro and il velle must turn 
 "equally." If one wheel were smaller than the other, or if 
 either were out of plumb (Cf. Par. xii, 112-114), the active 
 progress of the soul could not be straightforward or even. 
 By his rapture, however, Dante is conformed to God, 
 "la prima Equalita" so called because in him all faculties 
 are perfect and therefore equal. {Par. xv, 73-78.) 
 
 Moreover, in this last image of the poem, the saved 
 individual soul reproduces in miniature the symbol of the 
 Church, its agency of salvation. It too appears as a car, 
 consisting of a body or "ark" carried on two wheels, and 
 drawn by Christ's love. Thus fittingly, the final cause of 
 the Church, which is the salvation of the individual, is 
 visually conformed to the Church itself as efficient cause, 
 and — as a matter of literary symmetry — the dramatic 
 climax of the Purgatory balances and is bound in with 
 that of the Paradise. (In addition to the sources of the 
 symbol indicated above, further warrant and allegorical 
 enrichment were given by the text of the Song of Songs iii, 
 9-10: "Ferculum fecit sibi rex Salomon de lignis Libani, 
 columnas ejus fecit argenteas, reclinatorium aureum, 
 
88 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 pole-star. 283 And as the Wain is always above 
 our horizon, its guidance is perpetual. 284 
 And so the guidance of the Church was 
 intended to be; but she has made perverse 
 use of her freedom. In the real constellation, 
 four stars outline the body of the Wain, three 
 its pole; its wheels are left to the imagination. 
 Needing the wheels for his symbolism, Dante 
 seems to have requisitioned two superfluous 
 stars from the pole. It is not the only case of 
 his modifying physical fact to fit spiritual or 
 symbolic truth. 
 
 THE LIVING STARS OF THE "MOUTH 
 OF THE HORN" 
 
 To enter into the car of the Church, which 
 conveys him to heaven, man as a penitent 
 
 ascensum purpureum, media charitate constravit propter 
 filias Jerusalem." Cf. especially Albert. Mag., op. cit. X, 
 iv: Maria ferculum. Also, he and other theologians 
 variously color the assumed allegorical meaning of the 
 text in their commentaries on the Song of Songs. The 
 matter is of capital importance in connection with the 
 signification of Beatrice in the chariot in the Earthly 
 Paradise, but to discuss that signification here would carry 
 us too far afield.) 
 
 283 Cf. Purg. xxx, 1-6. 
 
 284 Cf . St. Thomas, In Job ix, 2 : "Arcturus quidem est 
 quaedam constellatio in coelo, quae vocatur Ursa major, 
 et habet septem Stellas claras, quae nunquam nobis 
 occidunt, sed semper circumeunt polum septentrionalem." 
 
ariadne's crown 89 
 
 must receive baptism. 285 Speaking through 
 the mouths of his prophets, God called men 
 to repentance before he revealed himself in 
 Christ. Two above all were his mouthpieces, 
 — Moses, "supreme prophet" of the Old Law, 
 and John the Baptist, who, as announcing the 
 New Law, was "not only prophet, but more 
 than prophet." 286 They par excellence would 
 be the stars forming "the mouth of the horn" 
 
 "Che si comincia in punto dello stelo 
 A cui la prima rota va dintorno," — 
 
 "point" figuratively one with "that point" 
 from which 
 
 "Dipende il cielo e tutta la natura," 287 
 
 to wit, God. But for other reasons, Dante 
 substitutes the "prophets" Nathan and 
 Joachim as equivalent in function. 
 
 THE FIFTEEN FIXED STARS 
 
 The car of the Church moves from and to 
 Christ. Her efficient cause is the Word 
 incarnate; her final cause the Word as it is 
 with God. The Word was made flesh in Mary 
 
 285 St. Thomas, S. T. Ill, lxviii, 4. 
 
 286 lb. II— II, clxxiv, 4; III, xxxviii, 1. 
 
 287 Par. xxviii, 41-42. 
 
90 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 by the instrumentality of the announcing 
 angel Gabriel, messenger of the Holy Spirit. 
 According to St. Bonaventure, indeed, Mary 
 conceived from the Word spoken into her ear 
 by Gabriel. 
 
 "Gaude, virgo Maria, Mater Christi, 
 Quae per aurem concepisti, 
 Gabriele nuntio." 288 
 
 By this reckoning, the divine factors of the 
 Church are three: (i) Christ incarnate, fruit 
 of (2) Mary and (3) Gabriel, "angelic love," 
 transmitting agency of the Holy Spirit. 289 
 
 Christ on earth personally propagated the 
 Word ; before returning to heaven, he appoint- 
 ed twelve apostles to propagate it in the four 
 parts of the earth. Because they had been 
 with Christ, and had received the Word 
 directly from him, the apostles received and 
 gave a more than human illumination to 
 mankind, especially as interpreters of the 
 
 288 Corona b. Mar. Virg., prin°. 
 
 289 Cf. Par. ii, 8-9: 
 
 "Minerva spira, e conducemi Apollo, 
 E nove Muse mi dimostran l'Orse." 
 The three divine illuminations — Minerva or Mary, 
 Apollo or Christ, and the nine Muses or orders of angelic 
 love collectively transmitting revelation, inspire Dante to 
 accept the guidance of the Bears or the Church. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 9 1 
 
 Word as it is written in Scripture. 290 They 
 may therefore be reckoned as semi-divine 
 factors of the Church. 
 
 Now exactly these fifteen superhuman — 
 three divine and twelve semi-divine factors, 
 or illuminations, of the Church are pointed 
 out to Dante in the heaven of the Stars. 291 
 They appear there as the fifteen stars of the 
 first magnitude, but are also described figura- 
 tively according to their respective virtues. 
 Christ is called a "sun" as source of all illum- 
 ination. 292 In the fair garden flowering under 
 his rays, Mary is the rose in which the Word 
 was made flesh, and the apostles are lilies, 
 
 "Al cui odor si prese il buon cammino." 293 
 The rose is especially the emblem of char- 
 
 290 St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, li, 4, c: ". . . Apostolis dedit 
 (Deus) scientiam Scripturarum, et omnium linguarum, 
 quam homines per studium, vel consuetudinem acquirere 
 possunt licet non ita perfecte." 
 
 2M Par. xxiii. The description of the fifteen stars, 
 
 "che in diverse plage 
 Lo cielo awivan di tanto sereno 
 Che soperchia dell'aere ogni compage," 
 {Par. xiii, 4-6) may intend allegorically that the fifteen 
 belong to a higher sphere than that of "air," i. e. mortality. 
 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. I, lxviii, 4; 1 1 — 1 1, clxxv, 3, 4 m . 
 
 292 lb. 25-39. 
 
 293 lb. 70-75. 
 
92 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 ity; the lily of faith. 294 Gabriel, angel of 
 the Annunciation and representative of "an- 
 gelic love," is presented as a flaming torch 
 that descends upon Mary, and then circling, 
 describes a crown about her head. 295 So is 
 indicated at once her conception and her 
 coronation, her own flame of charity, angelic 
 love, being expressed in each. 296 
 
 These are the divine illuminations of the 
 Church Triumphant : 
 
 "Quivi trionfa, sotto l'alto Filio 
 Di Dio e di Maria, di sua vittoria, 
 E con l'antico e col nuovo concilio, 
 
 Colui che tien le chiavi di tal gloria." 297 
 
 The Church Militant conforms to the Tri- 
 umphant. 298 So illuminations correspond- 
 ent to these fifteen should appear in the 
 Church Militant, and therefore among the 
 living stars of Ariadne's Crown. 
 
 294 Cf. Purg. xxix, 84, 145-150. 
 
 295 lb. 94-108. 
 
 296 Cf. St. Bonaventure, Psalter, majus b. Mar. virg. 6: 
 "Ut ignis in rubo, et ros in vellere: descendit in te 
 
 aeternum verbum Dei Spiritu sancto foecundante: 
 obumbravit tibi virtus Altissimi." 
 
 297 Par. xxiii, 136-139. 
 
 298 Cf., e. g., St. Bonaventure, II Sent, iv, 2. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 93 
 
 HUMAN REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
 DIVINE THREE 
 
 Between the three divine factors of the 
 Church — Christ, Mary, Gabriel — and three 
 of the prophets of the Sun correspondences 
 are manifest. Solomon is "divinest light of 
 the inner circle," 2 " circle closest to the center 
 of divine truth in Beatrice. His light is also 
 "loveliest" in charity: 
 
 "La quinta luce, ch'e tra noi piu bella, 
 Spira di tale amor che tutto il mondo 
 Laggiu ne gola di saper novella." 300 
 
 Such praise might be applied fittingly to 
 Christ himself. Indeed, in temporal wisdom 
 Solomon is before Christ. 301 Furthermore, 
 Solomon was taken by theologians as a type 
 of Christ. 302 
 
 Two others of the inner circle are accredited 
 with more than human powers, and so would 
 
 299 Par. xiv, 34-35- 
 
 300 Par. x, 109-111. 
 
 301 Par. xiii, 34-11 1. 
 
 302 Cf., e. g., St. Bonaventure, Princip. sacr. script., 
 circa fin. (Vol. IX, p. 15) : ". . .in figura pacifici Salomonis 
 praefiguratur Christus." Also, Solomon's mother in / 
 Kings ii, 19, is identified with Mary. Cf. Albert. Mag., 
 De laud. b. Mar. Virg. XII, vii, v, 3. 
 
94 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 illumine more divinely than the rest. One is 
 
 "II lume di quel cero 
 "Che giuso in carne piu addentro vide 
 L'angelica natura e il ministero." 303 
 
 Dionysius is clearly the inspired interpreter 
 of "angelic love." The other is that Riccardo 
 
 "Che a considerar fu piu che viro." 304 
 
 His teaching would, in degree, possess that 
 direct and intuitive insight ascribed to the 
 teaching of Mary, who from her intimate 
 knowledge of her Son was supposed not only 
 to hold the key of the. Scriptures, but even to 
 have dictated in part the Gospels them- 
 selves. 305 She was therefore especially com- 
 petent to interpret the spiritual sense behind 
 the letter. 306 And, as said, 307 Richard of St. 
 Victor was especially accredited with that 
 power. Also, as in Mary, human nature was 
 
 303 Par. x, 1 1 5-1 1 7. 
 
 304 Par. x, 132. 
 
 305 Albert. Mag., De laud. b. Mar. Virg. IV, xxxi, 2: 
 "... quatuor Evangelistas multa dictasse creditur 
 eorum quae scribebant." 
 
 306 lb. 11: "Et abscondita sub velamine litterae produxit 
 in lucem splritualis intelligentiae." 
 
 307 Above, pp. 29-30. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 95 
 
 exalted above the angelic "by grace of com- 
 prehension," 308 so Richard 
 
 "A considerar fu piu che viro." 309 
 REPRESENTATIVES OF THE APOSTLES 
 
 Primary object of the teaching of the 
 prophets of the Sun is, as we have seen, the 
 mystery of the Trinity. For the apostles, 
 says St. Thomas, numbered twelve that 
 three might preach the divine Three in each 
 of the four parts of the world. 310 Medieval 
 theologians variously classified the apostles 
 according to supposed individual virtues or 
 special missions. Dante is in no wise original, 
 therefore, in making the three principal 
 apostles — Peter, James, and John 311 — expon- 
 ents especially of the three theological vir- 
 tues of faith, hope, and charity. 312 As custo- 
 dian of the faith, Peter holds the keys of 
 salvation ; 313 and transmitted them with the 
 
 308 St. Bonaventure, II Sent, ix, I, 5, c. 
 
 309 Par. x, 132. 
 
 310 In Joan. VI, i, 9: ". . . duodecim esse dicuntur, 
 quia fides sanctae Trinitatis per eos predicanda erat in 
 quatuor partibus mundi." 
 
 311 Cf. Par. xxv, 31-33. 
 
 312 Par. xxiv-xxvi. Cf. G. Busnelli, il concetto e Vordine 
 del 'Paradiso' dantesco, 191 1, I, 153-156. 
 
 313 Par. xxiv, 34-36. 
 
96 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 power they signify to his successors, the 
 popes. The natural correspondent to the 
 apostle Peter, then, would be the one pope in 
 Dante's list, — Pietro Ispano, who became 
 John XXI. The "twelve booklets" in which 
 he shone below, by defining right logic, con- 
 trolled the "argument" by which from the 
 articles of faith is "syllogized" Christian 
 theology. 314 Peter Lombard indeed defines 
 the two keys as "scientia discernendi" and 
 "potentia judicandi." 315 Intellectually, Logic 
 forms these keys. 
 
 St. James, apostle of hope, is especially 
 commended by Beatrice for his "bounty." 316 
 This, and the fact that Dante uses verbatim 
 Peter Lombard's definition of hope, suggest as 
 fit correspondent in apostolic function to St. 
 James this one who 
 
 "con la poverella 
 Offerse a Santa Chiesa suo tesoro." 317 
 
 There are, Dante declares to St. John, three 
 supreme authorities for God as Love, and as 
 primal object of love, Aristotle's argument, 
 
 314 Cf. Par. xxiv, 76-78. 
 
 315 IV, dist. xviii. 
 
 316 Par. xxv, 29-30. 
 
 317 Par. x, 107-108. 
 
ariadne's crown 97 
 
 God's own testimony to Moses, and your 
 
 Gospel 
 
 "cominciando 
 L'alto preconio, che grida l'arcano 
 Di qui laggiu sopra ogni altro bando." 3l8 
 
 "The secret," or mystery, is that of the Incar- 
 nation, supreme act of divine love. The pur- 
 pose of the Gospel of St. John, according to 
 St. Bonaventure, is to define the union of the 
 two natures in Christ incarnate. 319 Of Dante's 
 doctors one was celebrated for his discussion 
 of this mystery, to wit, St. Anselm in his 
 Cur Deus Homo. To throw light upon the 
 mystery of the Incarnation was his apostolic 
 mission as it was St. John's, the beloved of 
 Christ. 
 
 St. Andrew, who converted to Christ his 
 brother Peter and suffered martyrdom by 
 crucifixion, and whose name signifies "virilis," 
 i. e. willingness "to fight for justice even unto 
 death," 32 ° is also especially commended for 
 having by preaching and practice shown up 
 the vanity of this world. 321 From every angle, 
 
 318 Par. xxvi, 37-45. 
 
 319 In evang. Joan, cap. i, prin°. 
 
 320 St. Bonaventure, Expos. Missae, iv, circa fin. 
 
 821 St. Bonaventure, Sermones de Sanctis, De S. Andrea 
 Apos., sermo I. 
 
98 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 therefore, St. Andrew's apostolic mission is 
 paralleled in principle by the martyred St. 
 Severinus, or Boethius, who, having seen the 
 true good, 
 
 "II mondo fallace 
 Fa manifesto a chi di lei ben ode." 322 
 
 In the names of Andrew and Philip, says 
 St. Thomas, may be understood two things 
 needful for preachers who would lead men to 
 Christ: (i) the discretion of well-ordered 
 speaking, which is indicated in the name 
 Philip as interpreted "os larnpadis," "mouth 
 of splendor;" (2) the virtue of good opera- 
 tion, as denoted in the name Andrew as inter- 
 preted "virile." 323 For eloquence as a preacher 
 especially St. John Chrysostom was famous, 
 and for it received his cognomen meaning 
 "mouth of gold." 
 
 The name of the apostle Matthew is inter- 
 preted "donatus;" "by which," says St. Bon- 
 aventure, "is implied that doctrine should be 
 edificatory toward what is to be done (ad 
 
 322 Par. x, 125-126. 
 
 323 j n Joan. XII, iv, 3. Cf. St. Bonaventure, In Luc. vi, 
 me°: "Philippum, qui interpretatur os larnpadis. In quo 
 insinuatur, quod doctrina episcopalis debet esse lucida, 
 quantum ad intellectum audientium, etc." 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 99 
 
 operandum) . . . For the word of the 
 preacher confers the virtue of grace of preach- 
 ing and edification." 324 Also, St. Matthew 
 illustrates the saying that the humble shall 
 be exalted, since from a publican he was 
 exalted to be an apostle. 325 So the humble 
 grammarian Donatus has been exalted to be 
 an indispensable authority in that doctrine, 
 or discipline, which edifies, or builds up, the 
 operation, or discourse, of the preacher. 
 Certainly, at least neither Dante nor his 
 contemporaries were averse to such play on 
 words and names. 
 
 The name of Bartholomew is interpreted 
 "filius suspendentis aquas" i. e. Christ. 326 
 "Aquas" is variously understood, but com- 
 monly as "waters of wisdom." Waters are 
 "suspended" by their sources. The authority 
 on the "sources" of the "waters of wisdom" 
 was St. Isidore's Origines, seu Etymologiae. 
 
 "Thomas is interpreted abyssus; by which 
 is understood profundity of erudition in what 
 is to be believed (credendorum) ." 327 The 
 natural correspondent would be Albertus 
 Magnus, doctor universalis. 
 
 324 lb. 
 
 325 lb. v, circa fin. 
 
 526 St. Thomas, In Matt, x, prin°. 
 327 St. Bonaventure, In Luc. vi, me°. 
 
100 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 The remaining four apostles are classified 
 together by St. Bonaventure as examples of 
 "good conversation" {conversatio bona)? 2 * 
 "James, which is interpreted "wrestler" (lucta- 
 tor), son of Alphaeus, which is interpreted 
 "fleeing," signifies the example of perfect 
 poverty. Wherefore Gregory: "Let him who 
 enters into conflict with the devil, cast away 
 his clothing, lest he succumb. But what are 
 all earthly things, if not certain vestments 
 of the body." St. Francis literally and figura- 
 tively cast away his clothing, and wrestled 
 especially with the devil in person of the 
 Soldan. And Illuminato was there with him. 
 
 Simon, interpreted "obedient," surnamed 
 Zelotes, that is, "emulator," gave example of 
 "perfect humility" with the emulation of 
 ordered charity. And such was the quality 
 of the second of those two 
 
 "Che fur dei primi scalzi poverelli 
 Che nel capestro a Dio si fero amici," 329 
 
 the humble and loving gardener of the 
 convent, — Augustin . 
 
 Judas, i. e. "confessing" (confitens), brother 
 of James, is example of brotherly action, to 
 
 3 - 8 lb. 
 
 329 Par. xii, 131-132. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN JOI 
 
 whom apply the words of Deuteronomy 
 xxxiii, 7 : "His hands shall fight for him, and 
 he will be his aid against his adversaries." a30 
 And "he shall go up before others into the 
 battle." So Orosius was early in the fight 
 against the traducers of Christianity, lending 
 his aid to St. Augustine. 331 
 
 Lastly, Judas Iscariot is interpreted "mind- 
 ful of death" (memoria mortis) "in which is 
 signified example of mortification of the 
 flesh." But, continues St. Bonaventure, this 
 virtue is the natural weapon of the dissembler ; 
 and he quotes St. Paul 332 on the prevalence 
 in these last perilous days of traitors "having 
 a form of godliness, but denying the power 
 thereof." So in place of the traitor Judas was 
 set Matthias, that is, "the gift of the Lord." 
 Sigier combines both Judas and Matthias. 
 He goes "mindful of death," 
 
 "in pensieri 
 Gravi, a morir gli parve venir tardo." 333 
 
 In the Impossibilia, as shown above, 334 he 
 syllogizes blasphemous conclusions, acting in 
 
 330 Vulgate. 
 
 331 Par. x, 118-120. 
 
 332 j j Tim. iii, 1 et seq. 
 
 333 Par. x, 134-135. 
 
 334 pp. 49 et seq. 
 
102 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 so far the traitor Judas, making thereafter, 
 however, the gift of correction and true con- 
 clusion, so superseding Judas in Matthias. 
 It is possible, also, that Dante would imply 
 in Sigier an originally false, or Judas-like, 
 interpretation of Aristotle after Averroes, 
 later recanted and repented. 335 
 
 One apostle — the apostle above all 336 — 
 St. Paul, is not included in this scheme. 
 Dante, I think, had not forgotten him, but 
 consistently, more even in the Comedy than 
 in the New Life, conceives himself as carrying 
 on the mission of St. Paul. The supreme 
 correspondence would be of course their 
 common vision of God in rapture, but Dante 
 gives many others. His claim may be only 
 poetic feigning, though by no means certainly 
 so; but in any case the correspondence pro- 
 foundly affects the poem itself. Dante him- 
 self, for instance, exemplifies as protagonist 
 many if not most of the special gifts and 
 illuminations possessed severally by his 
 twenty-four prophets of the Sun; and the 
 
 335 Cf. above, pp. 49 et seq. 
 
 336 Cf. St. Thomas, Opus, lxxiii, 1: ". . . theologus hoc 
 nomen apostolus, determinat ad missos speciales Christi, 
 et adhue singulariter ad personam Pauli, quando sine 
 adjectione dicitur." 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN IO3 
 
 poem itself is a sutnma, or epitome, of their 
 joint wisdom further illumined by the "grace 
 freely given" of eloquence. 
 
 REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CAR 
 
 There remains to identify the Wain, or car 
 of the Church Militant on earth. The two 
 which represent the wheels must, as already 
 said, be Thomas and Bonaventure as chief 
 disciples of the founders of the two orders. 
 St. Bonaventure, as stressing especially the 
 virtue of charity, would represent the right 
 wheel; for Dante assigns to the right wheel 
 the theological virtues of which the chief is 
 charity. 337 St. Bonaventure was also called 
 doctor seraphicus for being seraphic in char- 
 ity. 338 Also, St. Thomas properly represents 
 the left wheel, since to this are assigned the 
 cardinal virtues, of which the chief is pru- 
 dence, and prudence in the more general 
 sense applies to all human cognition, specula- 
 tive as well as practical. As speculative, 
 prudence is that "provision" (proculvisio) of 
 God which is faith. 339 His cognomen of doctor 
 
 337 Purg. xxix, 121-126. 
 
 338 Cf. Par. xi, 37. 
 
 339 St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, xlvii, 2, 2 m . 
 
104 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 angelicus implies his more than human 
 insight into things above sense; for the com- 
 mon virtue of all angels is revelation, which is 
 transmitted by them to men, and more fully 
 to "superior men whom it behooves to instruct 
 others." 340 
 
 While on earth, and still from heaven, 
 Christ gave and gives true direction to the 
 Church. By his humanity he was subject to 
 divine law ; by his divinity he is divine law. 341 
 As vicariously authorized, the popes and 
 councils of the Church have interpreted this 
 divine law, and decreed special enactments 
 of it. These directive interpretations and 
 decrees were codified by Gratian in his 
 Decretum. He may therefore be said to have 
 taken the place of the Grifhn as directive of 
 the Car of the Church, and also as properly 
 distinguishing between the two "forums" of 
 the two-natured Law governing mankind, 
 canon and civil. In other words, his star 
 signifies the guiding pole (timone) of the Car. 
 
 The body of the Car symbolizes, as already 
 said, the Ark of the Covenant, containing (i) 
 the tables of the Law, (2) the rod of Aaron, 
 
 340 St. Thomas, 5. T. II— II, ii, 2, c; Opus. Ix (De human. 
 Christi), 1. 
 
 341 St. Thomas, 5. T. I— II, xciii, 1, 2 m ; 4, 2 m . 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 105 
 
 (3) the pot of manna. This sacred ark was set 
 by Solomon in the inner tabernacle, or holy of 
 holies, of the Temple. Both it and its con- 
 tents were elaborately and variously inter- 
 preted by medieval churchmen. 342 According 
 to St. Bonaventure, 343 the ark signifies the 
 "library," or repository (biblioteca) of the 
 Scriptures; its contents their contents as 
 interpreted (i) historically, as symbolized in 
 the two "tables" conceived as "testimonies ;" 344 
 
 (2) mystically, as symbolized in the pot of 
 manna, i. e. "bread of angels," or wisdom; 345 
 
 (3) morally, as symbolized in Aaron's rod. 346 
 (1) Representative of the historical inter- 
 pretation are Pietro Mangiadore with his 
 Historia Scholastica, which, bringing the 
 history of the Church down to the time of the 
 Apostles, gives testimony of the Old Dis- 
 pensation, and Bede with his Historia ec- 
 
 342 Cf., e. g., St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, cii, 6 m ; In Hebr. ii. 
 3« j n Psalter, lxvii. 
 
 344 Cf. Albert. Mag., Be laud. b. Mar. Virg. X, i, 6: 
 "... tabulas in quibus scriptum erat testamentum, cum 
 quaecumque ibi erant, possunt dici testimonial' 
 
 345 Cf. lb. XII, v, 11,4. 
 
 346 Cf. also, St. Bonaventure, Sermo in die Pentecostes xii: 
 "Unde virga Aaron florem et fructum simul habuit, quia 
 in rectitudine fidei bonae voluntatis non est sine fructu 
 boni operis." 
 
106 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 clesiastica gentis Anglorum, which gives testi- 
 mony of the New. 
 
 (2) Representative of the mystical inter- 
 pretation is Hugh of St. Victor. 347 
 
 (3) Representative of the moral interpre- 
 tation is Rabanus, especially in the teaching 
 of his school and the government of his 
 convent. 
 
 ariadne's crown and Beatrice 
 
 According to the interpreted symbolism of 
 Revelations iv, io, 348 the twenty-four "elders" 
 may be conceived as casting their "crowns" 
 i. e. their works of illumination, before the 
 throne of God. Dante, however, at least adds 
 a more ingenious and graphic symbolism. 
 Such emulative invention was the rule among 
 theological writers. Conceiving his person- 
 ages, or their illuminating works, as stars, 349 
 he first identifies these with two classes of 
 real stars, namely, those fixed in the heavens 
 like diviner natures, and those which, con- 
 
 347 Cf. above, p. 30. Also, one of Hugh's works was 
 entitled De archa mystica. 
 
 348 See above, p. 30. 
 
 349 Cf. Conv. II, xvi, 9-12: ". . .in ciascuna scienza la 
 scritture e Stella piena di luce, la quale quella scienza 
 dimostra." 
 
ariadne's crown 107 
 
 stellated and revolving around the pole-star, 
 serve as guides to mankind; and then 
 imagines these stars gathering and singing 
 together to form the crown of Ariadne, who 
 signifies at once the Church and the Mother 
 of the Church, Mary, and the faithful soul, 
 daughter of the Church. For Ariadne, 
 daughter of King Minos, regent of the lower 
 world, i. e. the earth, was raised to heaven 
 and crowned by Bacchus, i. e. Christ. 
 
 A much stressed text is that of Revelations 
 xii, 1 : "Signum magnum apparuit in coelo, 
 mulier amicta sole, et luna sub pedibus ejus, 
 et in capite ejus corona stellar um duodecim." 
 St. Bonaventure declares it preeminent among 
 "signs" given to men : 
 
 "Vidit Joannes mysticum 
 Signum quoddam mirabile, 
 Quod in coelo propheticum 
 Apparuit notabile. 
 Nunquam fuerat simile 
 Prophetis aenigmaticum 
 Signum datum, quod utile, 
 Praecedens ut mirificum." 350 
 
 By one reading, the "woman clothed with the 
 Sun," is the "contemplative soul," the Moon 
 
 350 
 
 Laus b. Virg. Mar. 
 
108 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 under her feet is the Church Militant — to 
 give needed support. 351 The crown which 
 rewards the soul would then be of the twelve 
 stars as signifying the twelve "considerations" 
 which "adorn the soul." 352 By another read- 
 ing, the Woman is the Church herself, trampl- 
 ing underfoot the Moon, i.e. unstable worldly 
 things. The twelve stars of her crown become 
 the twelve articles of faith, 353 or the saints 
 
 351 St. Bonaventure, Ilium, eccles., sermo xxii, prin°: 
 "Sicut enim anima contemplativa est mulier bona amicta 
 Sole, ita Luna est sub pedibus ejus non ad conculcandum, 
 sed ad stabiliendum, scilicet militans Ecclesia. Philosophi 
 multa consideraverunt de Sole aeterno; sed nihil eis 
 valuit, quia non fuit Luna sub pedibus." 
 
 352 lb. St. Bonaventure lists these as (i) consideratio 
 corporalium naturarum, (2) spiritualium substantiarum, 
 (3) intellectualium scientiarum, (4) affectualium virtutum, 
 
 (5) institutarum divinitus legum, (6) infusarum divinitus 
 gratiarum, (7) irrevocab ilium judiciorum, (8) incompre- 
 hensibilium misericordiarum, (9) remunerabilium meri- 
 torum, (10) praemiantium praemiorum, (11) temporalium 
 decursuum, (12) aeternalium rationum. If Dante, like 
 his theological masters, insisted upon driving home every 
 possible correspondence, he might have picked twelve of 
 his "stars" to illustrate especially these several "considera- 
 tions" crowning Dante's faithful soul: as thus, (1) Albert, 
 (2) Dionysius, (3) Anselm, (4) Bonaventure, (5) Gratian, 
 
 (6) Solomon, (7) Thomas, (8) Sigier the saved heretic, (9) 
 Boethius, (10) Bede?, (11) Joachim, (12) Richard. 
 
 353 St. Bonaventure, Sermo in die S. Pentecost., iii. 
 In Compend. theolog. veritatis, V, xxi, he conceives the 
 mission of each apostle as concerning particularly one 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN IO9 
 
 and doctors of the Church. 354 If the "woman 
 clothed with the Sun" is taken as Mary, the 
 twelve stars would be the totality of the 
 saints saved through her, or, more specifically, 
 her twelve prerogatives, or — doubled to con- 
 form to the twenty-four elders — the patri- 
 archs of the Old Testament and the apostles 
 of the New. 355 Also, as "clothed with the Sun," 
 Mary is not "naked," — that is, not a dis- 
 embodied spirit, — but clothed with the glori- 
 fied body. 356 
 
 Out of these various elements, as I con- 
 ceive, Dante built up his independent image, 
 or "sign." Beatrice, as faithful one of Mary, 
 is presented in heaven "clothed with the Sun" 
 of the glorified body, and crowned with the 
 twelve stars doubled to represent the two 
 schools of prophets illuminating the Church. 
 So far as the first school, the Thomists, 
 abides principally in faith of the mind, it has 
 likeness with the spirit of the Old Testament, 
 
 article of faith. Similarly, Dante might so conceive his 
 prophets, so far as twelve of them correspond to the 
 apostles. 
 
 354 Albert. Mag., op. cit. XII, vii, v, 11. 
 
 355 lb. 9. 
 
 356 lb. 4-5. "Ecce qualiter assumpta, scilicet non nuda, 
 id est, tantum in anima, sed amicta sole, id est, glorificato 
 corpore." 
 
110 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 whereas the second school, the Augustinians, 
 abiding principally in charity of the will, has 
 likeness with the spirit of the New. The 
 triple crown would indicate for Beatrice — 
 both as representative of the Church and as 
 individual saved soul — (i) the aurea of 
 essential reward, or perfecting of faith in 
 knowledge, (2) the aureole of "doctor," which 
 she was for Dante, and (3) the glory of the 
 new body, conceived as a second aureole. 357 
 Her aureole of "doctor" is in effect implied in 
 the garland of olive, Minerva's leaf, worn by 
 her when she appeared to Dante in the 
 Earthly Paradise. 358 "The oil of the olive 
 signifies," says Albert, "the oil of wisdom for 
 instructing novices. With this oil are filled 
 empty vessels (IV Regum iv, 4) : for the 
 valleys, that is, the humble shall abound in 
 the grain of wisdom, of which is made the 
 bread of life." 359 
 
 The garland of olive, indeed, can by itself 
 symbolize the three aureoles merited severally 
 by doctors, virgins, and martyrs. As its oil 
 
 357 Cf. above, pp. 14-15. 
 
 358 Purg. xxx, 31, 68. 
 
 359 Op. cit. XII, vi, ii, 3. Like the Virgin, Beatrice is 
 "umile ed alta piu che creatura." {Par. xxxiii, 2.) Dante 
 calls the wisdom he has received from her "pan degli 
 angeli." {Par. ii, 11.) 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN III 
 
 signifies wisdom above sense, dower of 
 doctors, and its "leaves" words of evangelical 
 preaching, so its "foliage" {coma) is virginity 
 to which is due the aureole. 360 Mary, of 
 course, was recognized as virgin of virgins, 
 and martyr of martyrs, but it may seem 
 incongruous for Dante to attribute, however 
 poetically, the aureoles of virginity and 
 martyrdom to his lady married as she was 
 and dying in her bed. Virgin he actually calls 
 her, however: 
 
 "Ma poi che l'altre vergini dier loco 
 A lei {Beatrice) di dir, etc." 361 
 
 The olive, says Albert again, "has a bitter 
 root," signifying that the just man should 
 "refuse the kingdom of this world, and run 
 to meet his crucifiers {crucifixoribus suis), 
 that is, the tribulations of this world, and say 
 with Lot, Genes, xix, 19: Non possum in 
 monte salvari."™ 2 Mary was a martyr, not in 
 the body, but in the "spirit." 363 God, who 
 scrutinizes the heart, may impute the merit 
 of martyrdom to one in will faithful unto 
 death, even if his faith be not actually 
 
 360 Albert. Mag., loc. cit. I. 
 
 361 Purg. xxxiii, 7-8. 
 
 362 Loc. cit. 6. 
 
 353 Albert. Mag., op. cit. Ill, xii, 1. 
 
112 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 brought to test. So St. Thomas rules, and 
 accepts St. Lucia, whom Dante associates 
 with Beatrice, as his authority. 364 At least, 
 Beatrice was taken from this life in her young 
 strength. Also, she voluntarily descended in- 
 to hell to save Dante. 
 
 Finally, the threefold circle described about 
 her, the "woman clothed with the Sun," is a 
 "shadowy preface" of that other threefold 
 circle to be seen by Dante in the Empyrean 
 as symbol of the Trinity. 365 Like Mary, 
 Beatrice is enwrapped or involved, as it were, 
 immediately in the Godhead, or — to recur to 
 Dante's earlier metaphor — she is the im- 
 mediate product of which the sole factor is 
 the divine Three, and so she is a Nine, number 
 of miracle. 366 
 
 So as Angelic Love, in the person of 
 Gabriel, crowns Mary triumphant with his 
 own circling glory, 367 all the illuminations of 
 the Church, in the persons of doctors, saints, 
 and angels, focus their circling glory upon 
 Dante's lady to signify her miraculous like- 
 ness in quality, if not in degree, to the very 
 
 364 5. T. II— II, cxxiv, 4, 2 m . 
 
 365 Par. xxxiii, 115 et seq. 
 
 366 Vita Nuova, xxix. 
 
 367 Par. xxiii, 94 et seq. 
 
ARIADNE S CROWN 113 
 
 Mother of God. Nowhere more audaciously 
 and magnificently than in the implications of 
 this, his canticle of the Sun, has Dante ful- 
 filled his promise to say of her what never yet 
 has been said of any woman. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" OF 
 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 "Perd se il caldo Amor lo chiara Vista 
 Delia prima Virtu dispone e segna, 
 Tutta la perfezion quivi s'acquista." 
 
 Par. xiii, 79-81. 
 
 When Virgil first offers escape from the 
 Dark Wood by the roundabout way through 
 Hell and Purgatory, Dante accepts at once 
 with grateful relief. But as the night shadows 
 gather, his resolution falters. What Virgil 
 proposed had indeed been done by mortal 
 men. Virgil's own hero, Aeneas, had de- 
 scended into Hell ; St. Paul had been caught 
 up into the Third Heaven; and both had 
 come back to earthly life. But, exclaimed 
 Dante, 
 
 "lo non Enea, io non Paolo sono." l 
 
 Virgil meets this pusillanimous doubt 2 
 by assuring Dante that divine aid will be 
 given. Indeed, as Virgil will tell the various 
 
 1 Inf. ii, 32. 
 
 2 lb. 43-48. 
 
 114 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 1 5 
 
 warders of the lower world — Charon, Minos, 
 Plutus, Chiron, Malacoda — and, more re- 
 spectfully, Cato, guardian of the Mount, the 
 journey is willed on high. 3 He himself is but 
 the messenger and instrument of Beatrice. 
 She in turn had been incited to aid Dante by 
 Lucia; Lucia by the Virgin Mary. 4 Mary 
 alone seems to have seen Dante's plight, and 
 to have acted upon her own initiative. And 
 in the field in which she saw and acted, that of 
 the saving of a sinner, hers was the right of 
 initiative. In the divine court, it was held, 
 there are two jurisdictions, — one of justice, 
 and one of mercy. Mary presides over the 
 latter, and when she chooses to intervene, her 
 decision is final. 5 Indeed, it is only filial obe- 
 dience for Christ to yield to his mother's will, 
 especially in a case of mercy. 6 To save her 
 
 3 Inf. iii, 95-96; v, 23-24; vii, 10-12; xii, 88-89; xxi» 
 79-83; Purg. i, 52-84. 
 
 4 Inf. ii, 94-H4- 
 
 5 "Regnum Dei consistit in duobus, scilicet in miseri- 
 cordia et justitia: et filius Dei sibi quasi retinuit justitiam 
 velut dimidiam partem regni, matri concessit misericordiam 
 quasi dimidiam aliam partem." Albertus Magnus, De 
 laudibus b. Mariae Virginis, VI, xiii, 3. 
 
 6 "Scio bene, quod post sententiam non est appellatio ad 
 majorem: quia, et si judex sit homo tuus Filius, est tamen 
 et Deus Filius Dei Patris. Non enim video, Domina, 
 quomodo aliquid tibi valeat denegare, qui vult, ut per te 
 
Il6 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 servants, she may not merely supplicate, but 
 even maternally command her Son. 7 
 
 The natural consequence of this extension 
 of Mary's saving power was to make her the 
 final arbiter of human fate. To gain her grace 
 assured salvation; to lose it damnation. So 
 St. Bernard advises Dante: 
 
 "Riguarda omai nella faccia ch'a Cristo 
 Piu si somiglia, che la sua chiarezza 
 Sola ti pud disporre a veder Cristo." 8 
 
 Fittingly, therefore, Dante's story of salva- 
 tion starts with Mary's intervention in his 
 mortal need, and ends with her securing for 
 him in foretaste the final reward of beatitude. 
 When Virgil rebukes Charon's natural reluc- 
 
 coelestem patriam habeamus. Hoc est enim quod cupit 
 Deus noster; hoc est quod desiderat; hoc est pro quo te 
 matrem constituit advocatam. Non ergo restat, Domina, 
 nisi ut illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos convertas." 
 St. Bona venture, Stimulus Amoris, III, xix, fi. 
 
 7 ". . . pro salute famulantium sibi, non solum potest 
 Filio supplicare sicut alii sancti, sed etiam potest auctoritate 
 materna eidem imperare." Albert. Mag., op. cit. II, i, 21. 
 Cf. ib. Ill, xi. 
 
 8 Par. xxxii, 85-87. Cf. Par. xxxiii, 13-15. Also, 
 Albert. Mag., op. cit. XII, vi, xx, 19: "... nullus ad 
 illam beatitudinem quae Christus est, praevalet intrare, 
 nisi sit in conductu hujus virgae." Also, St. Bonaventure, 
 Psalterium majus b. Mar. Virg., Ps. 117: "Via veniendi ad 
 Christum est appropinquare ad illam." 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 117 
 
 tance to ferry the living Dante, by declaring 
 it willed on high, he means that Mary wills it. 
 So Cato later recognizes: 
 
 ". . . se donna del ciel ti move e regge, 
 
 Come tu di', non c'e mestier lusinghe : 
 Bastiti ben che per lei ci richegge." 9 
 
 Virgil had meant Beatrice, but she was sent 
 by Mary. Moreover, St. Bernard applies to 
 Mary the selfsame formula that Virgil had 
 used with Charon and Minos. Virgil had 
 said: 
 
 "Vuolsi cosi cola dove si puote 
 Cio che si vuole." 10 
 
 St. Bernard says: 
 
 "Ancor ti prego, Regina che puoi 
 Cid che tu vuoli." u 
 
 Such verbal correspondences are in Dante's 
 writings rarely accidental. 
 
 It is no mere poetic fancy, then, but soberly 
 accepted faith for Dante to set the Virgin- 
 Mother — so far as his, as everyman's, salva- 
 tion is concerned — in the very place of the 
 First Person of the Trinity, the Father 
 
 "Lo primo ed ineffabile Valore." 12 
 
 9 Purg. i, 91-93. 
 
 10 Inf. iii, 94-96; v, 23-2.1. 
 
 11 Par. xxxiii, 34-35. 
 
 12 Par. x, 3. 
 
Il8 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 In Dante's presentation, she is, like God 
 the Father, immobile. 13 Unlike the miracle- 
 working visitant of popular legend, she per- 
 forms her acts of mercy vicariously. Regally, 
 as befitting the Queen of Heaven and Empress 
 of the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Infernal 
 Kingdoms, 14 she summons Lucia to her 
 presence, and briefly commends the dis- 
 tressed Dante to her care : 
 
 "Questa chiese Lucia in suo dimando 
 E disse: 'Or ha bisogno il tuo fedele 
 Di te, ed io a te lo raccomando'." 15 
 
 Then, apparently, Mary does nothing more 
 about it. Execution of her merciful provi- 
 dence is left to her agents, Lucia and Bea- 
 trice. She herself remains hieratically aloof in 
 her heaven, watchful perhaps, but per- 
 sonally, it would seem, inactive. Thus, at 
 first sight, there appears a certain analogy 
 between her dramatic function in the Divine 
 Comedy and that of Gloriana in Spenser's 
 Faerie Queene. So Gloriana sends forth the 
 
 13 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. I, lxv, i, i m : ". . . quanto 
 creaturae magis appropinquant ad Deum, qui est im- 
 mobilis, tanto magis sunt immobiles." 
 
 14 Cf. Albert. Mag., op. cit. IV, vi, 2. 
 16 Inf. ii, 97-99- 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" II9 
 
 various knights upon their missions of mercy 
 and justice, herself meanwhile serenely and 
 inactively awaiting the result. Manifestly, 
 she in her castle can keep no liaison with her 
 wandering champions. At most, she can but 
 supply them with a continuing motive to 
 prowess, — the promised reward of her favor. 
 But she cannot help them at need. She cannot 
 even know where they are. Everything that 
 may happen between their setting out and 
 their coming back is for her a blank. She can 
 only hope, and — if compatible with her regal 
 dignity — pray for them. Allegorically indeed, 
 the case is different. By historical intention, 
 Spenser, as he explained to Raleigh, meant by 
 Gloriana, Queen Elizabeth. In the national 
 campaigns, military and other, which the 
 quests of the several knights signify, the 
 English Queen might maintain liaison with 
 her armies and representatives, and so act in 
 their support. Again, since by moral and 
 anagogical intention, Gloriana signifies Glory, 
 there is possible a still more intimate liaison. 
 For Spenser appears to intend by Gloriana as 
 Glory a divine power as well as a personified 
 ideal. The ideal is the reward of glory, tem- 
 poral or eternal or both. This signification, 
 however, only moralizes the literal motive of 
 
120 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 the feudal queen's favor. But Glory con- 
 ceived as the personal power, the radiant 
 activity, of God, would identify Gloriana 
 exactly with the divine power which Dante 
 also calls "glory." 
 
 "La gloria di colui che tutto move 
 Per l'universo penetra, e risplende 
 In una parte piu, e meno al trove " 16 
 
 As that Glory, Gloriana is spiritually and effi- 
 ciently in liaison with her champions always. 
 All their strength is from her. They are but 
 the instruments through which her power con- 
 tinuously effects itself. If failure follow, it is 
 because the instrument, not the power, is 
 defective. 
 
 Although Spenser's religious allegory 
 teaches this fundamental thesis of Christian 
 providence, his carrying literal story is in 
 imperfect correspondence. The Faerie Queene 
 of his chivalric fiction contributes nothing to 
 the action beyond the initial motive to ser- 
 vice. She is an inspiration to the enamored 
 Prince Arthur, no doubt, but only an absentee 
 inspiration, availing him only as the thought 
 of a sweetheart at home might avail a soldier 
 in the field. And potent as such inspiration 
 
 16 Par. i, 1-3. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 121 
 
 can be, it certainly offers but imperfect 
 analogy to the omnipotent, omniscient, omni- 
 present sustaining of God. 
 
 Between the literal and allegorical role of 
 the Virgin Mary in the Divine Comedy there is 
 no such disparity. Indeed, so far as the char- 
 acter of Mary is concerned, there is, so far as 
 I can see, no question or need of allegoriza- 
 tion. Dante merely voices contemporary 
 belief, as defined by leading theological writ- 
 ers, when he attributes to the enthroned 
 Mother of God effective control of human 
 destiny. Whatever comes to us must have 
 passed through her hands. 17 She is accredited 
 with an "omnipotence" coequal with Christ's; 
 "for she is queen of that kingdom of which her 
 Son is king, and king and queen enjoy the 
 same prerogatives under the law." "Yet most 
 excellently potent is she in the Church Tri- 
 umphant," — in the jurisdiction, that is, of 
 man's salvation. In that jurisdiction, she is 
 made to declare: "Mine is the power . . . 
 to act as I see fit {ad beneplacitum meum) , and 
 to admit whom I will." 18 
 
 17 "Nihil nos Deus habere voluit, quod per Mariae 
 manus non transiret." St. Bernard, in Vig. Nat. Dom., 
 quoted by St. Bonaventure, Speculum b. Mar. Virg., lect.iv. 
 
 18 Albert. Mag., op. cit. IV, xxx (De omnipotentia 
 Mariae), i. 
 
122 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 The Mary of the Divine Comedy is often 
 described as the "symbol of God's mercy." 
 She is not that, but very God over man. Nor 
 is her divine role merely one of mercy. She 
 can be an "iron rod" to chastise the obdurate. 19 
 Effectively, therefore, the Virgin's favor is the 
 one and supreme object of man's solicitude 
 and solicitation. Homage may be dutifully 
 paid to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In- 
 deed, not to pay it would offend Mary herself. 
 But the Trinity, like the home-abiding Faerie 
 Queene, becomes for the harrassed Christian, 
 practically an absentee inspiration. So Bon- 
 aventure changes to Mary's address the 
 supplicatory psalm: 
 
 "In te, Domina, speravi, non confundar in 
 aeternum: in gratia tua suscipe me. 
 
 Tu es fortitudo mea et refugium meum: 
 consolatio mea et protectio mea. 
 
 Ad te, Domina, clamavi, dum tribularetur cor 
 meum: et exaudisti me de vertice collium 
 aeternorum. 
 
 Educas me de laqueo, quern absconder unt 
 mihi: quoniam tu es adjutrix mea. 
 
 19 "Virgo Maria est virga ferrea daemonibus et incor- 
 rigibilibus." St. Bonaventure, Spec. b. Mar. Virg., lect. 
 xii. He also addresses her as "O vere peccaminum vere 
 draconina." Carm. super cantic. Salve Regina, prin°. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 23 
 
 In manus tuas, Domina, commendo spiritum 
 meum: totam vitam meam et diem ultimum 
 meum. Gloria Patri, etc." 20 
 
 In the precise spirit of this converted psalm 
 Dante represents his own rescue. "From the 
 top of the eternal hills," Mary had seen and 
 heard him lamenting in the "snare" of the 
 dark monster-haunted wood. His rescuer is 
 no mere allegorical symbol of an act of God, 
 but a real person, — a living, acting, all-seeing, 
 all-wise, and all-powerful divinity. Such was 
 the faith of the age. 
 
 As soon as Dante, however, comes to dra- 
 matize Mary's ways and means of interven- 
 tion, allegory would seem to begin. The curi- 
 ous way by which her aid is transmitted — 
 almost as if through "military channels" — 
 by Lucia to Beatrice, by Beatrice to Virgil, 
 by Virgil to Dante himself, is of course drama- 
 tic fiction and allegory. But the precise sig- 
 nification is puzzling. Various interpretations 
 have been offered by commentators, but the 
 most currently accepted view is that summar- 
 ized as follows by Professor Grandgent : "God 
 in his mercy sends forth his illuminating grace 
 to prepare the way for complete revelation, 
 which will ensue as soon as the reawakened 
 
 20 P salt, majus b. Mar. Virg., Ps. 30. 
 
124 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 voice of reason shall have made the sinner 
 ready to receive it." 21 
 
 This is an admirably clear and simple state- 
 ment of the case. It represents truthfully, as 
 I believe, the standard interpretation of the 
 opening action of the poem. Of the "three 
 ladies," the Virgin, "as generally in Christian 
 thought, symbolizes divine Mercy;" Lucia is 
 "the emblem of Grace — probably, as her name 
 suggests, Illuminating Grace;" Beatrice 
 "stands for Revelation, for which Dante's 
 distorted mind must be prepared by Reason," 
 — that is, Virgil. 
 
 Now is this what Dante means? I ask the 
 question in some embarrassment; for I 
 realize that against the consensus of scholarly 
 opinion a lonely dissenter is certainly pre- 
 sumptuous and probably wrong. Still, the 
 long chance is the interesting one. And be- 
 sides, honestly I do not think this is what 
 Dante means. 
 
 In the first place, the theological implica- 
 tion of the quoted interpretation is that God 
 executes his own providence. The three ladies 
 merely symbolize the three aspects of his 
 executive act. But this is false to Dante's 
 
 21 La Divina Commedia, ed. and annot. by C. H. Grand- 
 gent, Heath & Co., 1913, p. 19. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 25 
 
 theology. In that, God knows and wills his 
 providential plan, but deputes the execution 
 of it to second causes, "intellectual creatures," 
 in a descending scale. 22 The Virgin, St. 
 Lucia, Beatrice, Virgil constitute such a 
 descending scale of "intellectual creatures," 
 who Dante says did personally influence him 
 for good in the degree and kind of their 
 respective illuminations. With regard to the 
 Virgin there can be no question. Day and 
 night, he says, he invoked her name. 23 So to 
 do was the bounden duty and the ground of 
 hope of every good Catholic. Dante's de- 
 pendence on the actual St. Lucia is more 
 doubtful. He may have invoked her to cure 
 his poor eyesight. At least, such healing-power 
 was accredited to her. He may have invoked 
 her aid in more spiritual issues. But the sus- 
 picion arises that her personal prominence in 
 the story of his redemption is due rather to 
 the derivation of her name from luce, light, 
 and the neat way this signification fitted in 
 with her healing-power, especially if this 
 power were conceived to extend to spiritual 
 vision as well as to physical. For light is the 
 
 22 Cf. St. Thomas, 5. T. I, xxii, 13. Cf. lb. ciii, 6; Contra 
 Cent. Ill, Ixxvi-lxxix. 
 
 23 Par. xxiii, 88-90. 
 
126 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 natural aid to vision. If this suspicion be well 
 grounded, undoubtedly the character of Lucia 
 is from the outset preponderantly symbolic. 
 In other words, the living saint's personality 
 has been merged into its special virtue, and 
 the virtue itself reduced to its theoretic 
 principle. The actual light-giver to the dim of 
 sight becomes the symbol of Light itself, 
 physical and spiritual. If Beatrice, on the 
 other hand, was to and for Dante what he 
 says she was, then on earth and from heaven 
 her influence upon him was concretely per- 
 sonal. She helped him, not something else she 
 might "stand for." Even if Dante invented 
 her, he invented her as a personality, and not 
 as a personification. But in her immortal 
 personality, as in any living spiritual organ- 
 ism, there would be a hierarchy of powers, 
 with one supreme and controlling power, one 
 that gave form and direction to all the rest. 
 To say that by such a dominant power, or 
 characteristic, she influenced Dante, is not to 
 treat it in abstraction from the powers over 
 which it was dominant. A rudder steers a 
 ship, but a rudder cannot steer without a 
 ship. Yet, although the actual Beatrice influ- 
 enced Dante from heaven, her individual 
 influence could not, like Mary's, be repre- 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 27 
 
 sented as universal. It would have been in- 
 sanity of praise to set up his lady, however 
 glorious among women, as a divinity regulat- 
 ing all mankind. She herself had promised : 
 
 "Sarai meco senza fine cive 
 Di quella Roma onde Cristo e Romano." u 
 
 She too was but a private citizen in the king- 
 dom of heaven. Therefore, to make his re- 
 demption through her serviceable as an ex- 
 ample to his fellow-men, he must, so to speak, 
 de-individualize her, reveal to them what 
 power, incarnate in her, was in itself univer- 
 sally salutary. In fine, Beatrice becomes a 
 symbol, not for Dante's rescue, but for the 
 rescue of mankind. There remains Virgil. 
 An obvious distinction between his case and 
 that of the three ladies is that they are in 
 heaven, and Virgil in hell. The mere fact of 
 being damned, however, would not make 
 Virgil's actual spirit ineligible as an instru- 
 ment of God for man's benefit. 25 And it 
 would be hazardous to deny categorically 
 that one of Dante's time and faith might not 
 have entertained the idea of actual super- 
 natural aid from his beloved master's spirit. 
 
 24 Purg. xxxii, 101-102. 
 
 25 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, clxxii, 5-6. 
 
128 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Was not he, Dante, admitted sixth in that 
 "fair school" of which Virgil was master? 26 
 But I do not insist upon the point. At least, 
 the spirit of Virgil lived and spoke to Dante in 
 immortal poetry, in that "right speaking," 
 upon which, as honoring him and all that 
 heard him, Beatrice relied for Dante's moral 
 correction. 27 Such an influence is neither 
 allegory nor fiction. And there can be no 
 doubt that Dante was deeply stirred by the 
 noble character, the humane wisdom and 
 sweet reasonableness of Virgil as revealed in 
 his writings. These qualities appear in the 
 character of the Comedy. Dante's Virgil is no 
 mere symbol of Reason in the abstract ; he is 
 — in the richest sense — an "all-round man," — 
 one, that is, whose whole character is true- 
 centered on reason. Indeed, as will be argued 
 more fully hereafter, 28 Virgil's efficacy is 
 more than that of natural reason. Otherwise 
 he could not lead Dante to Beatrice, could 
 not, in fact, get out of Limbo. 
 
 Thus, as it seems to me, the standard inter- 
 pretation I have quoted, errs in attributing to 
 God a direct action which according to Catho- 
 
 26 
 
 1 Inf. iv, 100-102. 
 
 27 Inf. ii, 112-114. 
 
 28 Below, pp. 186 et seq. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 120, 
 
 lie theology he does not exercise, in ignoring 
 the all-dominant divinity of the Virgin, and 
 in empoverishing the roles especially of Bea- 
 trice and Virgil. Even Lucia, I think, has a 
 richer and more complex signification than 
 merely and statically that of "Illuminating 
 Grace." 
 
 But another kind of objection seems to lie 
 against the standard interpretation. It does 
 not work out right. We are justified in ex- 
 pecting from a writer so meticulously scrupu- 
 lous as Dante an exact correspondence be- 
 tween the literal narrative and the symbolic 
 implication. But if "God in his mercy sends 
 forth his illuminating grace to prepare the way 
 for complete revelation," surely the proper re- 
 cipient of grace is the sinner, Dante. In point 
 of fact, Lucia, or Illuminating Grace, does 
 not at this time go out to Dante at all, but 
 to Beatrice. And if "Beatrice stands for 
 Revelation," in what sense can Revelation 
 receive illuminating grace? Would it not be 
 "carrying coals to Newcastle?" Then Beatrice 
 descends to Virgil in hell. But if Virgil re- 
 ceives revelation, how can Virgil stand for 
 Reason-without-revelation? Once more, if 
 Beatrice signifies the "complete revelation 
 which will ensue as soon as the reawakened 
 
130 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 voice of reason shall have made the sinner 
 ready to receive it," how happens it that the 
 final rapture of revelation comes to Dante 
 when Beatrice is no longer with him? 
 
 Now I hope I have made it clear that I am 
 impugning not the personal interpretation of 
 a particular scholar, but the standard inter- 
 pretation, the interpretation given in nearly 
 all the current commentaries. And I have the 
 temerity to believe it possible to put finger on 
 the principal point where this standard inter- 
 pretation goes astray. It is perfectly true that 
 the Christian has two sources of knowledge, to 
 wit, his own faculty of reason and revelation 
 through Christ. It is true also that in the 
 sinner's mind reason is dethroned, or at least 
 corrupted, and that by such a mind revelation 
 would be misunderstood and perverted. As 
 the elder Guido had said : 
 
 "The sun shines on the mud all day ; and it 
 
 Still mud remains, — nor is the sun's power less." 
 
 It follows then that the sinner's "distorted 
 mind" must be "prepared — or rather repaired 
 — for revelation" by the re-enthronement of 
 reason. So Virgil, as Reason, aided by Lucia 
 as Illuminating Grace, prepares Dante's 
 mind to receive Beatrice. It seems to follow, 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" I3I 
 
 therefore, that Beatrice must be Revelation. 
 And it might follow if Dante's reception of 
 Beatrice, his spiritual possession of her, were 
 the consummating end. But it is not. She 
 even warns him against such an idea: 
 
 "Che non pur ne'miei occhi e Paradise" 29 
 
 The true consummating end is God's own self- 
 revelation to a mind prepared to receive the 
 "fulgore" the effulgence, of that overwhelm- 
 ing illumination. 30 Beatrice is for Dante a 
 means to that end, an instrument of God's 
 in the execution of that providential plan. 
 No doubt she was the instrument of grace 
 that touched him most nearly, but her very 
 influence over him was due to the focussing in 
 her of all the lights of heaven, which are also 
 God's instruments. The resulting splendor of 
 her beauty, physical and spiritual, awoke 
 in him love of her. Then the recognition that 
 this her splendor was the radiated reflection 
 of still diviner beings, of the saints, and of the 
 angels above the saints, and of the Virgin 
 above the angels, and of the Godhead above 
 the Virgin, enlarged at last his love of her to 
 
 29 Par. xviii, 21. Cf. Par. xxiii, 70-72. 
 
 30 Cf. Par. xxxiii, 140-142. 
 
132 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 love of God. 31 And to this love of God, this 
 charity, so made perfect in Dante himself, is 
 due the rewarding revelation of God, beati- 
 tude — by him foretasted. For the one thing 
 essential to beatitude is perfect charity. 32 
 
 Beatrice's training, then, is a training in 
 charity. But how? She herself implies the 
 answer : 
 
 "Ne impetrare spirazion mi valse, 
 
 Con le quali ed in sogno ed altrimenti 
 Lo rivocai; si poco a lui ne calse. 
 Tanto giu cadde che tutti argomenti 
 Alia salute sua eran gia corti, 
 Fuor che mostrargli le perdute genti " 33 
 
 Her earlier "revelations" had failed of their 
 purpose; her later ones — of the "lost folk" — 
 sufficed for his rescue. And then, after he had 
 paid his "scot of penitence that sheddeth 
 tears," 34 had passed through purgatory, and 
 crossed Lethe, he received the progressive 
 revelations of the blest folk which culminated 
 in the revelation of God himself. 
 
 I might appear to be throwing away my 
 case. If Beatrice's training was by successive 
 
 31 Cf. Purg. xxxi, 22-27. 
 
 32 "Perfectio charitatis est essentialis beatitudini." 
 St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, iv, 8, 3 m . 
 
 33 Purg. xxx, 133-138. 
 3i lb. 142-145. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 33 
 
 "revelations," is not her symbolic function 
 revelation? And is not the standard interpre- 
 tation therefore right? Yet, let us consider a 
 little more closely. 
 
 In the first place, she says that she "ob- 
 tained" revelations, not gave them. The reve- 
 lation itself did not come from any power of 
 hers. Would it not, then, be a singular con- 
 ception of symbolism which should make her 
 represent a power which she had not? In the 
 second place, I have been using the term 
 "revelation," — as I think the majority of 
 commentators use it, — in a loose and untech- 
 nical way. But Dante never uses philosophi- 
 cal and theological terms in a loose and 
 untechnical way. And "revelation" in the 
 technical theological sense is carefully defined 
 by his master, St. Thomas. "A revelation 
 includes a vision, and not conversely; for 
 whenever things are seen, the intelligence and 
 signification of which are obscure to the seer, 
 then it is a vision only, such as was the vision 
 of Pharaoh and Nebuchednezzar, . . . but 
 when together with the vision is had the 
 signification and intelligence of those things 
 which are seen, this is revelation." 35 There 
 
 35 "Revelatio includit visionem et non e converso; nam 
 aliquando videntur aliqua, quorum intellectus et signifi- 
 
134 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 are, accordingly, two factors in any genuine 
 revelation, — (i) the vision or inspiration 
 given, and (2) understanding of it by the 
 recipient. The earlier visions and inspira- 
 tions obtained for Dante by Beatrice, — 
 those narrated in the New Life, — were not 
 obscure or defective in themselves. If they 
 had been, her rebuke would have been unjust. 
 The defect w T as in him, in his power of under- 
 standing. Indeed, later, under analogous cir- 
 cumstances, she tells him so. 36 So, if the later 
 visions, — those recounted in the Divine Com- 
 edy, — proved, as they did, to be efficacious, 
 to be genuine revelations, it must be because 
 Dante himself had become enabled to inter- 
 pret them. His faculty of understanding 
 must have been improved. That improve- 
 ment was her work. Of her own power she 
 could not produce the vision, the first factor 
 of revelation; but it was her power that 
 actualized the second factor, his power to 
 comprehend, and so to profit by, the vision. 
 And this, in fact, he acknowledges to be the 
 
 catio est occulta videnti, et tunc est visio solum, sicut fuit 
 visio Pharaonis et Nabuchodonosor, . . . sed quando 
 cum visione habetur significatio et intellectus eorum, quae 
 videntur, hunc est revelatio." II Cor. xii, 1. 
 se Purg. xxxiii, 64-75. 
 
the "three blessed ladies" i 35 
 
 very sum and substance of his obligation to 
 her. In his last solemn words to her, he says: 
 
 "Di tante cose quante io ho vedute, 
 Dal tuo potere e dalla tua bontate 
 Riconosco la grazia e la virtute." 37 
 
 Or, more briefly, he owes the efficacy of his 
 visions to her power. 
 
 The conclusion seems to me unescapable. 
 The power or virtue which Beatrice exerts for 
 Dante's good, and which — taken in itself as 
 universally salutary — she symbolizes, is not 
 Revelation, but one that, communicated, can 
 by understanding transform visions, "things 
 seen," into revelation. To miss this distinc- 
 tion, to confuse this power with Revelation, 
 is like confusing the steam with the engine. 
 What then is this power? 
 
 There are two ways of answering this 
 question, — one by the theological necessity 
 of the case, the other from intimations and 
 implications of Dante's own text. Naturally, 
 both ways should lead to the same result; 
 and it might be considered more natural and 
 more final to enquire what he means from 
 what he says than to force — perhaps — his 
 words into conformity with any theological 
 
 37 Par. xxxi, 82-84. 
 
I36 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 dogma. But Dante is an economist — in the 
 theological sense — of truth. He writes "ad 
 utilitatem" saying in effect to his reader 
 what Love in the vision of the New Life had 
 said to him: "Non domandar piU che utile ti 
 sia" 38 He omits to label his symbolic charac- 
 ters and meanings, because so to do would 
 have been, not only useless, but even worse 
 than useless. Bunyan could for the con- 
 venience of his readers, label his characters 
 as "Christian," "Hopeful," "Giant Despair," 
 "Mr. Worldly- wiseman," and so forth, be- 
 cause, like Wordsworth's primrose, these 
 characters were what their labels said they 
 were, and they were nothing more. But, as 
 has been shown, to tie a label to the charac- 
 ters of the Divine Comedy, especially the 
 principal ones, would actually mislead. Their 
 symbolic significations follow from their 
 respective functions in a highly complex 
 system of ideas. Really to understand them, 
 the reader must first understand this system. 
 So, lest the incompetent reader may be mis- 
 led into thinking he understands when he 
 cannot, Dante deliberately veils his deeper 
 meanings by insinuating them enigmatically. 
 It is the avowed practice of medieval theolo- 
 
 38 xii, 40-41. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES* T37 
 
 gians when addressing intellectually mixed 
 audiences. The experts can read the riddles; 
 the others are mercifully and prudently 
 spared mischievous misunderstandings. Safe- 
 ly to read Dante's enigmas, therefore, we 
 must, as best we may, take the approach of 
 the philosophical and theological expert. 
 
 Now theologically speaking, there are two 
 resources given to man for interpreting the 
 "intelligence and signification" of "things 
 seen." One is by the "use of reason;" the 
 other, "through a certain connaturalness with 
 the things to be judged." Both are called 
 wisdom ; but the wisdom acquired by the use 
 of reason proceeds discursively from the data 
 of sense, and is therefore of itself incom- 
 petent to judge of divine things, which are 
 beyond sense. The wisdom, on the other 
 hand, which proceeds from connaturalness 
 with divine things is a gift of the Holy Spirit. 
 It is not acquired, but infused. And its pro- 
 cedure is not by discursive inference, but by 
 a "divine," and therefore infallible, "instinct." 
 Moreover, if this divine gift of wisdom has 
 its essence in the intellect, or faculty of judg- 
 ment, it has its cause in the will, to wit, in 
 charity. 39 
 
 39 ". . . rectitudo autem judicii potest contingere 
 
I38 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 The visions and inspirations obtained by 
 Beatrice for Dante were of "divine things." 
 His judgment of them had three stages: (1) 
 by imperfect use of reason, — his rational 
 faculty being impeded by passion; (2) by 
 perfect use of reason, — symbolized by the 
 guidance of Virgil aided by divine light, or 
 gratuitous grace ; 40 (3) by the "divine in- 
 stinct," or intuition, of the gift of wisdom, 
 vouchsafed to all who have charity, and sym- 
 bolized by the personal guidance of Beatrice. 
 The symbolic distinction, then, between 
 Virgil and Beatrice is not between Reason 
 and Revelation, but between Reason human - 
 
 dupliciter: uno modo secundum perfectum usum rationis: 
 alio modo propter connaturalitatem quamdam ad ea, de 
 quibus jam est judicandum, ... sic ergo circa res 
 divinas ex rationis inquisitione rectum judicium habere 
 pertinet ad sapientiam, qui est virtus intellectualis: sed 
 rectum judicium habere de eis secundum quamdam 
 connaturalitatem ad ipsas, pertinet ad sapientiam, 
 secundum quod donum est Spiritus Sancti. . . . Sic 
 ergo sapientia, quae est donum, causam quidem habet in 
 voluntate, scilicet charitatem, sed essentiam habet in 
 intellectu, cujus actus est recte judicare." St. Thomas, 
 S. T. 1 1 — 1 1, xlv, 2, c. Again, "... sapientia dicitur 
 intellectualis virtus, secundum quod procedit ex judicio 
 rationis: dicitur autem donum, secundum quod operatur 
 ex instinctu divino." lb. I — II, lxviii, I, 4 m . 
 
 40 The need and character of this grace will be discussed 
 hereafter. See below, pp. 186-193. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 39 
 
 ly perfected in "acquired Wisdom" (Sapientia 
 adquisita) and Reason divinely perfected in 
 "infused Wisdom" (Sapientia infnsa). 41 The 
 former reaches beyond the things of sense 
 only by abstraction and discursive logic; the 
 latter has intuitive cognizance of divine 
 things by a "certain connaturalness" with 
 them. 
 
 As St. Thomas states, 42 the essence of this 
 infused wisdom, of wisdom as a gift, is in the 
 intellect; its cause is in the will, — that is, in 
 charity. In other words, infused wisdom is of 
 an intellect actualized by charity, — or, more 
 briefly still, of an intellect of love. Such, 
 then, is the deeper meaning of the famous 
 opening address of the canzone : 
 
 "Donne, ch'avete intelletto d'amore," 
 
 "Ye ladies — or more generally, spirits — that 
 have the intellect of love." 43 Also is explained 
 how and why in the responsive canzone put 
 into their mouths, they, like Dante, acknowl- 
 edge that their infused wisdom is due to 
 Beatrice's influence. She, as they say, is "la 
 
 41 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, xlv, 1, 2 m . 
 
 42 See above, note 39. 
 
 43 The more usual translation, "intelligence of love," 
 will serve if "intelligence" is understood in the active sense 
 of the faculty of intelligence. 
 
140 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 fontana d'insegnarnento," 44 which "di not 
 ciascuna fa saccente" 45 And in view of his 
 faithful service, they promise Dante to in- 
 tercede for him with Love, 46 and to recom- 
 mend him to Love. 47 
 
 The deeper insight of an intellect actualized 
 by love is explicitly alluded to by Beatrice 
 herself in reference to the mystery of God's 
 sacrifice for man : 
 
 "Questo decreto, frate, sta sepulto 
 Agli occhi di ciascuno il cui ingegno 
 Nella fiamma d'amor non e adulto." 48 
 
 And Dante's definition of the nature of his 
 poetic inspiration is made in direct conjunc- 
 tion with the line of the canzone quoted by 
 Bonagiunta : 
 
 "Ma di's'io veggio qui colui che fuore 
 Trasse le nuove rime, cominciando : 
 'Donne ch'avete intelletto d'Amore.' 
 Ed io a lui: 'Io mi son un che, quando 
 
 44 Canz. Ben-aggia-V amoroso, 11. 64-65. The author of 
 this canzone, whether Dante or not, certainly understood 
 Dante. 
 
 45 lb. 1. 8. 
 
 46 lb. 11. 25-28. 
 
 47 lb. 11. 69-70. 
 
 48 Par. vii, 58-60. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" I4I 
 
 Amor mi spira, noto, ed a quel modo 
 Che ditta dentro, vo significando.' " 49 
 
 His poetry was due to his intellect having 
 become an "intelletto a" amove," operating by 
 "divine instinct." It will be remembered 
 that his tongue spoke the line, "Donne cKavete 
 intelletto oV Amove," "quasi come pev se stessa 
 mossa." 50 
 
 The ladies of the responsive canzone prom- 
 ised to recommend the faithful Dante to 
 "Love." They must mean Beatrice herself, 
 since she alone could reward her servant. 
 Also, in the New Life, Love himself, personi- 
 fied, announced the virtual identity of 
 Beatrice and himself: "Chi volesse sottilmente 
 considevave, quella B eatvice chiamevebbe Amore, 
 pev molta simiglianza che ha meco." 51 Here, 
 and constantly also in the Divine Comedy, 
 Beatrice would represent, or symbolize, 
 Love, — that is, the holy love which is charity. 
 I have just seemingly demonstrated, on the 
 other hand, that she symbolizes the Intellect 
 of Love. The ambiguity is a matter of two 
 facets of one crystal, two aspects of a con- 
 crete, and therefore multiple, symbol. It 
 
 49 Purg. xxiv, 49-54. 
 
 50 V. N. xix, 10-12. 
 61 V. N. xxiv, 41-43. 
 
142 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 depends upon whether we are regarding 
 Beatrice's "power" in its cause, or in its 
 essence. As cause of the gift of wisdom, she is 
 the will of charity; as its essence, the intellect 
 of charity. Either involves the other; since 
 the effect must follow its cause, and whatever 
 of perfection is in the effect must be in the 
 cause. 52 
 
 The efhcacy of Beatrice as Love was to 
 kindle a like love in Dante. 53 And at first 
 this normal effect followed. 54 But because he 
 yielded to baser desires, connaturalness was 
 lost between his love and the Love she repre- 
 sented. 55 So, losing charity, he lost the 
 "divine instinct" to interpret his saving 
 inspirations, and went from bad to worse. 
 Yet in the renouncement of his desired 
 reward of her salutation, charity was re- 
 kindled, and a "new and nobler" chapter in 
 his young life opened. 56 For charity gives and 
 
 52 ". . . quidquid perfectionis est in effectu, oportet 
 in venire in causa effectiva." St. Thomas, S. T. I, iv, 2, c. 
 
 53 Cf. Albert. Mag. op. cit. IV, xvii, 1 : " . . .est enim 
 amor amantis et amati quasi quaedam unio potissimum in 
 bonis, et naturaliter illud quod amatur, in sui naturam 
 suum convertit amatorem." 
 
 54 V. N. xi, 1-9. 
 
 55 Cf. V. N. xii, 26-41. 
 
 56 lb. xvii-xviii. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 43 
 
 asks not, and would rather love than be 
 loved. 57 The process repeats itself in his 
 later falling away with the "compassionate 
 lady" and subsequent repentance, until at 
 last his thought rises to Beatrice in heaven, 
 moved by a "new Intelligence" which Love 
 infuses. 58 This new intelligence, caused by 
 love, — or intellect of love, — is potentially 
 capable of comprehending the divine things 
 which Beatrice may tell or show him. As yet, 
 however, it is weak, as his new-born charity 
 is incipient only. 59 To develop his new insight 
 he must "study," 60 that is, meditate upon 
 divine things — things connatural with her. 61 
 The beauty of these increases his charity, and 
 increased charity strengthens his intellect. 
 This reciprocal process is the spiritual dialec- 
 tic of the Paradise. 
 
 In the Divine Comedy, the power of Bea- 
 trice is from the beginning recognized as love. 
 
 57 "Charitas est amor gratuitus, qui dat et non accipit." 
 St. Bonaventure, I Sent, v, i, 1, dub. 9. ". . . magis 
 pertinet ad charitatem velle amare, quam velle amari." 
 St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, xxvii, 1, 2 m . 
 
 68 V. N. xlii, 47-50. 
 
 59 Cf. ib. 22-36, 55-60. 
 
 60 Ib. xliii, 6-7. 
 
 61 Cf. St. Thomas, Opus iv, c°. 3: "Ad acquirendam 
 charitatem, necessaria sunt duo: scilicet auditio verbi 
 Dei, et meditatio donorum ejus." 
 
144 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Love, she tells Virgil, moved her to descend 
 into hell for Dante's sake. 62 In his reply, 
 Virgil addresses her : 
 
 "O donna di virtu, sola per cui 
 
 L'umana spezie eccede ogni contento 
 Da quel ciel che ha minor li cerchi sui." 63 
 
 This address is tantamount to calling Bea- 
 trice Love; for love of God, or charity, is the 
 virtue by which the human race is exalted to 
 the Empyrean. 64 And presently Lucia reen- 
 forces the point by calling Beatrice "loda di 
 Dio vera" 65 "True praise of God" is charity, 
 love of God. Perfectly to rejoice in God, 
 says St. Bonaventure, is to love him in our 
 hearts, to praise him with our lips, and to 
 bear witness to him in our works. But, as 
 Christ said, the fulfilment of all rejoicing is 
 to love God. The rejoicing of the loving 
 heart is the root, of which the rejoicing of the 
 lips and the rejoicing by works are the 
 branches. 66 Again, of all creatures, the 
 
 62 Inf. ii, 72. 
 
 63 lb. 76-78. 
 
 64 "Perfectio charitatis est essentialis beatitudini." St. 
 Thomas, S. T. I— II, iv, 8, 3 m . 
 
 65 Inf. ii, 103. 
 
 66 "Et ideo est notandum, quod triplex est gaudium, 
 scilicet primum, quo laetamur in corde; secundum, quo 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 45 
 
 Seraphim, interpreted as the "burning in 
 love," 67 most intimately praise God. Further- 
 more, this identification of Beatrice with 
 Love is confirmed by Lucia's further words: 
 
 "Che non soccorri quei che t'amo tanto 
 Che uscio per te della volgare schiera?" 68 
 
 For the "vulgar" is the opposite of the 
 "gentle," and, as Dante has everywhere 
 argued, that which makes the heart "gentle" 
 is love. 
 
 "Amore e'l cor gentil sono una cosa." 69 
 
 laetamur in ore; tertium, quo laetamur in opere. Nam 
 gaudium cordis est Deum gaudendo amare; gaudium oris 
 est Deum gaudendo laudare; gaudium vero operis est Deo 
 gaudendo servire. Dico, quod primum gaudium, quo in 
 hac die sancta gaudere debemus, est gaudium cordis: quo 
 nihim aliud existit, quam Deum amare cum laetitia 
 mentis. Unde Dominus volens Apostolos ad amorem 
 inducere, post multa dulcia verba, quae eis dixerat, sic ait 
 ad eos: " 'Haec locutus sum vobis, ut gaudium vestrum 
 plenum sit,' id est, ut amor vester ad profectum veniat, 
 toto corde, et tota mente, omnique virtute Deum dili- 
 gatis ... sic existente puro et sancto hoc gaudio cordis, 
 purum et sanctum erit gaudium oris, et operis, quia, 
 secundum Apostolum, qualis radix, tales et rami." Ser- 
 mones de Sanctis in communi, XXXIV. Cf. St. Thomas, 
 S. T. II— II, xxviii, 1, 3 m : "Gaudium de Deo, in se est 
 effectus charitatis." 
 
 67 Cf. St. Thomas, Cont. Gent. Ill, lxxx. 
 
 68 Inf. ii, 104-105. 
 
 69 V. N. xx, 13. 
 
I46 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Over and over Dante repeats it in ever new 
 connections. God is Love; Beatrice is Love; 
 therefore she, drawing him to herself, thereby 
 draws him to God. She declares it: 
 
 "Per entro i miei disiri, 
 Che ti menavano ad amar lo bene 
 Di la dal qual non e a che si aspiri," etc. 70 
 
 He implies it : 
 
 "Poscia che contro alia vita presente 
 Dei miseri mortali aperse il vero 
 Quella che imparadisa la mia mente, — 71 
 
 Come in lo specchio Mamma di doppiero 
 Vede colui che se n'alluma retro, 
 Prima che l'abbia in vista o in pensiero, 
 
 E se rivolge per veder se il vetro 
 
 Gli dice il vero, e vede ch'el s'accorda 
 Con esso, come nota con suo metro, — 
 
 Cosi la mia memoria si ricorda 
 
 Ch'io feci, riguardando nei begli occhi 
 Onde a pigliarmi fece Amor la corda." 72 
 
 That is, she, Love, used the beauty of her 
 eyes to draw him to God, who, as Divine 
 
 70 Purg. xxxi, 22-24. 
 
 71 With this line, cf. St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, lxv, 5 c: 
 "Charitas facit homines deiformes, supra homines con- 
 versari in coelis, et convenire cum Deo et cum angelis." 
 Dante himself describes heaven as "deiforme." Par. ii, 20. 
 
 72 Par. xxviii, 1-12. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 47 
 
 Love's radiant point, is now visibly mirrored 
 in her eyes. 73 Her first instrument, Virgil or 
 Reason, in effect syllogizes her identity with 
 sacred Love. Free choice is given to man 
 between his loves, sacred and profane. 
 
 "Quest' e il principio, la onde si piglia 
 Ragion di meritare in voi, secondo 
 Che buoni e rei amori accoglie e viglia." 74 
 
 So choice and following of sacred love is the 
 "ground of merit" by which man attains 
 beatitude. After perilous dalliance with 
 profane loves, seduced by "present things 
 with their false pleasure," 75 Dante finally 
 chose Beatrice, and is now following her 
 securely 76 towards beatitude. Therefore, 
 she whom he has chosen and follows, is, or 
 represents, sacred love. Virgil, limited to 
 discursive reasoning, can only infer; Bernard, 
 Beatrice's second and final instrument, Con- 
 templation in the highest grade, 77 recognizes 
 and openly declares the identity : 
 
 "Accid che tu assommi 
 Perfettamente," disse, "il tuo cammino, 
 
 73 lb. 13 et seq. 
 
 74 Purg. xviii, 64-66. Cf. Purg. xvii, 103-105. 
 
 75 Purg. xxxi, 34-35. 
 
 76 Cf . Par. xxv, 52-54. 
 
 77 Cf. St. Thomas, 5. T. II— II, clxxx, 4, 3 m : ". . . sex 
 designantur gradus, quibus per creaturas in Dei contem- 
 
148 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 A che prego ed amor santo mandommi, 
 Vola con gli occhi per questo giardino; 
 Che veder lui t'acconcera lo sguardo 
 Piu al montar per lo raggio divino." 78 
 
 Beatrice, that is, "amor santo," "sacred love," 
 sent him. In the second tercet is again 
 illustrated how, looking on the beauteous 
 flowers in the garden of heaven, Dante will 
 kindle to greater love, and greater love the 
 more will sharpen his spiritual sight. 
 
 Again, I may outline, as briefly as may be, 
 a longer and more complicated chain of 
 evidence towards the symbolic identity of 
 ^ Beatrice and Charity. Following the sacred 
 Love which is Beatrice, Dante even in this 
 life reaches to a momentary foretaste of 
 beatitude. Like St. Paul, he is "caught up to 
 the third heaven," and there sees God "face 
 to face." But although his human faculty is 
 incapable of retaining, still less of communi- 
 
 plationem ascenditur. ... In sexto gradu ponitur 
 consideratio intelligibilium, quae ratio nee invenire, nee 
 capere potest; quae scilicet pertinent ad sublimem con- 
 templationem divinae veritatis, in qua finaliter contem- 
 platio perficitur." St. Thomas is avowedly following 
 Richard of St. Victor, whom Dante later describes as "a 
 considerar . . . piu che viro," (Par. x, 132), and in 
 Epist. x cites together with St. Bernard to justify his own 
 miraculous rapture. 
 78 Par. xxxi, 94-99. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 49 
 
 eating, this wholly supersensuous knowledge, 
 yet he does know, after his spirit has re- 
 descended to earth, that his human will is 
 wholly conformed to God's will, and has 
 chosen forever the sacred Love which is of 
 God, and of which Beatrice is reflection and 
 likeness. 79 As Bonaventure said, this Love of 
 God and from God which is charity "gives 
 and asks not." Possessing it, or rather pos- 
 sessed by it, Dante is drawn down from his 
 contemplative rapture to active service. For ^ 
 to suspend contemplation to save others 
 belongs to the highest perfection of charity. 80 
 Like Paul, he becomes an apostle to men of 
 the love with which he, like Beatrice, has 
 become one. The Divine Comedy, lesson and 
 example of how man is saved by love, is the 
 message of his apostleship, and — because 
 Beatrice is Love — its preachment of love is 
 also praise of her. So preaching, he was ful- 
 filling her dictate : 
 
 "Tu nota; e si come da me son porte, 
 Cosi queste parole segna ai vivi 
 Del viver ch'e un corre e alia morte." 8l 
 
 79 Par. xxxiii, 140-145. 
 
 80 Cf. St. Thomas, 5. T. II-II, clxxxii, 1, c, — 3 m . — Til 
 Sent, xxxv, 1, 4, 2. 
 
 81 Purg. xxxiii, 52-54. 
 
150 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 And he himself now knows that her dictate 
 and the continuing dictation of Love in his 
 own mind are one and the same : 
 
 "Io mi son un che, quando 
 Amor mi spira, no to, ed a quel modo 
 Che ditta dentro, vo significando." 82 
 
 Moreover, his following of Love's dictation is 
 authorized by the first and right vicar of 
 Christ. 83 
 
 In the retrospect, also, enigmatic sayings 
 are made clear. Virgil's warning at the 
 beginning, that Dante may not ascend the 
 "delectable mount" by the direct way holds 
 true for him now that he is redeemed even as 
 it did for him a sinner, though in a different 
 spirit. For the virtuous man, the direct way is 
 by the contemplative life. 84 But so far as one 
 is wholly absorbed in contemplation, he may 
 neglect the temporal needs of others. So the 
 
 82 Purg. xxiv, 52-54. The like numbering of the two 
 tercets — 52-54 in their cantos — may be noted. It is 
 possible that, as Miss Ruth Phelps has pointed out in 
 Modern Language Notes (March, 1921), Dante uses this 
 device among others to bind together passages carrying a 
 common, or interrelated, idea. 
 
 83 Par. xxvii, 64-66. 
 
 84 Hence the symbol of the upright ladder in the heaven 
 of Saturn. Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. 1 1 — 1 1, clxxxii, 2; clxxx, vi. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 151 
 
 Virtues, of whom Charity is the leader, 
 turned his absorbed gaze from Beatrice to 
 the left, exclaiming "Troppo fisol" 85 Atten- 
 tion to the "left" is to the duty of the active 
 life, especially of provision for others. 86 So 
 Beatrice herself had foretold that he must 
 remain a while longer a "forester" in the forest 
 of this world. 87 Had she herself not descended 
 into hell for his sake? She was indeed im- 
 mune from the evils of hell, 88 but then so 
 Dante now was from the beasts, the vices, 
 which infest this dark forest. To hunt them 
 down "for the sake of the world that evil 
 lives," 89 he must abide in patient service — 
 and even suffering. For, as he had been 
 repeatedly warned in his upward journey, in 
 spite of his redemption — or rather because 
 of it — the forest of this life must become 
 darker than ever for him. Only, it will no 
 longer be the darkness of his own sinfulness, 
 but the darkness of tribulation and sorrow, 
 which shall overshadow him even as the 
 
 * r ' Purg. xxxii, 1-9. 
 
 86 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, cii, 4, 6 m :". . .sapientia 
 autem pertinet ad dextram, sicut et caetera spiritualia 
 bona: temporale autem nutrimentum ad sinistram," etc. 
 
 87 Purg. xxxii, 100-102. 
 
 88 Inf. ii, 87-93. 
 
 89 Purg. xxxii, 103. 
 
152 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 apostle Paul. To this threat, as foretold by 
 the old warrior, his ancestor Cacciaguida, 
 Dante had opposed a front of moral stoicism, 
 declaring himself 
 
 "Ben tetragono ai colpi di ventura, — " 
 
 90 
 
 a four-square tower whose walls are the 
 cardinal virtues. 91 But although stoic virtue 
 may offer a brave front to persecution, none 
 the less it feels the bitterness thereof. 92 Bea- 
 trice offers, on the other hand, the true con- 
 solation of Christian love and trust in God, 
 of charity. 93 And her loving voice, and the 
 love in her eyes, release Dante from every 
 care, from every desire — 
 
 "Fin che il piacere eterno, che diretto 
 Raggiava in Beatrice, dal bel viso 
 Mi contentava col secondo aspetto." 94 
 
 "The eternal bliss" directly reflected upon her 
 face is, as Dante has just said, love, and love 
 
 90 Par. xvii, 24. 
 
 91 Albertus Magnus describes the Virgin as a "tower," 
 having "quadraturam quatuor cardinalium." Op. cit. XI, 
 v, 2. 
 
 92 Par. xviii, 1-3. 
 
 93 lb. 4-6. 
 
 94 lb. 16-18. 
 
U 1*tTT>T?T* TIT T-OOT-T^ x . nnM >» 
 
 THE 'THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 53 
 
 is in fact "the second aspect" of "eternal 
 
 bliss," or beatitude: 
 
 "Si fonda 
 L'esser beato nell' atto che vede, 
 Non in quel ch'ama, che poscia seconda." 95 
 
 Finally, Dante's last thanksgiving and 
 prayer to Beatrice sums the fourfold effect 
 of her charity upon him and within him. 96 
 (1) By her loving mercy reaching down to the 
 hell of his perverse spirit, she has lifted him 
 up to hope. (2) By her grace and goodness she 
 has shown him what God, the Highest Good, 
 is like, and so confirmed his faith. (3) By the 
 heat of her charity, she has kindled in him 
 charity, and charity maketh free. 97 (4) Let 
 her "magnificence" so watch over and keep 
 his healed soul that it may be released from 
 the body "pleasing" to her who is perfect 
 charity. She hears and fulfils his desire; for 
 through her own "prayer and holy love," 98 
 
 95 Par. xxviii, 109-111. // secondo aspetto may also 
 mean "the reflected aspect." Dante is given to packing two 
 meanings, one more esoteric than the other, into a word 
 or phrase. 
 
 96 Par. xxxi, 79-90. 
 
 97 "Charitas, quae in cordibus nostris per Spiritum 
 sanctum diffunditur, facit nos liberos." St. Thomas, S. T. 
 
 II— II, Xliv, I, 2 b . 
 
 98 Par. xxxi, 96. 
 
154 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 transmitted by Bernard, the Virgin, dis- 
 penser of beatitude, grants Dante the vision 
 of God, by which his "desire and will" are, 
 like Beatrice's own, altogether moved by 
 perfect charity." In other words, by direct 
 revelation of God he is assured of being in a 
 state of grace, 100 and therefore pleasing to 
 
 99 Par. xxxiii, 143-145. Dante's last prayer to Beatrice 
 may be compared with St. Bonaventure's psalm to the 
 Virgin : 
 
 "Domina, in coelo misericordia tua: et gratia tua 
 diffusa est super terram. 
 
 Potentia et virtus in brachio tuo: robur et fortitudo 
 in dextera tua. 
 
 Benedictum sit imperium tuum super coelos: 
 
 benedicta sit magnificentia tua super terram." (Psalt. 
 
 majus b. Mar. Virg. 35.) 
 
 In view of the symbolic — and real — relationship between 
 
 Beatrice and the Virgin, presently to be discussed, this 
 
 similarity is not likely to be mere coincidence. 
 
 100 ". . . tripliciter aliquid cognosci potest. Uno modo 
 per revelationem : et hoc modo potest aliquis scire se 
 habere gratiam: revelat enim Deus hoc aliquando aliquibus 
 ex speciali privilegio, ut securitatis gaudium etiam in hac 
 vita in eis incipiat, et confidentius, et fortius magnifica 
 opera prosequantur, et mala praesentia vitae sustineant, 
 sicut Paulo dictum est 2. ad Cor. 12 : Sufficit tibi ratia mea." 
 St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, cxii, 5, c. This text is noteworthy 
 in connection with Dante's confidence in his "magnificum 
 opus," the Divine Comedy, with his noble endurance of exile 
 and persecution, and with his haunting consciousness of 
 manifold likeness to St. Paul. Cf. for his assurance of 
 grace, Par. xxv, 52-57. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 55 
 
 Beatrice. It may be repeated, by the way, 
 that although this final and supreme revela- 
 tion is obtained for Dante by Beatrice, she 
 for that very reason must symbolize not it, 
 but the means to it; and again the means to 
 the revelation of God, which is beatitude, is 
 charity. That beatific revelation is vouch- 
 safed to living man only "by special privilege" 
 in the strongest sense of the term. The 
 "Dante" of the Comedy, accordingly, by no 
 means represents typical Man. 101 On the 
 contrary, thanks to the "miracle" Beatrice, 
 his grace is miraculous. The spirits he meets 
 marvel at it, and felicitate him on it. 102 In 
 view of the magnitude of her benefaction, 
 therefore, Beatrice is fitly called magnifi- 
 cent. 103 
 
 It must be apparent, I think, from these 
 illustrations viewed in light of the theological 
 argument that one aspect at least of the 
 symbolic Beatrice is Charity. Further illus- 
 trations could easily be given, but my pur- 
 
 101 Cf. Paget Toynbee, Concise Dante Dictionary, s. n. 
 Dante. 
 
 102 Cf. e.g., Purg. xiii, 145-146; xiv, 1-15; xx, 41-42; 
 Par. xxiv, 1-2; et al. 
 
 103 "Magnificentia est in maximis donis et sumptibus, 
 sed liberalitas in mediocribus." St. Thomas, 5. T. II— II, 
 lx, 5. c. 
 
I56 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 pose is to establish a case, not to write a 
 commentary. But Beatrice represents Char- 
 ity in only one aspect of her symbolic func- 
 tion. Thus, having charity, she possesses also 
 the gifts of the Holy Spirit, 104 and accordingly 
 her influence illumines the mind as well as 
 kindles the will. In a secondary aspect, there- 
 fore, she represents "intellectual light" {lumen 
 intellectuale) , and is frequently hailed as such. 
 So, for instance, Virgil to Dante: 
 
 "Veramente a cosi alto sospetto 
 
 Non ti ferma, se quella nol ti dice, 
 Che lume fia tra il vero e rintelletto." 105 
 
 This passage has been cited as confirmation 
 of Beatrice as Revelation. 106 But, as has been 
 shown, there is no revelation, in the right 
 sense of the term, unless the recipient is 
 capable of understanding it. At the time 
 when Virgil speaks, Dante's mind is not 
 "lighted," but "smokes." 107 What Beatrice 
 does is to infuse, through charity, the "intel- 
 
 104 St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, Ixviii, 5. 
 
 105 Purg. vi, 43-45. 
 
 106 E.g., by Professor Grandgent: "A question involving 
 the doctrine of grace transcends the power of reason, and 
 is not to be 'settled' without revelation." Ed. Divina 
 Commedia, note ad loc. 
 
 107 Cf. Par. xxi, no. 
 
the "three blessed ladies" i 57 
 
 lectual light" which she herself, possessing, 
 represents. 108 In one more aspect, Dante 
 becomes connatural with her. 
 
 Among other passages in which Beatrice 
 figures specifically as the light-giver, 109 there 
 is one of capital importance, namely, that in 
 which, after his immersion in Lethe, Dante 
 is vouchsafed Beatrice's direct glance and her 
 smile. 110 The four cardinal, or moral, Virtues 
 declare themselves: 
 
 "Noi sem qui ninfe, e nel ciel semo stelle. 
 Pria che Beatrice discendesse al mondo, 
 Fummo ordinate a lei per sue ancelle." 
 
 "By charity the acts of all the other virtues 
 are ordered to the final end," beatitude. 111 
 Figuratively, therefore, the other virtues 
 may be regarded as "handmaids" of Charity. 
 They are then handmaids of Beatrice as 
 Charity in two senses, according as we take 
 the phrase "discendesse al mondo" to mean her 
 mortal birth, or her descent from heaven to 
 Dante in the earthly paradise. In the first 
 
 10 * Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, xlix, 2, 2 m : ". . . intel- 
 lectus, qui ponitur Spiritus Sancti, est quaedam acuta 
 perspectio divinorum." 
 
 109 E. g., Purg. viii, 112-114; xxxiii, 115. 
 
 110 Purg. xxxi, 103-145. 
 
 111 St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, xxiii, 8, c. 
 
158 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 case, since her dominant trait was pre- 
 destined to be charity, her other virtues are 
 ancillary to that. In the second case, in her, 
 as a glorified spirit, while charity is only 
 intensified, 112 the moral virtues persist merely 
 formally, or in principle. For prudence in 
 heaven is without danger of error, fortitude is 
 without evil to be endured, temperance with- 
 out incitement of lust; and the one act of 
 justice is submission to God. 113 And how this 
 just submission is made joyous by love is 
 made clear to Dante by Piccarda 114 and 
 Justinian. 115 But while the moral virtues so 
 have no material function for the glorified 
 Beatrice, their formal perfection affects Dante 
 as model and inspiration. And thus they are 
 handmaids of her charity towards him, lead- 
 ing him to her eyes, through which her 
 charity radiates, kindling and illumining his 
 soul. In other words, upon the charity so 
 infused into him follow the gifts of intelli- 
 gence (intellectus) and wisdom (sapientia), 
 giving him an insight above reason into the 
 mystery of the Incarnation, the principle of 
 
 112 lb. I— II, lxvii, 6, c. 
 
 113 lb. i,c. 
 
 114 Par. iii, 70-87. 
 116 lb. vi, 1 18-126. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 59 
 
 salvation. So chanty deepened, faith forti- 
 fied, and hope renewed, 116 he is led by these 
 three holy Virtues to realize Beatrice's 
 "second beauty," her smile, — or beatitude 
 reflected in her. For that end to which the 
 three holy virtues lead is beatitude. Or, to 
 put the case more fully, her smile signifies 
 that Dante's soul is now pleasing to her, as 
 later he prays it may also be when released 
 from the body. 117 And to her as a glorified 
 spirit nothing can be pleasing which is not 
 also pleasing and acceptable to God. There- 
 fore, Dante is assured of God's favor, or 
 beatitude. Or, once more, to resume the 
 whole argument in technical terms, "by grace 
 freely given" (gratia gratis data) Beatrice 
 cooperates with Dante to bring him to God. 
 Thanks to her efficacious aid, he receives the 
 "grace which makes acceptable" (gratia gratum 
 faciens), "by which man is united to God." 118 
 Since, according to the physiological-psy- 
 
 116 Cf. the in principle identical statement in Conv. Ill, 
 xiv, 113-141. 
 
 117 Par. xxxi, 88-90. 
 
 118 "Duplex est gratia. Una quidem, per quam ipse homo 
 Deo conjungitur, quae vocatur gratia gratum faciens: alia 
 vero, per quam unus homo cooperatur alteri ad hoc, 
 quod ad Deum reducatur: hujusmodi autem donum 
 vocatur gratia gratis data" St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, cxi, 1, c. 
 
160 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 chology of love, 119 her love — which is charity 
 — proceeds on the ray from her eyes through 
 his into his heart, there kindling charity, so 
 her eyes may poetically be regarded as the 
 efficient cause of the effect of charity in him, 
 or gift of wisdom, by which he more inti- 
 mately knows God. Or, by ellipsis, he may 
 fitly call her eyes "principio di Amove" 120 
 and, in reference to her having the gift of 
 wisdom, "demonstrations of wisdom, by 
 which truth is seen with certainty." m For 
 such is the power of the "divine instinct" 
 infused by the "gift of wisdom." Again, the 
 end or final cause, of his infused grace of 
 charity is union with God, or beatitude. 
 That supremely desirable consummation is 
 what draws, or persuades, his will, as the 
 splendor of a light draws the moth. So, since 
 again according to love-psychology, the be- 
 loved's smile signifies the "end of love," or 
 reward of her favor, 122 by which the lover is 
 persuaded to service, so, once more by ellipti- 
 cal statement, Beatrice's smile is called the 
 "persuasions of Wisdom, by which is demon- 
 
 119 Cf. Conv. II, xi, 32-48. 
 
 120 V. N. xix, 133. 
 
 121 Conv. Ill, xv, 12-15. Cf. Inf. x, 130-132: her eyes 
 "see all." 
 
 122 V. N. xix, 133-134. 
 
the "three blessed ladies" i6i 
 
 strated the interior light of Wisdom under a 
 certain veil." 123 To Dante, now in full con- 
 duct of the three holy virtues, however, 
 Beatrice accords the grace of removing this 
 veil. 124 His intuitive power is proportioned to 
 his increased charity, and his eyes are of one 
 "whose wit is in the flame of love adult." 125 
 Therefore they are able to look upon Wis- 
 dom's end, Truth, directly, as the "splendor 
 of the living light eternal," and no longer 
 merely upon its "pallid" reflection in the 
 "Parnassus well" of human reasoning. 126 So 
 the "new intelligence which Love has given," 127 
 wisdom as a divine gift and effect of charity, 
 transcends his old wisdom, that was but an 
 "intellectual virtue." Reciprocally, the new- 
 seen splendor of Truth strengthens his love 
 of it anew, and that new-strengthened love 
 will induce new and deeper insight, and this 
 cumulative process is renewed until, God's 
 infinity directly seen and loved, there is no 
 farther to go : 
 
 "Di la dal qual non e a che si aspiri." 128 
 
 123 Conv. Ill, xv, 1 6-1 8. 
 
 124 Purg. xxxi, 136-138. 
 
 125 Par. vii, 59-60. 
 
 126 Purg. xxxi, 1 39- 14 1. 
 
 127 V. N. xlii, 49-50. 
 
 128 p ur g. xxxi, 24. 
 
1 62 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 So that final consummation, or beatitude, is 
 the end of a causal series, alternately efficient 
 and proximately final, of which the factors 
 are Beatrice's eyes and smile; and hence 
 Dante could say in the Convivio that "in 
 queste due si sente quel piacere altissimo di 
 beatitudine, il qual e massimo bene in Para- 
 diso." 129 In other words, the visible Beatrice 
 was for Dante the live symbol, or "shadowy 
 preface," of Beatitude, final cause of his 
 redemption, as well as the live symbol of 
 Charity, efficient cause thereof. Or rather, 
 she symbolizes the former also, precisely 
 because she symbolizes the latter. For the 
 whole causal sequence is reducible to this: 
 charity generates vision, vision charity. 130 
 So is justified the implication of "beatitude" 
 which Dante found in the name of Beatrice. 131 
 I have dwelt upon this episode at perhaps 
 disproportionate length. Some justification 
 
 129 III, xv, 18-20. 
 
 130 Cf. St. Thomas, II Sent, i, 1: "Causa finalis et causa 
 efficiens coincidunt." Also, Contra Gent. Ill, xvii: "Finis 
 ultimus cujuslibet facientis, in quantum est faciens, est 
 ipsemet." 
 
 131 V. N. ii, 6-8, — in the light of Cino's interpretation 
 in his canzone responsive to the third canzone of the 
 New Life: "Gia te n'ei'n ciel gita, 
 
 Beata gioia, com'chiamava il nome!" 
 (Avegna chHo-non-aggio, 11. 7-8.) 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 63 
 
 may lie, however, in that it condenses in a 
 brief action the symbolic procedure of the 
 Comedy and — to some extent — of the New 
 Life and Banquet as well. And incidentally, it 
 illustrates how without confusion or incon- 
 sistency a live symbol like Beatrice can — or 
 rather must — signify, or "stand for," more 
 than one thing, though in due proportion. 
 
 On the other hand, it offers a difficulty. 
 There is presented on the allegorical stage a 
 personification of Charity, one of the Virtues, 
 the seven handmaids of Beatrice. If Beatrice 
 symbolizes Charity, how can she have a 
 "handmaid" also personifying Charity? 
 
 I answer, as I think the scholastic Dante 
 himself would, by saying, — Distinguo. The 
 charity which Beatrice symbolizes is divine 
 charity, or charitas in patria; the charity 
 which the handmaid personifies is human 
 charity, or charitas in via. There is a real 
 distinction between the two, since, although 
 they have a common object in God, their 
 powers of apprehending God differ. Charity 
 of heaven knows its object by immediate 
 intuition; charity of earth by faith. The 
 latter therefore cannot reach to the perfection 
 of the former. 132 
 
 132 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. I-II, lxvii, 6, 2 m -$™. 
 
164 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 This distinction between herself and her 
 handmaid is, I think, borne out, and speci- 
 fically applied, by Beatrice herself. After the 
 mime of sensual love and brutal jealousy has 
 been enacted by the harlot of the Church and 
 the giant of the Empire, 133 the seven Virtues 
 chant a psalm of desolation at the defilement 
 of the Church. 134 What this defilement is, 
 Dante does not leave to guesswork. In the 
 mimic scene it is indeed lust, with which 
 holy love could not consort. But the literal 
 indictment of sensual passion has a broader 
 intention ; and for the detailed counts Dante 
 gives a characteristic reference. Beatrice, 
 "colorata come foco," 135 comforts her weeping 
 handmaids. Later, likewise discolored from 
 white to red, St. Peter details the abuses of 
 his successors. 136 Both he and Beatrice 
 prophesy vengeance to come, and reform. 
 Both call upon Dante to denounce the evil, 
 and to announce the reformer. The passages 
 are parallel, only whereas in the first Dante 
 is shown a scene of lust, in the second he is 
 told plainly of a broader group of vices. St. 
 
 133 Purg. xxxii, 136-160. 
 
 134 Purg. xxxiii, 1-3. 
 
 135 Purg. xxxiii, 9. 
 
 136 Par. xxvii, 10-66. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 65 
 
 Peter arraigns the Church for money-greed, 
 offensive partisanship and incitement of war 
 on Christians, of simony, rapacity, hypo- 
 crisy, and usury. Immediately after St. 
 Peter's invective, Beatrice again shows Dante 
 the earth, 
 
 "L'aiuola che ci fa tanto feroci." m 
 
 She contrasts with the Empyrean girt in with 
 "light and love," its dim wretchedness, and 
 exclaims : 
 
 "O cupidigia, che i mortali affonde 
 Si sotto te, che nessuno ha potere 
 Di trarre gli occhi f uor delle tue onde !" 138 
 
 "Cupidity," which turns the eyes of desire 
 from eternal to temporal things, is the root, 
 not only of the special vices denounced by 
 St. Peter, but also of all evils and all sins. 139 
 
 137 Par. xxii, 151. Cf. Par. xxvii, 85-86. 
 
 138 Par. xxvii, 121-123. 
 
 139 Cf. St. Thomas, S.T. I— II, lxxxiv, 1, c: ". . . 
 secundum quosdam cupiditas tripliciter dicitur. Uno modo, 
 prout est appetitus inordinatus divitiarum, et sic est 
 speciale peccatum. Alio modo, secundum quod significat 
 inordinatum appetitum cuiuscumque boni temporalis, et 
 sic est genus omnis peccati; nam in omni peccato est 
 inordinata conversio ad commutabile bonum, ut, dictum 
 est. Tertio modo sumitur, prout significat quamdam 
 inclinationem naturae corruptae ad bona corruptibilia 
 
1 66 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 The original charge, symbolically brought 
 against the Church, of carnal lust, is thus 
 broadened to cupidity, a term the intention 
 of which ranges from avarice in particular to 
 concupiscence in general. Now Virgil estab- 
 lished for Dante the conclusion: 
 
 "Quinci comprender puoi ch'esser conviene 
 Amor sementa in voi d'ogni virtute 
 E d'ogni operazion che merta pene." 140 
 
 And all love is divided into "love of friend- 
 ship" and "love of concupiscence/' 141 Love of 
 friendship wills the good of the beloved ; love 
 of concupiscence wills one's own good. 142 
 Charity is the "love of friendship" directed to 
 God. 143 And since the two kinds of love are 
 mutually exclusive, where the love of con- 
 cupiscence is, charity cannot be. Hence the 
 
 inordinate appetenda, et sic dicunt cupiditatem esse 
 radicem omnium peccatorum ad similitudinem radicis 
 arboris, quae ex terra trahit alimentum; sic enim ex amore 
 rerum temporalium omne peccatum procedit." 
 
 140 Purg. xvii, 103-105. 
 
 141 St. Thomas, 5. T. I— II, xxvi, 4. 
 
 142 "... ille proprie dicitur amicus, cui aliquod 
 bonum volumus: illud autem dicitur concupiscere, quod 
 volumus nobis." lb. 
 
 143 So Francesca implies that God is not her friend 
 (amico). Inf. v, 91. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 67 
 
 pertinence of Beatrice's words to her grieving 
 handmaids : 
 
 "Modicum, et non videbitis me, 
 Et iterum, sorelle mie dilette, 
 Modicum, et vos videbitis me!" 144 
 
 The Church, and because of its bad example, 
 the world, is full of the love of concupiscence. 
 Therefore, there is no place in it for her, who 
 is altogether the "love of friendship," charity. 
 When the predestined Veltro shall have 
 driven out that "ancient she-wolf of cupid- 
 ity," she will return. 145 Moreover, the Scrip- 
 tural context from which Beatrice quotes, 
 makes the same point. Christ has declared 
 love to be the one commandment he lays 
 
 144 Purg. xxxiii, 10-12. 
 
 145 It seems supererogatory to dispute the significance of 
 the she-wolf of the dark forest when Dante himself iden- 
 tifies it for us with Cupidigia. (Cf. Purg. xx, 10-12.) I 
 concur in the objection to Avarice as the interpretation, 
 since Dante certainly nowhere hints at any personal 
 proneness to that mean vice. But cupidity, in scholastic 
 usage, connotes not only avarice, but also the most basic 
 of all vices, that self-interest in the goods of this world 
 which is the opposite and enemy of the charity which 
 leads to the true Good, God. It is the error of Dante which 
 lost Dante the salutation of Beatrice, since his love of her 
 was not like noble love, — the love, that is, which is of 
 friendship, or charity. (V. N. xii, xviii.) 
 
1 68 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 upon his disciples. 146 It is the "love of friend- 
 ship," charity, which gives, not asks. 147 The 
 world, on the other hand, is full of the "love 
 of concupiscence:" "If the world hate you, ye 
 know that it hated me before it hated you. 
 If ye were of the world, the world would love 
 his own: but because ye are not of the world, 
 but I have chosen you out of the world, 
 therefore the world hateth you." 148 There- 
 fore, he will leave them for a little, but only 
 for a little. And he promises to send the 
 Comforter, the "spirit of truth," whose name 
 is Love. 149 
 
 Manifestly, Dante is drawing analogy 
 between Christ with his grieving disciples and 
 Beatrice with her grieving handmaids. The 
 analogy is complicated and perhaps imperfect, 
 but it may account, I think, for the duplicated 
 role of Charity in Beatrice and the personified 
 virtue. Christ, whose spirit and command- 
 ment are altogether of true love, departs from 
 the world of base love, yet will leave behind 
 in the chosen few the spirit of true love, the 
 Comforter. 150 Beatrice, as true love, is driven 
 
 146 John xv, 12. 
 
 147 lb. 13. 
 
 148 lb. 18-19. 
 
 149 lb. 26. Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. I, xxxvii, 1. 
 160 Cf. J Cor. xiii, 13. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 69 
 
 out of the basely loving Church and world, 
 yet leaves behind in the hearts of the chosen 
 few — and especially in Dante's heart — the 
 spirit of true love. For the seven virtues are 
 all implicit in their "form," or determining 
 principle, charity. In other words, Beatrice 
 is Charity as it is in heaven, in the heart of 
 Mary; the personified Virtue, her coexistent 
 but not coequal handmaid, is charity as it 
 exists on earth, in the hearts of Mary's 
 servants, — in Dante's, for instance. As this 
 human spirit of charity is a diminished replica 
 of the divine spirit of charity, there is perfect 
 allegorical propriety in calling the former a 
 little "sister" of the latter, and no allegorical 
 impropriety in bringing the two face to face. 
 Dante, and Christian theologians generally, 
 built up an elaborate system of symbolic 
 imagery from the obvious analogy between 
 beneficent God and the Sun which radiates 
 light and heat, the two prime vitalizing forces. 
 Not only is God therefore called the Sun, 151 
 but also by extension any active agency 
 transmitting the divine influence may be so- 
 called and be accredited with powers figura- 
 tively paralleling those of the physical Sun. 
 Thus Beatrice, infusing into Dante the light 
 
 161 Cf. e. g., Par. x, 53. 
 
170 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 of wisdom and the ardor of love, is ac- 
 claimed as his Sun : 
 
 "Quel sol, che pria d'amor mi scaldd il petto, 
 Di bella verita m'avea scoperto," etc. 152 
 
 In truth, that two-powered ray emanating 
 from her really has its ultimate source in the 
 divine Sun, God. 153 The divine ray shines also 
 upon him, but hitherto has found his mind 
 opaque to its glory. 154 To be illumined, he 
 needed the reenforcement of her nearer light. 
 Not only was the Sun accepted as symbol 
 of the one God, but the active process of the 
 Sun was conceived to represent the actual 
 procession of the triune God. The Father is 
 the Sun itself; the Son, its ray or splendor of 
 light; the Holy Spirit, the heat emanating 
 from both the Sun itself and its ray. 155 Also, 
 
 152 p ar Hl t j_ 2f 
 
 153 Cf. Par. v, 1-6. 
 
 154 lb. 6-12. 
 
 155 «p er so i em saepius interpretatur Pater, per radium 
 vel splendorem solis Filius qui est splendor gloriae et 
 figura Patris (Ad Hebr. i, 3), per calorem Spiritus sanctus, 
 de quo dicitur: Nee est qui se abscondat a colore ejus. 
 (Psal. xviii, 7.) Spiritus enim sanctus est amor Patris et 
 Filii. Sicut autem radius vel splendor solis, ex quo sol 
 fuit, processit a sole et procedit semperque procedet: sic 
 Filius aeternaliter procedit a Patre. Et sicut calor aeter- 
 naliter procedit tarn a sole quam a radio: sic Spiritus 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 171 
 
 "in the Sun which circles the machine of the 
 world, is signified the power of the Father; in 
 the splendor which illumines all, the wisdom 
 of the Son; in the fervor which warms all, the 
 benevolence of the Holy Spirit." 156 So the 
 Empyrean, which exists only in the divine 
 mind, 157 and typifies that mind, is said to be 
 "pure light,"— 
 
 "Luce intellettiial piena d'amore, 
 
 Amor di vero ben pien di letizia." 158 
 
 This triplicity of generating-power, light, 
 and heat of the Trinity as the divine Sun is 
 transferred by analogy to lesser illuminating 
 agencies as Suns. Thus immediately under 
 the Trinity, but above the three hierarchies 
 of the angels, the Virgin is posited as con- 
 stituting a hierarchy by herself, and as a Sun 
 from which proceeds light and heat in the 
 same fashion as from the Trinity. 159 The 
 
 sanctus ab utroque, id est, Filio et Patre." Albert. Mag., 
 De laud. b. Mar. Virg. XII, v, 1, 2. 
 
 156 lb. 
 
 167 Par. xxvii, 109-110. 
 
 168 Par. xxx, 40-41. 
 
 159 E. g. (Maria) "ideo etiam dicitur electa ut sol (Cantic. 
 vi, 9) ... ad illuminandum, scilicet intellectum per 
 veram cognitionem, et inflammandum affectum per veram 
 dilectionem." Albert. Mag. op. cit. VII, iii, 1. 
 
172 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 church writers ring all possible changes on the 
 symbol itself, and on its derivatives. As 
 Albert says, "Mary is compared to light with 
 manifold propriety. . . . For she is the light 
 which after the Son illumines every light." 16 ° 
 So from her is the light which comes to Dante 
 in the dark wood. 161 For he has constantly 
 invoked her name. 162 And the light of the 
 Sun of Mary has so healed and purified his 
 eyes, half -blinded with sin, that at last they 
 are able to endure the direct ray of the "Sun 
 of the angels," God. 163 For it is only "sick 
 eyes" that are dazzled by the sun; to them, 
 become sound, the Sun's glory is as grateful 
 as to the eyes of an eagle. 164 Dante dramat- 
 
 160 lb. VII, x, i. 
 
 161 "Ideo etiam illuminatrix: quia cunctis se imploranti- 
 bus humiliter et devote impetrat lucem verae cognitionis. 
 . . . Unde quotiens sentimus nos esse in tenebris, 
 debemus nos ei nomen suum commemorare orantes ut 
 illud interpretatur in nobis, ne falso ei impositum videatur." 
 lb. I, i, 2, fi. 
 
 162 Par. xxiii, 88-89. 
 
 163 Maria lux "quia oculos illuminat, id est, intellectum 
 et affectum, qui sunt oculi animae. Intellectum cognitione 
 sui et Dei, affectum dilectione Dei et proximi." Op. cit. 
 VII, x, 1. Cf. Par. xxxiii, 25-27; Purg. xxvi, 58-60; 
 Professione di Fede, 232-240. 
 
 164 "Sol aegris oculis nocivus non ex vitio suo, sed ex 
 vitio oculorum. . . . Unde, Eccle. xi, 7: Dulce lumen et 
 delectabile est oculis videre solem. Et hoc est quod dicit 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 73 
 
 ically insists upon the gradual strengthening 
 and purifying of his physical vision as he 
 ascends nearer and nearer to the divine Sun. 
 He starts "blind" with sin — 
 
 "Quinci vo su per non esser piu cieco." 165 
 
 After the murk of hell, the mild light of the 
 dawning sun comforts his eyes on the shore of 
 the mount of purgatory. 166 It is the first 
 positive application, symbolically speaking, 
 of the cleansing medicament of light which is 
 to fulfil Cato's requirement that 
 
 ". . . non si converria l'occhio sorpriso 
 
 D'alcuna nebbia andar dinanzi al primo 
 Ministro, ch'e di quei di Paradise" 167 
 
 Light is the necessary and immediate medium 
 of vision, 168 but given in excess it blinds. It 
 must be accommodated, therefore, to the 
 
 Gregorius de Domino: "Ipse incommutabilis in se per- 
 manens, aliter atque aliter sentitur in cogitatione hominum 
 pro qualitate vitiorum, sicut lux aegris oculis odiosa, sanis 
 autem gratiosa, eorum videlicet mutatione, non suo." 
 lb. XII, v, i, 5. 
 
 165 p U rg, xxvi, 58. 
 
 m Purg. i, 16-18. 
 
 167 Purg. i, 97-99. 
 
 168 "Lumen est medium in omni sensu. Sed in visu 
 immediate, in aliis autem sensibus, mediantibus aliis 
 qualitatibus." St. Thomas, II Sent, xiii, 3, c. fi. 
 
174 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 visual power of the recipient. And figura- 
 tively, light signifies truth. 169 In one aspect, 
 therefore, the whole process of Dante's 
 spiritual ascent consists in the accommoda- 
 tion of his eyes, physical and spiritual, to 
 brighter and brighter light. 
 
 As said, the ultimate source — so far as 
 purblind humanity is concerned — of this 
 healing and guiding light is the Sun of 
 Mary. 170 If now the Virgin is in herself thus 
 conceived as a self-active light-giving and 
 heat-giving Sun, she may also be conceived as 
 embodying in herself the three aspects of the 
 Trinity. By analogy, also, these three aspects 
 may, as in the Trinity, be hypostatized as 
 Persons. Naturally, in a so resulting second- 
 ary Trinity, the one real divine Person is 
 Mary herself. She, the divine Mother, 
 assumes the role of the divine Father, and 
 
 169 "(Nomen lucis) primo quidem est institutum ad 
 significandum id, quod facit manifestationem in sensu 
 visus, postmodum autem extensum est ad significandum 
 omne illud, quod facit manifestationem secundum quam- 
 cumque cognitionem." St. Thomas, S. T. I, lxvii, I, c. 
 
 170 Cf., e.g., Albert. Mag., op. cit. VII, iii, 9: "Qui in 
 solem defigit oculos, a posteriori ponit umbram suam. 
 Similiter qui cordis oculos, intellectum videlicet et affectum 
 constanter defigeret in hunc solem, Mariae recolens 
 paupertatem, umbram rerum labentium facillime addor- 
 saret. Sed . . . pauci sunt tales." 
 
the "three blessed ladies" i 75 
 
 represents in the solar symbolism the Sun 
 itself, or generating-power of Light. As such, 
 she sends forth a light-ray; and from the 
 light-ray and the Sun both there is emitted 
 heat. As we have seen, in the actual Trinity 
 the Son is conceived as the light-ray, the 
 Holy Spirit as the emitted heat. Dante's 
 invention was to fill out the 'Marian' Trinity 
 with the two functionally apposite persons 
 St. Lucia and Beatrice. Such is the symbolic 
 bond of unity between the "three blessed 
 ladies." Recognizing it, we must modify in so 
 far forth the symbolic value of Beatrice as 
 already denned. Fundamentally, Beatrice 
 symbolizes Charity, but not charity in the 
 abstract, nor yet merely the inherent and 
 dominant virtue of Bice Portinari, but the 
 charity of the Virgin-mother herself. 171 Be it 
 said emphatically, however, that the role 
 in no wise discredits or diminishes the 
 actuality of Beatrice herself as for Dante a 
 beneficent ally in heaven. By loving-service 
 of the Virgin she has become in her degree 
 "connatural" with the Virgin. Dante's fiction 
 is simply to extend a discipular likeness to its 
 
 171 Hence the maternal attitude assumed by Beatrice 
 in paradise, and accepted by Dante, even though, humanly 
 speaking, she was younger than he. 
 
176 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 ideal limit of spiritual coalescence. And 
 indeed, so far as he personally was concerned, 
 Beatrice did in a sense fill the role. What 
 Mary's love effects for all the world (including 
 him), Beatrice effected for him alone. 
 
 For the lover of Beatrice to identify her, 
 symbolically, with the all-merciful love of 
 Mary was natural enough. The choice of 
 St. Lucia to represent the second Person of 
 this secondary Trinity is, on the other hand, 
 rather characteristic of Dante's scholastically 
 subtle ingenuity than, I think, of any deep 
 personal loyalty. Her name signifies "light;" 
 she was specially accredited with the power of 
 healing weak eyes; St. Bonaventure names 
 her as among the special votaries of Mary; 172 
 in the Golden Legend her life is assimilated to 
 Mary's — she is resolutely virginal; she calls 
 herself "ancilla Dei;" her nurse tells her, 
 Lucia's, rejected lover that Lucia is "sponsa 
 Dei." For this presumed close likeness to the 
 Virgin she would reflect her light most 
 intensely : 
 
 "Che l'ardor santo ch'ogni cosa raggia, 
 Nella piu simigliante e piu vivace." 17s 
 
 172 "Honorificate earn (Mariam) in voce labiorum 
 vestrorum: per hoc ejus gratiam Agatha, Lucia, Margarita, 
 et Cecilia susceperunt." Psalt. maj. b. Mar. Virg. xiv, 4. 
 
 173 Par. vii, 74-75. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 77 
 
 Dante, who actually suffered from weak 
 eyes, 174 may have really become her votary 
 (fedele), as Mary calls him, for the sake of 
 Lucia's supposed healing power. Whether he 
 was or not, however, is of no great impor- 
 tance. For in the Comedy, the eyes of his that 
 are really healed are the "eyes of the soul," 
 intellect and will, and by the light of wisdom 
 and the heat of charity. 
 
 Considered in and by herself therefore, 
 Lucia in the poem is the symbol — or perhaps 
 more accurately, the hypostasis — of the light 
 which emanates from Mary. 175 Beatrice is 
 the symbol — or hypostasis — of the heat which 
 emanates from Mary and Lucia. The dis- 
 tinction, therefore, between Lucia and Bea- 
 trice is not absolute, but analogous to that 
 between the Son and the Holy Spirit. The 
 procession of the Son, or the Word, is by the 
 mode of the intellect, which is Wisdom; that 
 of the Holy Spirit by the mode of the Will, 
 which is Love. 176 Extending the analogy into 
 
 174 Cf. Conv. Ill, ix, 147-157. 
 
 175 Cf. St. Bonaventure's prayer of Mary, beginning: 
 "Emitte lucem tuam." Psalt. maj. b. Mar. Virg., Ps. 142, ft. 
 
 176 ". . . in divinis . . . duae processiones, una per 
 modum intellectus, quae est processio Verbi, alia per 
 modum voluntatis, quae est processio amoris," i. e. of the 
 Holy Spirit. St. Thomas, S. T. xxxvii, 1. 
 
I78 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 a symbolic identity, we may say that Lucia is 
 the Word of Mary, and Beatrice the Love of 
 Mary, and that their respective functions in 
 the salvation of Dante are developed from the 
 dramatic application of this symbolic identity. 
 
 "Pero se il caldo Amor la chiara Vista 
 Delia prima Virtu dispone e segna, 
 Tutta la perfezione quivi s'acquista." m 
 
 Dante is here speaking, no doubt, of the 
 collaboration of the primal Trinity, but in 
 respect to man's redemption analogous col- 
 laboration holds of what I may call the 
 secondary, or Marian, Trinity, as Dante 
 symbolically conceives it. 
 
 In the dramatic action, by Lucia was the 
 Word of Mary passed to Beatrice. And 
 Beatrice, first through Virgil, and then 
 directly, manifests the Word to Dante. So 
 Beatrice may also be said to represent the 
 Word. In Christian theology, Christ is 
 properly speaking the Word of the Father, 
 but in so far as the Holy Spirit manifests the 
 Word, the Holy Spirit may figuratively 
 speaking be called the Word. 178 So Beatrice, 
 
 177 Par. xiii, 79-81. 
 
 178 "Quod vero Basilius interpretatur verbum pro 
 Spirito Sancto, improprie, et flgurate locutus est, prout 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 79 
 
 manifesting the Word of the Mother of 
 Christ, may be figuratively identified with 
 Christ; in which case the clue is offered to a 
 mysterious compliment to her in the Comedy. 
 She is about to expound the Incarnation and 
 Passion of Christ in response to Dante's 
 desire unspoken through timid reverence. So 
 Dante declares : 
 
 "Ma quella riverenza che s'indonna 
 Di tuttome, pur per BE e per ICE, 
 Mi richinava come l'uom ch'assonna." l7s 
 
 This is commonly understood to mean that if 
 he was reverent before the earthly Bice, how 
 much more so before the heavenly Beatrice. 
 The artifice is elaborate for so simple a point. 
 Now it will be noted that when we say first 
 Be and then ICE w r e sound three letters of 
 the Italian alphabet, — B, I, and C. To any 
 medieval Catholic, the letter I followed by 
 the letter C would inevitably suggest Zesus 
 Christus. Again, in all Latin religious writing 
 B. before a proper name means Beatus; and 
 the epithet belongs to Christ in both his 
 
 verbum alicujus dici potest omne illud, quod est mani- 
 festativum ejus, ut sic ea ratione dicatur Spiritus Sanctus 
 verbum Filii, quia manifestat Filium." St. Thomas, 5. T. 
 I, xxxiv, 2, 5 m . 
 
 179 Par. vii, 13-15. 
 
l8o SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 humanity and his divinity. 180 The name 
 Bice therefore subtly implies analogy between 
 its owner and Christ. And as from Bice 
 comes Beatrice, so from Christ comes beati- 
 tude, which Beatrice by name and act 
 signifies. 
 
 Again, though properly speaking, the 
 Word signifies the second Person of the 
 Trinity, figuratively speaking it may signify 
 the Word of Christ as recorded for mankind 
 in Scripture. "Principal author" of Scripture, 
 however, is the Holy Spirit, who, acting 
 through the instrumental authors — and espe- 
 cially Mary, in it has manifested the deeper 
 mysteries of God. 181 Beatrice, corresponding 
 in function to the Holy Spirit as well as 
 associated with Mary, manifests mysteries of 
 
 180 Cf. St. Thomas, Cont. Gent. I, c: Quod Deus est 
 beatus. 
 
 181 ". . . auctor principalis sacrae Scripturae est 
 Spiritus sanctus, qui in uno verbo sacrae Scripturae 
 intellexit multo plura quam per expositores sacrae Scrip- 
 turae exponantur, vel discernantur: nee est etiam in- 
 conveniens quod homo, qui fuit auctor instrumentalis 
 sacrae Scripturae, in uno verbo plura intelligeret." St. 
 Thomas, Quodlibet VII, xiv, 5 m . This passage, by the way, 
 may be cited as one of many justifying Dante in his habit 
 of packing several meanings into a single word or phrase. 
 Mary is said to have dictated a considerable portion of the 
 Gospels to the evangelists. Cf. Albert. Mag., op. cit. IV, 
 xxxi, 2. 
 
the "three blessed ladies" i8i 
 
 the Scriptures to Dante. Also, through 
 "grace freely given" by the Holy Spirit, chosen 
 men receive the gift of prophecy, which 
 includes the power to interpret Scripture; 182 
 so through Beatrice Dante ultimately receives 
 the gift of prophecy, and expresses it in the 
 Divine Comedy itself. And at the risk of 
 repetition, which is wellnigh unavoidable in 
 so complex a subject-matter, I may restate 
 the bases of that prophesying. 
 
 The final end to which Beatrice as Charity 
 would lead Dante is beatitude, or union with 
 God. 183 "The essence of beatitude consists in 
 the act of the intellect." 184 It is the "ben 
 delV intelletto " 185 Intellect, in this connection, 
 is an intuitive faculty, in contradistinction to 
 the discursive reason. 186 It is the "eye of the 
 intellect" by which we see God face to face 
 
 182 Cf. St. Thomas, 5. T. 1 1 — II, clxxi-clxxviii ; also, my 
 essay — Ariadne s Crown. 
 
 183 "Charitas est amor Dei, non qualiscumque, sed quo 
 diligitur Deus ut beatitudinis objectum, ad quod ordi- 
 namur per fidem, et spem." St. Thomas, S. T. I — 1 1, lxv, 
 
 5, i m - 
 
 184 lb. iii, 4, c. 
 
 185 Inf. iii, 1 8. 
 
 186 ". . . intellectus et ratio differunt quantum ad 
 modum cognoscendi: quia scilicet intellectus cognoscit 
 simplici intuitu, ratio vero discurrendo de uno in aliud." 
 St. Thomas, S. T. I, lix, I, i m . 
 
1 82 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 (quo Deus inspicitur), as opposed to the "eye 
 of reason," by which "created intelligible 
 things" are seen. 187 For any eye to see, it 
 must have light. And, in principle, the more 
 light there is, the better the eye can see. For 
 owlish eyes, which, inured to the dark, cannot 
 stand the light of day, the remedy is light, 
 and more light, gradually applied, — as the 
 eagle is said to train the eyes of its young to 
 gaze unflinchingly at the sun. Of course, for 
 such a rigorously homoeopathic treatment to 
 be successful, the patient must be an eaglet 
 born; an owl, presumably, would be merely 
 blinded altogether. Man is an eaglet born, 
 and potentially capable of gazing at the sun. 
 If he cannot, it is only because his eyes have 
 become habituated to the shadow of two 
 veils, — the veil of sin, and the veil of sense. 
 Only when both are removed, can he regain 
 his native eagle-like vision. Yet, on the other 
 hand, he must pay the price of having played 
 the owl so long : habituation to the light must 
 be as gradual as habituation to the dark was 
 complete and long. 
 
 It is the "three blessed ladies" who so restore 
 to Dante his native eagle-sight by removing 
 from his eyes the veiling double cataract of 
 
 187 St. Thomas, De veritate, xix, ob. 6 and 6 m 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 83 
 
 sin and sense, 188 and with loving care grad- 
 ually exposing them to more and more light, 
 until at last he, who had groped blindly in 
 the dark forest, can endure the direct and 
 undiminished effulgence of the divine Sun. 
 Obvious also is the function of each of the 
 three ladies, separately considered, as factors 
 in the curative process. The medicament is 
 light. Mary is the source of the healing 
 light; 189 Lucia, the healing light itself; and 
 Beatrice, dispenser of the healing light. 
 
 As said, light is given according to the 
 capacity of the recipient. This capacity is 
 measured by charity. Beatrice, having per- 
 fect charity of heaven, receives the light — or 
 word — of Mary, transmitted by Lucia, in 
 its fulness and directly. Her intellect is 
 therefore altogether intuitive, or angelic. 190 
 But Virgil, to whom Beatrice in turn trans- 
 mits the light she has received, lacks the 
 "holy virtues," and so receives the light only 
 
 188 Bernard beseeches the Virgin: 
 
 "Perche tu ogni nube gli disleghi 
 Di sua mortalita coi preghi tuoi, 
 Si che il Sommo Piacer gli si dispieghi." 
 
 {Par. xxxiii, 31-33.) 
 
 189 Cf. Albert. Mag., op. cit. VII, iii & x. 
 w St. Thomas, S. T. I, lviii, 3. 
 
1 84 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 to the capacity of human reason. 191 So Virgil 
 in his turn, transmitting the light to Dante, 
 proceeds by discursive argument, or reason- 
 ing. So far as the light of reason goes, he is 
 indeed wise and right : 
 
 "Maestro, i tuoi ragionamenti 
 Mi son si certi, e prendon si mia fede, 
 Che gli altri mi sarian carboni spenti." 192 
 
 But as reason is dependent upon the data of 
 sense, it has no certain vision of things 
 beyond sense. So Virgil himself admits: 
 
 "Quanto ragion qui vede 
 Dirti poss'io; da indi in la t'aspetta 
 Pure a Beatrice, ch'opera e di fede." 193 
 
 In other words, in Virgil the "divine light," 
 Lucia, is reduced to the "natural light of the 
 intellect, which is a certain participation in 
 that eternal light, yet from afar off, and in 
 defective degree ;" whereas the light of faith 
 
 191 "Animae vero humanae, quae veritatis notitiam per 
 quemdam discursum acquirunt, rationales vocantur. 
 Quod quidem contingit ex debilitate intellectualis luminis 
 in eis. Si enim haberent plenitudinem intellectualis 
 luminis, sicut angeli, statim in primo aspectu principiorum 
 total virtutem eorum comprehenderent, intuendo quidquid 
 ex eis syllogizari posset." lb. 
 
 192 Inf. xx, 100-102. 
 
 193 p ur g t xviii, 46-48. Cf. Purg. xv, 76-78. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 85 
 
 is abundant, and almost as if the sun were 
 present, and it extends beyond sense. 194 
 Relatively weak though it be, however, this 
 natural light of the intellect, the discursive 
 reason, is yet sufficient by habitual applica- 
 tion to acquire the moral and intellectual 
 virtues in such degree as to render man 
 captain of his own soul, and to make him 
 eligible to the company of those noble and 
 wise pagans who inhabit the castle of light in 
 Limbo. 195 Like them, Dante by reason has 
 acquired control over the lower forces of his 
 nature, but his reason cannot perfect itself. 
 That perfection comes only through the 
 Christian virtues. 196 
 
 194 "Lumen divinum dupliciter nobis in via communi- 
 catur: scilicet uno modo modice, et quasi sub parvo radio. 
 Et hoc est lumen naturalis intellectus, quod est quaedam 
 participatio illius lucis aeternae, multum tamen distans, et 
 ab illo deficiens. Alio modo in abundantia quadam, et 
 quasi in quadam solis praesentia, ubi acies mentis nostrae 
 reverberatur, quia supra nos est, et supra sensum hominis, 
 quod nobis ostensum est. Et hoc est lumen fidei, quae 
 nullam patitur opinionem infra suos terminos." St. 
 Thomas, Opus, lxxii, prin°. 
 
 195 Inf. iv. 
 
 196 ". . . ratio potest dupliciter considerari: uno modo 
 secundum se; alio modo secundum quod regit vires 
 inferiores. Inquantum igitur est inferiorum virium 
 regitiva, perficitur per prudentiam: et inde est quod omnes 
 aliae virtutes morales, quibus inferiores perficiuntur, 
 
1 86 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Yet evidently we have not gauged the 
 whole truth of Virgil's power. If, as com- 
 monly assumed, Virgil represents merely the 
 faculty of human reason without the greater 
 light of faith, how could he rise above Limbo, 
 not to say guide Dante up to and through the 
 Christian purgatory? Hell indeed he knew, 
 having traversed it before; 197 philosophic 
 reasoning can probe the depths of sin; but 
 whence does it get the essentially Christian 
 knowledge which the pagan Virgil shows 
 throughout the Purgatory? Moreover, Virgil 
 is for Dante not even the supreme exemplar 
 of the discursive human reason. Aristotle is 
 
 "II maestro di color che sanno." 198 
 
 Indeed, the very philosophy which Virgil 
 expounds to his pupil is, as he himself 
 
 formantur per prudentiam sicut per proximam formam. 
 Sed fides perficit rationem in se consideratam, prout est 
 speculativa veri; unde ejus non est formare virtutem 
 inferiorem, sed formari a caritate, quae alias format, etiam 
 ipsam prudentiam, inquantum ipsa prudentia propter 
 finem, qui est caritatis objectum, circa ea quae sunt ad 
 finem, ratiocinatur." (St. Thomas, De ver. xiv, 5, n m .) 
 Seen from this angle, we might describe Virgil's function 
 as that of Prudence; Lucia's as that of Faith; Beatrice's 
 as that of Charity. 
 
 197 Inf. ix, 22-27. 
 
 198 j n j t j v> 13L 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 87 
 
 acknowledges, 199 Aristotelian. For the author 
 of the Divine Comedy was a Thorn ist, a 
 Christian-Aristotelian. 200 Admittedly, Virgil 
 was his actual guide as an allegorical poet, but 
 Dante, I think, would have held it disloyalty 
 to his master in allegory to compliment him 
 at the cost of allegorical consistency. The key 
 to the dilemma lies, I believe, in the tribute 
 which Statius pays to the poet of the Fourth 
 Eclogue. Considered for itself, the role 
 assigned to Statius is puzzling, not to say 
 extraordinary. He alone of all the penitent 
 spirits met by Dante triumphs in Dante's 
 presence. Why should this conspicuous 
 honor be paid to one who by his own con- 
 fession was but a faint-hearted Christian? 
 
 "... per paura chiuso cristian fu'mi, 
 Lungamente mostrando paganesmo; 
 E questa tepidezza il quarto cerchio 
 Cerchiar mi fe'piu ch'al quarto centesmo." 201 
 
 199 Inf. xi, 79-81, 97-105- 
 
 200 Inasmuch as Virgil presents the Aristotelian point of 
 view as leading straight up to Christian theology, and so 
 within its limits justified by that, the whole role of Virgil 
 in the Comedy is in effect a document of Thomistic apolo- 
 getics. (Cf. The "True Meaning" of Dante's Vita Nuova, 
 by the present writer, — Romanic Rev. XI (1920), pp. 
 133-136.) 
 
 201 Purg. xxii, 90-93. 
 
1 88 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Above all vices, Dante detested "tepidezza," 
 as his scorn of the neutrals shows. 202 When 
 it is seen, however, that in attributing to 
 Virgil a certain power above reason, Statius 
 so defines Virgil's representative, or symbolic, 
 power, the importance of his role becomes 
 manifest. He declares to Virgil: 
 
 "Tu prima m'inviasti 
 Verso Parnaso a ber nelle sue grotte, 
 E poi, appresso Dio, m'alluminasti. 
 
 Facesti come quei che va di notte, 
 
 Che porta il lume retro, e se non giova, 
 Ma dopo se fa le persone dotte, 
 
 Quando dicesti: 'Secol si rinnova; 
 
 Torna giustizia, e primo tempo umano, 
 E progenie discende dal ciel nova.' 
 
 Per te poeta fui, per te cristiano!" 203 
 
 Now it may be noted, first of all, that the 
 double obligation expressed in the first tercet 
 and last line quoted, is exactly parallel to 
 that, explicitly and implicitly, acknowledged 
 to Virgil by Dante himself. He too gives 
 thanks to Virgil as his master in poetry. 204 
 And to Virgil, after God, he attributes the 
 light which guided his way from the dark 
 
 202 Inf. 34-5L 
 
 203 Purg. xxii, 64-73. 
 
 204 Inf. i, 82-87. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 89 
 
 forest up to the very presence of his redeemer 
 Beatrice in the central chariot of the Church. 205 
 For Statius Virgil had done an analogous 
 service of himself, and yet not of himself. He 
 had prophesied the Christ to come, and yet 
 was unable to comprehend and to profit by 
 his own prophecy. But the prophecy itself, 
 so momentous and — as Statius' s example 
 proves — so salutary for others, could be no 
 mere accident or coincidence, but, to use 
 Virgil's own words : 
 
 "Vuolsi cosi cola dove si puote 
 Cio che si vuole." 206 
 
 The author of the Fourth Eclogue was for the 
 time being God's mouthpiece. The light of 
 the Holy Spirit illuminated him. 207 But the 
 illumination spent itself, so to speak, in the 
 expression of the prophecy; his own under- 
 
 205 Beatrice is the "center" in virtue of being perfect 
 love or charity. (Cf. V. N. xii, 31-33.) And so Mary for 
 the same reason: "quia caeteris Sanctis vicissim lumen 
 suum praebentibus, haec (Maria) sine vicissitudine semper 
 aequali radio, quantum in se est, cunctis viventibus 
 claritatem effundit," etc. Albert. Mag., op. cit. I, iii, 3. 
 Cf. ib. VIII, i, 7. 
 
 206 Inf. iii, 94-95; v, 23-24. 
 
 207 "... prophetia simpliciter dicta non potest esse a 
 natura, sed solum ex revelatione divina." St. Thomas, 
 S. T. II — II, clxxii, 1, c. 
 
190 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 standing was left dark. It is a well recognized 
 type of prophecy. 208 Caiaphas prophesying 
 the immensely salutary effect of Christ's 
 death offers another instance. 209 In other 
 words, the gift of prophecy is from the Holy 
 Spirit by "grace freely given;" but "grace 
 freely given" (gratia gratis data) does not at all 
 necessarily carry with it the "grace making 
 acceptable" (gratia gratum faciens) which is 
 essential to salvation, by charity uniting 
 man's soul to God. 210 
 
 If this reasoning be sound, the role of 
 Statius takes on a real significance. He is 
 symbolically Dante's alter ego. In each, 
 Virgil's "grace freely given," sterile for Virgil 
 himself, is transformed into fructifying "grace 
 making acceptable." In each, the redeeming 
 
 208 "... donum prophetiae aliquando datur homini et 
 propter utilitatem aliorum, et propter mentis illustra- 
 tionem: et hi sunt, in quorum animas sapientia divina per 
 gratiam facientem se transferens, amicos Dei, et Prophetas 
 eos constituit: quidam vero consequuntur donum pro- 
 phetiae solum ad utilitatem aliorum, qui sunt quasi 
 instrumenta divinae operationis." lb. 4, 1 m . 
 
 209 "... quandoque autem ille, cujus mens movetur ad 
 aliqua verba exprimenda, non intelligit quid Spiritus 
 Sanctus per haec verba intendat: sicut patet de Caiapha, 
 Joan, xi." lb. 4, c. 
 
 210 "... gratia autem gratum faciens ad hoc princi- 
 paliter datur, ut anima hominis Deo per charitatem con- 
 jungatur." lb. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 191 
 
 transformation is due, in the first place, to 
 the "grace of discourse" vouchsafed to Virgil 
 in order that the divine message might move 
 as well as inform. 211 So not only do Statius 
 and Dante, in like fashion, testify to the 
 inspiring eloquence of Virgil, but also Beatrice 
 herself, as she tells him, put her trust in 
 
 "tuo parlare onesto 
 Che onora te e quei che udito l'hanno." 212 
 
 Confirmation of prophecy is usually, but not 
 
 always, by miracle. 213 Statius found Virgil's 
 
 prophecy confirmed by a world already 
 
 pregnant with the true faith sown by apostles 
 
 of the Word, who also in their "upright 
 
 conduct" revealed the virtue which the Word 
 
 generates. 214 This conversion of the world to 
 
 Christianity by humble and persecuted folk 
 
 is, as Dante will answer St. Peter, 215 precisely 
 
 because it was done without the adventitious 
 
 aid of miracles, the supreme miracle. So 
 
 Dante in the Comedy will find Virgil's teaching 
 
 confirmed by Beatrice, perfect in charity, who 
 
 211 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. clxxvii, 1, c. 
 
 212 Inf. ii, 1 1 3- 1 1 4. 
 
 213 St. Thomas, ib. clxxviii. 
 
 214 Purg. xxii, 76-78. 
 
 215 Par. xxiv, 106-108. 
 
192 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 even in her mortal life had "without miracle" 
 performed the supreme miracle of converting 
 the loveless into the loving heart. 216 
 
 This parallelism between Statius and Dante 
 extends even farther into their spiritual 
 experience. As Statius was punished for his 
 timid hiding of his worship of the true God 
 under the "screen" of Pagan idolatry, 217 so 
 Dante was punished for timidly hiding his 
 real worship of Beatrice under the "screen" 
 of the "ladies of defence," the "simulacra" 218 
 Statius's punishment was "more than four 
 hundred years" of deferred union with God in 
 the circle of sloth, and "more than five hun- 
 dred" more in the circle of (for him) prodi- 
 gality. 219 Dante's punishment was his ten 
 years of unappeased thirst for Beatrice. 220 
 Incidentally, the two terms of punishment 
 have a proportional relationship. "More than 
 four hundred" plus "more than five hundred" 
 make approximately ten hundred, or one 
 hundred times Dante's penalty. Moreover, 
 
 216 V. N. xxi. 
 
 217 Purg. xxii, 90-92. 
 
 218 V. N. x, xii. It may be remarked that St. Thomas 
 uses the term "simulacra" for false idols. Cf. e. g., / Cor., 
 lect. i, me°; Isa. x, me°. 
 
 2,9 Purg. xxii, 92-93; xxi, 67-68; xxii, 34-54. 
 2,0 Purg. xxxii, 2. 
 
the "three blessed ladies" 193 
 
 the second count of Statius's guilt, prodi- 
 gality, may also, in a spiritual sense, apply 
 to Dante. For he who worships the false idols 
 of present pleasure, 221 exchanges the "gold" of 
 heavenly treasure for the dross of earthly, and 
 is so guilty of the worst prodigality. And 
 finally, Dante's term, "thirst" of Beatrice, 
 finally appeased, corresponds to the Beatitude 
 spoken by the angel releasing souls from the 
 circle where Statius expiated his prodigality. 222 
 
 This spiritual parallelism between Statius 
 and Dante has no further significance, so far 
 as I can see, than to supply the key to Virgil's 
 r61e in the poem. He accompanies Dante and 
 Virgil the rest of the purgatorial way, and 
 later with Dante receives the benefits of 
 Lethe and Eunoe; after which we hear no 
 more of him. But we may apply the key he 
 has given us. 
 
 When Beatrice in her charity condescended 
 for Dante's sake to Virgil in Limbo, she gave 
 implicit promise of supernatural aid to 
 Virgil, — an aid which he from beginning to 
 end acknowledges. In hell his references are 
 mysterious, 223 but in the clearer light of 
 
 221 Purg. xxxi, 34-36. 
 
 222 Pur g. xxii, 1-6. 
 
 223 E. g. Inf. viii, 105; ix, 8; xii, 88. 
 
194 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 purgatory they become more definite. To 
 Sordello he declares : 
 
 "Virtu del ciel mi mosse, e con lei vegno." 224 
 
 Supernatural aid is grace, but it is given to 
 Virgil, not for himself, but for Dante. It 
 moved him, and accompanies him, but is not 
 in him. 225 In other words, the "grace freely 
 given" to the actual Virgil for the benefit of 
 others is that supernatural aid, thanks to 
 which the Virgil of the Comedy is enabled to 
 guide Dante up to Beatrice, representative of 
 the Charity of the Christ whom the actual 
 Virgil had unwittingly prophesied. 226 Only, 
 since this grace does not illuminate Virgil's 
 own faculty of reason, Dante presents it as 
 detached and hypostatized in the person of 
 Lucia, the light emanating from Mary. And, 
 though unseen by Dante, Lucia accompanies 
 him and Virgil through purgatory, where 
 
 224 Purg. vii, 24. 
 
 225 Beatrice's promise to Virgil, that 
 
 "Quando sar6 dinanzi al Signor mio, 
 Di te mi lodero sovente a lui," 
 {Inf. ii, 73-74) may indicate a hopeful conviction on 
 Dante's part that Virgil, for his noble character and 
 prophetic service, may ultimately have been made accep- 
 table to God by imputed merit. 
 
 226 Beatrice represents the charity of Christ as well as of 
 Mary, since Mary's own charity is of Christ. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES 195 
 
 Virgil is not at home, and intervenes when 
 and in such wise as his merely rational 
 faculty is insufficient. Thus, though Dante 
 has passed secure from hell, the place of 
 mortal sins, yet he has fallen asleep in the 
 valley of the negligent. 227 Virgil of his own 
 rational faculty is incompetent to lead him 
 thence to and through the gate of the Chris- 
 tian purgatory, of which the principle is 
 penitence acceptable of God. Penitence 
 would give satisfaction to God for past sins, 
 and so reconcile the sinner to God. 228 It is a 
 virtue, therefore, unknown to a rationalism 
 which cannot recognize God. 229 So to the 
 sleeping Dante in the valley of the negligent, 
 whose befitting psalm is the Te lucis ante™ 
 Light, Lux, comes in the person of the lady 
 Lucia. She it is whom the angel at the gate 
 demands for "escort" to the penitent. Mary's 
 light can enter in through the narrowest 
 gate. 231 And by her light also, the least sin is 
 
 227 Purg. ix, 10-12. 
 
 228 St. Thomas, S. T. Ill, lxxxv, 3. 
 
 229 "Philosophi nihil tractaverunt de poenitentia, quia 
 consideraverunt virtutes secundum quod ordinant ho- 
 minem ad bonum humanum, non autem ut ordinant 
 homines ad Deum." St. Thomas, IV Sent, xiv, 1, 1, 3, 4 m - 
 
 230 Purg. viii, 13. 
 
 231 "Maria lux . . . quia per angustissimam rimam 
 vel foramen ingreditur, gratiam infundendo. Unde dicit 
 
I96 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 made visible to the sinner, so that he may 
 purify himself of it. 232 
 
 Meanwhile the sleeping Dante's imagina- 
 tion converts the supernatural elevation of 
 his soul into a dream. A golden eagle swoops 
 down upon him, "terribil come fulgor" and 
 carries him upward into consuming fire. 233 
 The dream was just before the dawn, when 
 dreams come true. And indeed this symbolic 
 dream was prophetic of many true happen- 
 ings, and is a capital instance of Dante's 
 packed and multiple allegory. The eagle, as 
 he presently learns, is Lucia, light of Mary's 
 grace bringing penitent self-knowledge and 
 the will to enter into the purgatorial fire. 234 
 Again, it is Lucia, light of faith leading to 
 charity, Beatrice, which is a fire so intense 
 
 cum Filio illud Apocalypsis, iii, 20: Si quis mihi aperuit 
 januam, intrabo ad ilium." Albert. Mag., op. cit. VII, x, 1. 
 
 232 "Maria lux . . . quia rimas et angustissima fora- 
 mina sua illustratione manifestat existentibus in domo, 
 id est, minima peccata suae gratiae infusione facit percep- 
 tibilia his qui convertuntur ad cor. . . . Roganda est 
 igitur assidue ut cordibus nostris infundat gratiam divini 
 timoris: quia, sicut dicitur, Eccli. xxi, 7: Qui timet Deum, 
 convertetur ad cor suum, ut per illustrationem gratiae suae 
 possimus intelligere nostrorum cordium foramina et 
 scissuras, et eadem resarcire." lb. 
 
 233 Purg. ix, 13-33. 
 
 234 Purg . xxvii, 7-12. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 97 
 
 that, reglowing in the mind, it fuses "stony" 
 reason 235 into intuitive intelligence. Beatrice, 
 like the mother eagle, will enure her eaglet's 
 eyes to look straight into the sun. So the 
 reenacted rape of Ganymede foreshadows the 
 "rapture" of Dante, in which he can look 
 straight into the unimaginable glory of the 
 divine Sun. And he uses the same word 
 "fulgor" for the Eagle's glory and God's. 236 
 The analogy is natural, since the final cause, 
 the "rapture," is contained in the efficient 
 cause, the "rape." 237 Again, Lucia as the 
 Light emanating from Mary, corresponds, 
 figuratively speaking, to Christ, Mary's Son ; 
 and of the Christ it is said that like an eagle 
 he swoops down upon the sinner to bear him 
 into the Empyrean, the heaven of fire. 238 
 
 235 Cf. Purg. xxxiii, 73-75. 
 
 236 Purg. ix, 29; Par. xxxiii, 141. 
 
 237 Cf. St. Thomas, I Sent, i, 1. 
 
 238 "Christus aquila . . Dicit etiam Isidorus, quod 
 cum aquila super maria penna feratur immobili, nee 
 humanis pateat obtutibus, de tanta sublimitate pisciculos 
 videt natantes, ac tormenti instar descendens pennis, ad 
 littus attrahit raptam praedam. Similiter Christus in 
 solio paternae majestatis existens invisibilis, de coelo 
 respexit filios hominum oculo pietatis errantes in mari, id 
 est, in mundo, et descendit quasi ex improviso in sua 
 incamatione, ut ipsos praedatos a diabolo praedaretur, et 
 eos perduceret ad littus vitae aeternae." Albert. Mag., 
 op. cit. XII, vii, ii, 2. 
 
I98 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Again, the Light which is Christ is reflected 
 in the Word, in Scripture, illuminated by 
 which we are saved. 239 And more especially 
 is it reflected in the word of John, Christ's 
 "Eagle," 240 so called because he saw deepest 
 into the divine glory. 241 
 
 Only this once does Lucia, in her own 
 person, intervene in the action of the poem. 242 
 But as Virgil told Sordello : 
 
 "Virtu del ciel mi mosse, e con lei vegno." 
 
 How then is this guiding influence mani- 
 fested? Remembering the symbolism of 
 Mary as the Sun, and of Lucia as her light- 
 ray, the answer, in the light of Dante's 
 indications, seems clear. At the very outset, 
 Dante had seen beyond the dim vale of fear a 
 hill whose shoulders were 
 
 239 Par. v, 76-78. 
 
 240 Par. xxvi, 53. Cf. ib. 43-45. 
 
 241 "Aquila beatus Joannes Evangelista . . . quia 
 solem intuetur in rota: et iste specialius deitatis contem- 
 platus est arcana. Unde dixit: In principio erat Verbum. 
 Alii quasi infirmis oculis solem, id est, Christum videbant 
 in nube, id est, velatum carne." Albert. Mag., op. cit. 
 XII, vii, ii, 5. 
 
 242 She may well, as the counselling companion of 
 Virgil, be intended in the "donna santa e presta" of Purg. 
 xix, 26; but in any case her appearance is only in Dante's 
 dream. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 1 99 
 
 "Vestito gia de'raggi del pianeta 
 Che mena dritto altrui per ogni calle." 243 
 
 The first sight to "bring back delight" to his 
 eyes, after his emergence from the murk of 
 hell, is 
 
 "Lo bel pianeta che ad amar conforta." 244 
 
 The sole direction given by Cato for guidance 
 of the pilgrims is to follow the sun. 245 So 
 Virgil, fixing his gaze upon the sun, appeals 
 for its guidance. 246 And at last he commits his 
 alumnus to its guidance alone. 247 Effectively 
 then, the promised guidance of Lucia is 
 fulfilled by "the rays of the planet that leadeth 
 each one straight by every way." Only by 
 following such leading can one rise towards 
 God, the divine Sun. Hence the law of the 
 Mount, that no one may ascend by night. 248 
 
 Virgil's task finished, Lucia shines in the 
 sevenfold candelabrum of the Christian 
 Church, lighting the soul in the way of 
 duty, obedience to Law. 249 Then appears 
 
 243 Inf. i, 17-18. 
 
 244 Purg. i, 19. 
 
 245 Purg. 107-108. 
 
 246 Purg. xiii, 13-21. 
 
 247 Purg. xxvii, 133. 
 
 248 Purg. vii, 52-57. 
 
 249 p Mr g. xxx> j-6. 
 
200 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Beatrice as, says Dante, "I have seen at dawn 
 
 " . . .la faccia del sol nascere ombrata, 
 Si che per temperanza di vapori 
 L'occhio la sostenea lunga fiata." 250 
 
 Under the guidance now of Charity, the edu- 
 cation of his intuitive vision begins. She is as 
 the sun, yet veiled for his as yet weak eyes. 
 As he and she rise into paradise, she is the 
 eagle, he the eaglet. Her eyes are fixed upon 
 the divine Sun, his upon its image in hers; 
 and by that gaze he is "transhumanized." 251 
 And what power accomplished the miracle is 
 told in the immediately following tercet : 
 
 "S'io era sol di me quel che creasti 
 
 Novellamente, Amor che il ciel governi, 
 Tu il sai, che col tuo lume mi levasti." 
 
 Beatrice's eyes reflect the "love which gov- 
 erns heaven," and this reflected light it is 
 that "transhumanizes" Dante. What passes 
 from her eyes to his is the power of seeing 
 which Love gives. And once more Dante 
 explains the process. 252 Beatrice has again 
 
 260 P Ur g M XXX, 25-27. 
 
 251 Par. i, 46-72. 
 
 252 I may plead his example for the repetitive character 
 of this paper. Yet in spite of all Dante's repetitions, he is 
 still misunderstood! 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 201 
 
 turned upon him her eyes "pieni di faville 
 d'amor" But his, too weak to withstand the 
 glory, are downcast. She explains: 
 
 "S'io ti fiammeggio nel caldo d'amore 
 Di la dal modo che in terra si vede, 
 Si che degli occhi tuoi vinco il valore, 
 
 Non ti maravigliar; che cio procede 
 Da perfetto veder, che, come apprende, 
 Cosi nel bene appreso move il piede. 
 
 Io veggio ben si come gia risplende 
 Nello intelletto tuo l'eterna luce 
 Che, vista sola, sempre amore accende." 253 
 
 Again it must be said that although vision, 
 whether of faith or revelation, precedes 
 charity "in the order of generation," yet "in 
 the order of perfection charity precedes faith 
 and hope, inasmuch as faith as well as hope is 
 formed by charity, and acquires the perfection 
 of virtue; so charity is the mother of all 
 virtues, and the root, inasmuch as it is the 
 form of all virtues." 254 Only gradually can 
 Dante's eyes accommodate themselves to the 
 glory reflected from Beatrice's. 255 And the 
 stages of improvement are carefully indi- 
 
 253 p ar y> j_g 
 
 254 St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, lxii, 4, c. Obviously, this is 
 the meaning of Purg. xxix, 127-129. 
 
 256 Cf. St. Thomas, 5. T. II-II, xxiv, 3. 
 
202 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 cated. 256 Finally, he is enabled also to endure 
 her smile, that appeared 
 
 "come sole in viso che piu trema." 257 
 
 With that her task ends. His eyes have drunk 
 up the fullest glory of the Sun that she can 
 reflect upon him. She graduates him from 
 her school, as Virgil before had from his. So 
 disciplined and strengthened, he can now turn 
 undaunted from the reflection to the thing 
 itself which is reflected. After Beatrice has 
 assured him that he can now withstand the 
 double glory of her eyes and smile, and he has 
 proved it, 258 she urges him to dare the 
 intenser glory of the fair garden flowering 
 under the rays of Christ. 259 Later, without 
 awaiting invitation, as if conscious of his 
 independent strength, he turns from the 
 dazzling point of light mirrored in his lady's 
 eyes, to look directly at the reality. The 
 point itself, from which 
 
 "Depende il cielo e tutta la natura," 26 ° 
 is indeed the divine Sun, but still, as its 
 
 256 Cf. especially Par. xxi, 1-12; xxiii, 46-60. 
 
 257 Par. xxx, 13-33. 
 
 258 p ar xxiii, 46-60. 
 
 259 lb. 70-75. 
 
 260 I. 42. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 203 
 
 punctual size proves, afar off in its empyrean. 
 His eyes endure its direct ray, yet still with 
 difficulty. 261 Once again, risen into the 
 Empyrean, her countenance mirrors for him 
 the divine Sun's glory in its own place. 262 The 
 point of light has expanded, and is seen to be 
 triune. It is "pure light," yet 
 
 "Luce intellettiial piena d'amore, 
 Amor di vero ben pien di letizia, 
 Letizia che trascende ogni dolzore." 26S 
 
 The "intellectual light full of love" is in her 
 eyes; the "love of true good" is in her smile; 
 the "joy which transcends every grief" is in 
 both. And Dante, who can sustain the triple 
 glory, possesses therefore the angelic faculty, 
 the intelletto d'amore, intuitive spiritual 
 insight; and to possess the bliss of this 
 insight, he has but to be presented to the 
 supreme object of its operation, God. 
 
 Beatrice by her power of love has so 
 actualized in Dante his own potential intui- 
 tive faculty. It exists with him separately and 
 independently, and may be conceived as a 
 distinct entity. Bernard is the hypostasis of 
 
 261 lb. 16-18. 
 
 262 Par. xxx, 10-33. 
 
 263 Par. xxx, 40-42. 
 
204 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 this figurative entity, this "higher reason," in 
 Dante, the operation of which is by contem- 
 plation withdrawn into itself. 264 Beatrice and 
 Bernard, then, both represent the Intelletto 
 oV Amove; but Beatrice as it is in the angels, 
 Bernard as it is in man "by participation." 265 
 Bernard, then, represents the required 
 mode of seeing God face to face, of knowing 
 his essence; and so Bernard at once explains 
 his presence: 
 
 "A terminar lo tuo disiro 
 Mosse Beatrice me del loco mio." 266 
 
 And he adds more fully : 
 
 "Acrid che tu assommi 
 Perfettamente," disse, "il tuo cammino, 
 A che prego ed amor santo mandommi, 
 Vola con gli occhi per questo giardino; 
 Che veder lui t'acconcera lo sguardo 
 Piu al montar per lo raggio divino." 267 
 
 264 Par. xxxiii, 46-48. 
 
 265 ". . . quamvis cognitio humanae animae proprie 
 sit per viam rationis, est tamen in ea aliqua participatio 
 illius simplicis cognitionis quae in substantiis superioribus 
 invenitur, ex quo vim intellectivam habere dicuntur." 
 St. Thomas, De ver. XV, i, c, me°. Cf. the analogous 
 distinction between Beatrice as Charity in patria, and the 
 personification of Charity in via. Cf. above, p. 163. 
 
 266 Par. xxxi, 65-66. 
 
 267 lb. 94-99. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 205 
 
 His phrase "acconcerd lo sguardo" expresses 
 exactly that gradual "accommodation" of 
 sight to ever intenser light which all along has 
 been the symbolic principle of Dante's 
 education. Lucia is the hypostatized light; 
 Beatrice the hypostatized love by which 
 Dante's sight is accommodated. 
 
 But Lucia and Beatrice both draw their 
 efficiency from Mary, are but the light and 
 heat of her glory. And Mary, though a "sun," 
 an original source of light, to mankind, is, in 
 relation to God, the one true Sun, as a moon, 
 shining by reflected light also. But of all 
 created things, the moon is likest the sun, and 
 the brightest after it. 268 Also, of the planets it 
 is nearest to the sun; and there is nothing 
 intermediate between it and the sun. 269 Also, 
 eyes that cannot look upon the sun, can look 
 upon the moon. 270 And in saying this, Albert 
 adduces the authority of St. Bernard lauding 
 
 268 "Maria luna . . . quia nihil tarn simile soli quam 
 luna, non tamen omnino similis. Nullum enim luminare 
 tantum habet luminositatis, quantum sol, cujus lumino- 
 sitatem luna vicinius aemulatur." Albert. Mag., op. cit. 
 VII, iv, 2. 
 
 269 lb. 
 
 270 "In luna, id est, Maria splendor misericordiae sine 
 fervore severitatis: quia non offendit innrmos oculos se 
 respicientis, sicut fervor solis." lb. 
 
206 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 the Virgin's charity, from the "heat" of which 
 nothing can hide itself. 271 
 
 From this passage of Albert's Dante might 
 have drawn his authority and his instrument 
 for the final "accommodation." 272 If Mary 
 vouchsafe to Dante's eyes the power to see 
 her face to face, no further increment of power 
 is possible or needed: the alumnus may be 
 ushered into the very presence of God. So 
 it is done. The Virgin is gracious to Dante 
 because, burning with love of her through 
 Beatrice, he has become spiritually one with 
 her "fedel Bernardo." 273 He is able to keep 
 his gaze "fixed and attent" on that "hot heat" 
 of her glory. 274 
 
 That which makes man's reason discursive 
 is his corporeal nature. His intellect, in its 
 own nature intuitive, must grope from datum 
 to datum of sense. Before therefore he can 
 attain the perception of disembodied intel- 
 
 271 "Denique omnibus omnia facta est . . . ut non sit 
 qui se abscondat a calore ejus." lb., referring to lb. IV, 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 272 Albert's words are not cited as a necessary literary 
 source. They merely summarize a current symbolism. 
 St. Bernard also was by common consent regarded as the 
 high apostle of Alary. 
 
 273 Par. xxxi, 100-102. 
 
 274 lb. 133-142. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 207 
 
 lects, he must cast off the body. Before he 
 can see as the immortals, he must put off 
 mortality. Naturally, this detachment is by 
 what we call death. But by special grace, 
 mortal man may be granted the separation of 
 soul from body momentarily, and yet have 
 them reunited again for his appointed time 
 on earth. In the interim his soul may see 
 God. This is "rapture," and it is for this that 
 Bernard prays the Virgin in Dante's behalf, — 
 this, and for safeguarding the perfect charity 
 that must follow the beatific vision. 275 For in 
 this life, charity, even perfectly possessed, 
 may be lost. 276 
 
 Mary hears Bernard's prayer, and grants 
 Dante a power of vision connatural with 
 hers. 277 With the "valore" of the Mother, he 
 can meet the "valore infinite" of the Father as 
 closely as any finite power can ; and he stresses 
 the unspeakable boon by a curious paradox. 
 Whereas always before, his weak eyes had 
 sought relief from excess of light by turning 
 away, or closing, now it seems to him that 
 they would be blinded if turned away. 278 
 
 275 p ar# xxxiii, 28-36. 
 
 276 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. II— II, xxiv, II. 
 
 277 Par. xxxiii, 49-57. 
 
 278 lb. 76-91. 
 
208 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 It is obvious that the Dante of the Comedy 
 is no mere representative man, no mere 
 representative Christian, as is sometimes 
 said. 279 Indeed, he has but one certain peer 
 among all men, — the apostle Paul, even the 
 one with whom he had at first modestly 
 disclaimed likeness. A second St. Paul, he 
 comes down from the third heaven to declare 
 unto men so much of what he has seen there 
 as mortal faculty can retain and communi- 
 cate. 280 Lucia, the Light of Mary, does not 
 merely accompany him, as she did Virgil; she 
 has entered into him. Beatrice, the Love of 
 Mary, inflames his will, not only towards 
 beatitude, but also to loving-service of 
 his fellow-men. 281 So is fulfilled through 
 Beatrice's true salute — or salvation at last 
 conferred, the promise of her salute — or 
 salutation, so long withheld. 282 Moreover, 
 Lucia and Beatrice were but instruments, 
 light and love but manifestations, of a 
 central Power, a radiant Sun, in Dante's 
 soul, which is the effluence of the Virgin 
 
 279 Cf., e. g., Paget Toynbee, Concise Dante Dictionary, 
 s. n. Dante. 
 
 2i0 Par. ; , 4-12. 
 
 281 Cf. St. Thomas, 5. T. II— II, xxv, n. 
 
 282 Cf. V. N. xi. 
 
THE "THREE BLESSED LADIES" 200, 
 
 Mother, Queen of heaven and Empress of the 
 universe. In the last analysis, the accepted 
 spiritual suitor of Beatrice is the accepted 
 servant of Mary. Who worships the ray of 
 the sun, worships the sun. Without impeach- 
 ment of his faith to Beatrice, therefore, he 
 composes his poem in the very spirit of 
 Bonaventure's psalm : 
 
 "Dilexi Matrem Dei Domini mei : et lux mis- 
 erationum ejus infulsit mihi. 
 
 Circumdederunt me dolores mortis : et visitatio 
 Mariae laetificavit me. 
 
 Dolorem et periculum incurri: et recreatus 
 sum gratia illius. 
 
 Nomen ejus et memoriale illius sit in medio 
 cordis nostri: et non nocebit nobis ictus malig- 
 nantis. 
 
 Convertere, anima mea, in laudem ipsius: et 
 invenies refrigerium in novissimis tuis." 283 
 
 283 P salt. maj. b. Mar. Virg., Ps. 114. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 1 
 
 The title of the book, wrote Dante to 
 Can Grande, is: Incipit Comoedia Dantis 
 Aligherii, Florentini natione, non moribus. 
 The Latin Comoedia Dantis means "the 
 Comedy of Dante" as well as "the Comedy by 
 Dante." I believe that Dante was quite aware 
 of this ambiguity, and intends both of its 
 alternative meanings at once. 2 The poem was 
 his Comedy in that he wrote it. The poem was 
 his "comedy" in that it relates how from a 
 state at the beginning "horrible and foul," he, 
 the protagonist, came to a state at the end 
 "prosperous, desirable, and gracious." And 
 such is the order of any "comedy." 3 His 
 purpose in telling his story is to lead others 
 living in this life along the same road from a 
 state of misery to a state of felicity. 4 
 
 1 Reprinted from Studies in Philology, Oct., 192 1. 
 
 2 The epithet "Divine" was given first in the edition of 
 1555, and its retention is, I think, a literary impertinence. 
 Even if the contention in the present text is unwarranted, 
 there can at least be no question that when a writer who 
 so weighed and packed every item of his work gave a 
 title, he meant it and meant something by it. 
 
 3 lb. 
 
 4 lb., par. xv. 
 
 210 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 211 
 
 Again, to take Dante at his own word, we 
 should consider as part of his title the bitter 
 qualifying phrase — Florentini natione, non 
 moribus. The surface meaning is obvious 
 enough ; but if the poem itself has a multiple 
 meaning, 5 might we not expect the title also 
 to bear a deeper sense than meets the eye? 
 
 When Dante declares himself "Florentine 
 in stock, not morals," he speaks after the 
 redeeming experiences related in his poem. 
 He has risen not only above his original state, 
 but also above the state of his origin. His 
 original state was the state of sin ; the state of 
 his origin, the city of Florence, was a city of 
 sin. This analogy may appear exaggeratedly 
 fanciful, as well as unjust, but it is brought 
 out continually in the poem itself. Florence, 
 we are told, is 
 
 "la citta, che di colui e pianta 
 Che pria volse le spalle al suo Fattore." 6 
 
 So planted by Satan, it has sprouted in envy, 
 and flowered in greed : 
 
 "E da cui e la invidia tanto pianta, — 
 Produce e spande il maledetto fiore 
 
 5 lb., par. vii. 
 
 8 Par. ix, 127-128. 
 
212 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Ch'ha disviate le pecore e gli agni, 
 Pero che fatto ha lupo del pastore." 7 
 
 It is "the nest of malice." 8 It is blown up with 
 pride. 9 Bestiality is the mark of those 
 Florentines who accompanied Dante into 
 exile. 10 Now so is the City of Dis, of Satan, 11 
 the abiding-place of "malice and mad bes- 
 tiality," 12 the prison-house of those whose 
 guilt was due, not to the less culpable incon- 
 tinence of desire or temper, but to envy and 
 malice. It would seem, therefore, that Dante 
 represents his exile from Florence as a 
 providential escape, quite comparable to his 
 rescue from the three wild beasts of the dark 
 forest. He even refers to Florence as a "sad 
 forest" full of wolves. 13 But the exact return 
 to the taunt of his title is his self-gratulation 
 in heaven itself: 
 
 "Io, che al divino daH'umano, 
 
 All'eterno dal tempo era venuto, 
 
 7 lb. 129-132. Fiore is literally the florin, allegorically 
 the greed of which the florin is cause and emblem. For 
 envy as a Florentine characteristic, cf. Inf. vi, 49; xv, 68, 
 
 8 Inf. xv, 78. 
 
 9 Inf. xvi, 75. 
 
 10 Par. xvii, 62. 
 
 11 Inf. xi, 65. 
 
 12 Inf. xi, 82-83. 
 u Purg. xiv, 49-51, 64. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 213 
 
 E di Fiorenza in popol giusto e sano, 
 Di che stupor dovea esser compiuto !" 14 
 
 Against this implication that the evil and 
 arrogant men who banned him from his 
 birthplace were after all unwitting instru- 
 ments of Providence working for his salvation, 
 may be alleged his desire and hope of return. 
 
 "Se mai continga che il poema sacro, — 
 Al quale ha posto mano e cielo e terra, 
 Si che m'ha fatto per piu anni macro, — 
 
 Vinca la crudelta che fuor mi serra 
 Del bello ovile ov'io dormii agnello 
 Nimico ai lupi che gli danno guerra, 
 
 Con altra voce amai, con altro vello 
 Ritornero poeta, ed in sul fonte 
 Del mio battesmo prendero il cappello; 
 
 Per 6 che nella Fede, che fa conte 
 L'anime a Dio, quivi entra'io, e poi 
 Pietro per lei si mi giro la fronte." 15 
 
 Superficially, indeed, the passage would mean 
 simply that, won over by the splendor of his 
 literary accomplishment, his fellow-citizens 
 might one day readmit him to citizenship, 
 and even crown him as poet at the baptismal 
 font at which, a child, he had been admitted 
 
 14 Par. xxxi, 37-40. 
 
 15 Par. xxv, 1-12. 
 
214 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 into the membership of the Church. But 
 there are manifest hints of a deeper meaning. 
 In that old time he had slumbered a lamb 
 among wolves, their "enemy" indeed, but 
 also their helpless victim. They had success- 
 fully "fleeced" and banned him. But one day 
 his holy poem, mighty with the might of 
 heaven as well as of earth, may "conquer" — 
 not merely soften or appease, but conquer — 
 their cruelty. Then will he return "with 
 another voice, another fleece," and at the font 
 . joi his baptism put on the chaplet. To under- 
 
 \~~~stand what is implied in the word "conquer," 
 we should recall what Dante declared to be 
 the purpose of the Comedy, namely, "to 
 
 .^remove those living in this life from a state of 
 misery, and to bring them to a state of 
 felicity." 16 In other words, its purpose was 
 to convert men to Christ, the Lamb of God. 17 
 And he, Dante, has by the Vicar of Christ, 
 St. Peter, been given the sign of the aureole 
 of the Lamb's apostle and prophet to men : 
 
 "Pietro per lei (la Fede) si mi cird la fronte." 18 
 Poet as he is, therefore, he speaks, and will 
 
 16 Ep. x, 268-270 — ed. Moore, in Opere. 
 
 17 Cf. Par. xxiv, 2. 
 
 18 Cf. Par. xxiv, 148-154. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 215 
 
 speak, "with another voice," the voice of a 
 prophet. Also, he will be clothed "with 
 another fleece," — that of the Lamb himself, 
 which figuratively signifies, among other 
 things, the humility which shall be exalted. 19 
 The "chaplet," accordingly, which he shall put 
 on at the baptismal font, while to the general 
 it may signify the glory of a poet, rightly 
 understood will be sign and symbol of the 
 aureole awaiting him as prophet and doctor 
 of the Faith, and already conferred in the 
 mystic vision symbolically by St. Peter. 20 
 But he will return to Florence, speaking with 
 the voice of the Lamb, only as Christ himself 
 descended into hell as 
 
 "Un possente 
 Con segno di vittoria coronato ;" 21 
 
 or as he and Virgil, accompanied w T ith that 
 other "agnello," 22 forced their way into the 
 
 19 Cf. Albertus Magnus, De laudibus b. Mariae Virg., 
 XII, v, viii, 7. 
 
 20 Cf. St. Thomas, IV Sent, xxxiii, 3, 3, 3: "Aureola 
 debetur doctoribus, et praedicatoribus, tantum docentibus 
 ex officio vel commissione." Dante represents himself 
 commissioned both by Beatrice (Purg. xxxiii, 52-54) and 
 by St. Peter (Par. xxvii, 64-66). 
 
 21 Inf. iv, 53-54- 
 
 22 Dante uses agnello for both "angel" and "lamb." Cf. 
 Purg. xvi, 16; Par. xxiv, 2. 
 
2l6 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 city of Dis, whose "lamentable houses" had 
 been before denied them. 23 And then, as 
 Christ from hell drew Adam and Abel and 
 Noah, 
 
 "Ed altri molti ; e fecegli beati ;" 24 
 
 so Dante would "bring to a state of felicity" 
 those Florentines willing to heed the proph- 
 esyings of his Comedy. As for the rest, — 
 vae victis! For in rejecting him, they reject 
 Christ's apostle. 
 
 This is a bold saying, but Dante says no 
 less. At the same time, he realized that one so 
 declaring prophetic mission, must present his 
 credentials, must in some sort prove his 
 inspiration. St. Paul had written: "Who- 
 soever shall call upon the name of the Lord 
 shall be saved. How then shall they call on 
 him, in whom they have not believed? And 
 how shall they believe in him of whom they 
 
 23 Inf. viii-ix. It may be noted in passing that the angel, 
 like Dante, is "disdainful;" {Inf. ix, 88. Cf. Inf. viii, 44) 
 and that the "insolence" (tracotanza) of the evil ones in 
 opposing the entry of Dante and Virgil into the infernal 
 city had before been shown in opposing the entry of Christ 
 into hell {Inf. viii, 124-126) and is paralleled by the 
 insolence of the Florentines in barring Dante from their 
 city. 
 
 24 Inf. iv, 55-61. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 217 
 
 have not heard? And how shall they hear 
 without a preacher? And how shall they 
 preach, except they be sent?" 25 Also, it is 
 written: "A true witness delivereth souls; but 
 a deceitful witness speaketh lies." 26 A man, 
 however, may deceive himself as well as 
 others. How might Dante himself know that 
 he was a preacher sent, that he was in St. 
 John's phrase, "a true and faithful witness?" 27 
 And, even knowing it, persuade others to 
 listen to him? 
 
 Although the whole Comedy is an answer 
 to this question, within the Comedy there is 
 yet one declarative passage specially cal- 
 culated to win the favorable attention of his 
 readers. This passage is the "exordium," as 
 he calls it, of the Paradise, which runs as 
 follows : 
 
 "La gloria di colui che tutto move 
 Per l'universo penetra, e risplende 
 In una parte piu, e meno al trove. 
 Nel ciel che piu della sua luce prende 
 
 25 Rom. x, 13-15. 
 
 26 Prov. xiv, 25. Vulg.: "Liberat animas testis fidelis: 
 et profert mendacia versipellis." Geryon, symbol of Fraud 
 or Mendacity, who "tanto benigna avea di fuor la pelle," 
 would seem to be a reminiscence of the "versipellis" of this 
 text. 
 
 27 Rev. iii, 14. Vulg.: "testis fidelis et verus." 
 
2l8 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Fu'io, e vidi cose che ridire 
 
 Ne sa ne pud chi di lassu discende; 
 
 Perche, appressando se al suo disire, 
 Nostro intelletto si profonda tanto 
 Che retro la memoria non pud ire. 
 
 Veramente quant'io del regno santo 
 Nella mia mente potei far tesoro 
 Sara ora matera del mio canto." 28 
 
 To explain and reenforce this exordium, to 
 drive home its high significance for those 
 capable of understanding, is the real focus and 
 point of Dante's Epistle to Can Grande. 
 Since such interpretation of the Epistle is 
 certainly not self-evident, however, I must 
 try to justify it. 
 
 The Epistle, the authenticity of which is 
 now generally accepted, 29 has three parts, — 
 epistolary, doctrinal, expository. 30 Or, in 
 plainer words, Dante begins with a personal 
 address to his patron; then, under six heads, 
 he gives an account of the poem as an organic 
 whole including the Paradise; and finally 
 proceeds to an exposition of the literal sense 
 of the "Prologue" 31 of the Paradise. 
 
 28 Par. i, 1-12. 
 
 29 Cf. Paget Toynbee in his edition of the work, Oxford, 
 1920. 
 
 30 These are Paget Toynbee's terms. 
 
 31 Par. i, 1-36. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 2IO. 
 
 What must, I think, strike every thoughtful 
 reader is the apparently capricious manner of 
 treatment, especially in the socalled exposi- 
 tory part. The doctrinal part at least covers 
 the ground in outline ; but it is expansive often 
 over seemingly plain matters, and puzzlingly 
 laconic where the reader would welcome help. 
 The expository part discusses with philosoph- 
 ical subtlety and apologetic amplitude the 
 first part of the Prologue, the exordium, then, 
 after a mere perfunctory division of the 
 second part of the Prologue, the "invocation," 
 breaks off lamely, alleging as excuse anxiety 
 as to the author's "domestic affairs." 
 
 Superficially regarded, what Dante appears 
 to be offering to his patron is a sample, — one 
 might almost say, a bait. The reference to 
 his "rei familiaris angustia" can be hardly 
 other than a none too subtly insinuated 
 appeal to the Magnifico's generosity. To 
 produce the goods indicated by the sample, to 
 expound the whole poem, or even the whole 
 Paradise, on the scale adopted for the 
 exordium, would be a long labor, yet as- 
 suredly one of "public utility." Dante will 
 gladly undertake it, if . . . Can Grande's 
 "magnificence" will but provide ! 
 
 This conception of the Epistle may be true 
 
220 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 as far as it goes. On the other hand, it is 
 also true that the Epistle is presented as an 
 objectively right foreword to the poem itself. 32 
 Let us examine the argument more closely. 
 
 "There are six points, then, as to which 
 enquiry must be made at the beginning of 
 every didactic work; namely, the subject, the 
 author, the form, the aim, the title of the 
 book, and the branch of philosophy to which 
 it belongs." 33 So Dante prepares for the 
 doctrinal part of his commentary, conform- 
 ably with the usual rhetorical rules. His six 
 categories, however, are not on the same 
 plane. The first four derive, as Pietro 
 Alighieri asserts, 34 from Aristotle's precept: 
 "Scire est rem per caitsas cognoscere." The 
 causes of anything fall into four categories, — 
 efficient, material, formal, and final. This 
 fourfold principle of causation gives Dante 
 his first four topics, the first two being 
 inverted in order, namely, subject, author, 35 
 
 32 Cf. Ep. x, 73-74. 
 
 33 lb. 1 18-122. 
 
 34 Commentarium, ed. Florence, 1895, pp. 2-3. Pietro's 
 Prologus, or introductory lecture, appears to be an inter- 
 pretative amplification of the doctrinal part of Dante's 
 Epistle. 
 
 35 By agente, Dante almost surely also intends himself 
 as protagonist. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 221 
 
 form, and aim. His two last categories — title 
 and branch of philosophy — are usually added, 
 says Pietro, "magistraliter," that is, as a 
 matter of teaching practice. In principle, the 
 information conveyed under them would 
 naturally come out under one or other of the 
 first four topics, since to know the causes of 
 anything completely is to know that thing 
 completely. The two supplementary topics 
 only serve for added clarity and convenience 
 of exposition. 
 
 The first or determining cause in any ac- 
 tion is the final cause, the author's aim. 36 The 
 aim which moved Dante, as author, to treat a 
 certain subject-matter, "the state of souls after 
 death," in the form of the Comedy, was, as he 
 said, "to remove those living in this life from 
 a state of misery, and to bring them to a state 
 of felicity." To that end he will show them 
 the state of supreme misery, to wit, the state 
 of damned souls after death, and the state of 
 supreme felicity, to wit, the state of blessed 
 souls after death. The Epistle itself defines 
 only the latter state : " . . . true blessedness 
 consists in the apprehension of Him who is 
 the beginning of truth, as appears from what 
 John says: 'This is life eternal, to know thee 
 
 36 Cf. St. Thomas, S. T. I— II, i, 3, c. 
 
222 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 the true God/ etc.; and from what Boethius 
 says in his third book On Consolation: 'To 
 behold thee is the end." This saying of 
 Boethius, "Te cernere finis," is thus a brief but 
 exact definition of the end to which Dante 
 would bring "those living in this life." 
 
 To bring his hearers to this good end, 
 however, he must first, as has been said, 
 induce them to listen to him. To offer the 
 needed inducement is the business of what the 
 Rhetoricians call an exordium. "To make a 
 good exordium three things are requisite, as 
 Tully says in his New Rhetoric; that the 
 hearer, namely, should be rendered favorably 
 disposed, attentive, and willing to learn; and 
 this is especially needful in the case of a 
 subject which is out of the common, as Tully 
 himself remarks." 37 Dante's subject is indeed 
 "out of the common" (admirabilis) ; "for he 
 declares that he will relate such things as he 
 who beheld them in the first heaven was able 
 to retain." This declaration by itself, con- 
 tinues Dante, fulfils the threefold purpose of 
 his exordium ; "for the profitableness of what 
 he is about to be told begets a favorable 
 disposition in the hearer; its being out of the 
 common engages his attention; and its being 
 
 37 Ep. x, par. xix. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 223 
 
 within the range of possibility renders him 
 willing to learn." 38 Having said this, Dante 
 immediately repeats it ; and later, concluding 
 the detailed exposition of the exordium, again 
 he repeats that "the author says that he will 
 relate concerning the celestial kingdom such 
 things as he was able to retain; and he says 
 that this is the subject of his work." 39 
 
 "Et hoc dicit mater iarn sui o per is" It will 
 be observed that Dante has silently amended 
 his previous definition of the "subject" 
 (subjectum) , or "subject-matter" (materia) , 40 of 
 his poem, or at any rate of the Paradise. 
 Previously he had declared his subject to 
 be "the state of blessed souls after death." 41 
 And this definition is often quoted by critics 
 without apparent recognition of its curious 
 inadequacy. It is as if one should define the 
 subject of Hamlet as "the something rotten 
 in the state of Denmark," and altogether 
 ignore Hamlet himself. The real subject of 
 the Paradise is, on the contrary, "the state of 
 blessed souls after death" — which Dante saw, 
 
 38 "Nam in utilitate dicendorum benevolentia paratur; 
 in admirabilitate attentio; in possibilitate docilitas." 
 
 39 Ep. x, par. xxx. 
 
 40 Either term would indicate the causa materialis. 
 
 41 lb. 231-238. 
 
224 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 and so far as he could retained in mind. And, 
 as Dante by reiteration emphasizes, it is just 
 the amending clauses that make his exordium 
 a perfect one, capable of making the reader 
 "benevolum et attentnm et docilem" of moving 
 the reader's desire and will equally with 
 Dante's own; until the reader may come to 
 say: 
 
 "gia volgeva il mio disiro e il velle, 
 Si come ruota ch'egualmente e mossa, 
 L'Amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle," 42 
 
 as mediated for me through this "true and 
 \faithful witness" In other words, Dante will 
 be to his reader what Beatrice had been to 
 him. 
 
 To achieve his end, therefore, — the salva- 
 tion of his hearer, — Dante's treatment of his 
 general subject, — "the state of blessed souls 
 after death," — could not be impersonal and 
 objective like Milton's treatment of heavenly 
 life in Paradise Lost. Milton did indeed 
 express a thought at least analogous to 
 Dante's when he wrote that "He who would 
 not be frustrate of his hope to write well 
 hereafter in laudable things ought himself 
 to be a true poem." Therefore, Milton might 
 
 42 Par. xxxiii, 143-145. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 225 
 
 have added, he need not announce his 
 qualifications in his poem ; his poem itself, by 
 so much of nobility as it might possess, must 
 prove him, its maker, to be noble. Dante's 
 purpose, — the final cause which determined 
 the form of his creation, — was different. He 
 was concerned not merely, like Milton, "to 
 declare the ways of God to men," by an 
 argument, however lofty, based upon ex- 
 ternal authority, however compelling. He 
 would present such an argument indeed, and 
 would summon to its support the highest 
 external authorities available, to wit, the 
 self-revelation of God to men in Holy 
 Scripture, as interpreted by Holy Church : 
 
 "Avete il vecchio e il nuovo Testamento, 
 E il pastor della Chiesa che vi guida: 
 Questo vi basti a vostro salvamento !" 43 
 
 So far he is at one with Milton. But to appeal 
 to men with such an argument alone might in 
 a sense be regarded as a work of super- 
 erogation. His words just quoted would 
 almost imply as much. For if the Bible and 
 the direction of the Pope suffice for salvation, 
 what need for his Comedy? 
 
 In answer, Dante might say that indeed he 
 
 43 Par. v, 76-78. 
 
226 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 neither could, nor would, add any least item 
 ot the body of the Faith as interpreted from 
 the Bible by the Church. But, as he defined 
 
 "Fede e sustanzia di cose sperate, 
 
 Ed argomento delle non parventi." 44 
 
 Yet if one has passed beyond faith to the 
 certitude of knowledge, he can, as a witness, 
 give testimony that must fortify the faith of 
 others less favored of God. The "sustanzia di 
 cose sperate" is the sustanzia, or subject- 
 matter, of the Comedy, but its "argomento" 
 is not "delle non parventi." For Dante has seen 
 these hoped-for things, even to their perfec- 
 tion in the direct and immediate vision of 
 God, the cognition of his essence. And with 
 Dante, as with St. Paul, it must be that God 
 had vouchsafed this surpassing grace in order 
 that he might be a witness unto men. St. 
 Augustine had asked as to St. Paul : "Cur non 
 credamus quod tanto Apostolo, Doctor i gentium, 
 raptu usque ad ipsam excellentissimam vi- 
 sionem, voluerit Deus demonstrare vitam in qua 
 post hanc vitam vivendum est in aeternum?"* 5 
 And St. Thomas adds that St. Paul was 
 vouchsafed his "rapture" not that he himself 
 
 44 Par. xxiv, 64-65. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 227 
 
 might be blest, but that he might be a witness 
 of blessedness. 46 Moreover no more than 
 St. Paul does Dante pretend to have seen all 
 that the blessed souls after death see, but only 
 so much as might be useful to confirm men's 
 faith. 47 For him and for his reader Love's 
 injunction would still hold: "Non domandar 
 piU che utile ti sia!" What then he saw, and 
 was able to retain in mind and to communi- 
 cate of his supernatural vision, was that 
 which would be useful for salvation both of 
 himself and of others. And in effect this 
 residual boon is summed in the last words of 
 all of his message. 48 The fulgore, the divine 
 glory of what he had seen, had penetrated 
 into his heart, and there re-glowed as perfect 
 charity, and perfect charity is the one thing 
 needful for beatitude. If his true testimony, 
 set forth with all the art and inspiration 
 accorded to him, can by its reflected flame so 
 kindle the hearts of his hearers, his appointed 
 task is done. 
 
 45 X Super Genes, ad litteram, lib. XII, cap. xxviii, 
 c. me m . Quoted by St. Thomas, De ver. xiii, 3, 8. 
 
 46 "Non enim rapiebatur ut esset beatus, sed ut esset 
 beatitudinis testis." lb. 8 m . 
 
 47 "Nee tamen oportuit quod omnia in se experiretur 
 quae beatis inerunt; sed ex his quae experiebatur, etiam 
 alia scire posset." lb. 
 
 48 Par. xxxiii, 142-145. 
 
228 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Dante's supreme credential, then, one 
 making the appeal of his exordium perfect, is 
 that he has been an actual eye-witness of the 
 divine things he will tell of, of the very 
 Godhead itself. And it is that fact which 
 makes his Comedy itself the most perfect of 
 all "comedies" in that its curve of amelioration 
 rises from the absolute zero of damnation 
 apparently assured to the maximum of 
 blessedness attainable in this life. He has been 
 shown to stand alone with St. Paul in God's 
 favor. No wonder he dares to call himself 
 "your friend" to the "magnificent and vic- 
 torious Lord Can Grande." "Why not?" he 
 exclaims. "Since even between God and man 
 friendship is in no wise impeded by in- 
 equality?" 49 No wonder Beatrice declares 
 that the Church Militant has no son of 
 greater hope than he ; 
 
 "Pero gli e conceduto che d'Egitto 
 Venga in Jerusalemme per vedere 
 Anzi che il militar gli sia prescritto." 50 
 
 No wonder the spirits met in purgatory and 
 paradise, amazed at his mortal presence 
 among them, reverently felicitate this special 
 
 49 Ep. x, par. ii. 
 
 50 Par. xxv, 55-57- 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 229 
 
 friend of God. Hugh Capet, for instance, 
 declares himself eager to inform him, 
 
 "perche tanta 
 Grazia in te luce prima che sii morto." 51 
 
 Guido del Duca is more emphatic: 
 
 "O anima, che fitta 
 Nel corpo ancora in ver lo ciel ten vai, 
 Per carita ne consola, e ne ditta 
 Onde vieni, e chi sei; che tu ne fai 
 Tanto maravigliar della tua grazia 
 Quanto vuol cosa che non fu piu mai." 52 
 
 And in paradise Beatrice commends him to 
 the "company elect" as recipient of this most 
 special grace: 
 
 "O sodalizio eletto alia gran cena 
 
 Del benedetto Agnello, il qual vi ciba 
 Si che la vostra voglia e sempre piena, 
 
 Se per grazia di Dio questi preliba 
 
 Di quel che cade della vostra mensa, 
 Prima che morte tempo gli prescriba, 
 Ponete mente aH'affezione immensa, 
 E roratelo alquanto !" 53 
 
 51 Purg. xx, 41-42. 
 62 Purg. xiv, 10-15. 
 53 Par. xxiv, 1-8. 
 
230 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 St. Thomas strikes the same note of holy 
 eulogy : 
 
 "Quando 
 Lo raggio della grazia, onde s'accende 
 Verace amore, e che poi cresce amando 
 
 Multiplicato, in te tanto risplende 
 Che ti conduce su per quella scala 
 U'senza risalir nessun discende, 
 
 Qual ti negasse," etc. 54 
 
 Such illustrations might be multiplied. 
 But indeed everything in the poem is in its 
 own fashion confirmative of the unique 
 quality of the protagonist. Beatrice testifies 
 to his exceptional endowment by nature and 
 by grace. 55 If in such strength he fell, he fell 
 like Lucifer, son of the morning. 56 In his 
 conversion, she, the "miracle," 57 effected a 
 virtual miracle. And thereafter, the whole 
 course of his spiritual progress is attended by 
 virtual miracles. Demons and angels, sinners 
 and saints, are diverted from their eternal 
 occupations to his aid. Satan himself must 
 permit his "shaggy side" to be used as a 
 
 54 Par. x, 82-88. 
 
 55 Purg. xxx, 109-117. 
 
 66 Cf. ib. 1 17-120, 136-138. 
 
 67 V. N. xix, 39; Par. xviii, 63. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 23 1 
 
 ladder. Dante's very modesty of disclaimer 
 to Virgil : 
 
 "Io non Enea, io non Paolo sono," 58 
 
 proves in the event a humility which specific- 
 ally exalts him. For in the proof he shows 
 himself privileged even as they. Like the 
 one, he descended into the lowest hell; like 
 the other, he ascended into the highest 
 heaven; and he returned alive to earth. In 
 effect, the Lord had sent a messenger unto 
 him, as the Lord had sent Ananias to Saul; 
 and what the Lord had said of Saul would 
 apply also to Dante: ". . . he is a chosen 
 vessel 59 unto me, to bear my name before the 
 Gentiles, and kings, and the children of 
 Israel; for I will shew him how great things 
 he must suffer for my name's sake." 60 And 
 the messenger had in effect also said to him, 
 as Ananias to Saul: "Brother, the Lord, even 
 Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as 
 thou earnest, hath sent me, that thou 
 mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with 
 
 58 Inf. ii, 32. 
 
 59 Dante uses the word of himself in Par. i, 14. 
 
 60 Acts ix, 15-16. Revelation to Dante of what he must 
 suffer for truth-telling is made especially through Cac- 
 ciaguida — Par. xvii. 
 
232 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell 
 from his eyes as it had been scales; and he 
 received sight forthwith." 61 When Dante 
 stands before St. John in heaven to profess the 
 supreme Christian virtue of holy love, he is 
 blind. His momentary blindness, like Saul's, 62 
 is due to excess of light, in his case the efful- 
 gent glory of the spirit of the Apostle of Love. 
 To reassure him, St. John declares that his 
 sight is but "srnarrita e non defunta" and that 
 Beatrice 
 
 "ha nello sguardo 
 La virtu ch'ebbe la man d'Anania." 63 
 
 In other words, Dante explicitly asserts 
 analogy between the conversion of Saul and 
 his own. Also, there is another subtler 
 analogy in one of the above passages from the 
 Acts. Ananias said to Saul: "Brother, the 
 Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in 
 the way as thou earnest, hath sent me, that 
 thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled 
 with the Holy Ghost." Bearing in mind the 
 analogy between Ananias and Beatrice as 
 instruments of the healing of Saul's and 
 
 61 lb. 17-18. 
 
 62 lb. 3, 8-9. 
 
 63 Par. xxvi, 11-12. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 233 
 
 Dante's "confused" sight, we may recall the 
 episode related in the New Life, chapter xxiv. 
 There appeared to Dante, in the way as he 
 came, Beatrice preceded by Giovanna, so- 
 called, as Love explained to him, "da qiiello 
 Giovanni, to qnal precedette la verace Luce." 
 And Love, Dante continues, added immedi- 
 ately aftenvard these words: "E chi volesse 
 sottilmente considerare, quella Beatrice chia- 
 merebbe Amore, per molta sorniglianza che ha 
 meco." Manifestly, Beatrice is identified, in 
 some sort, with light (la verace luce) and love. 
 To the other St. John Dante declared that the 
 healing of his eyes began when Beatrice 
 entered their gateway "with the fire where- 
 with I ever burn." This fire, which gives also 
 light, is love. 64 And, figuratively speaking, 
 Beatrice entering into Dante with the fire of 
 holy love is in principle equivalent to the 
 Holy Ghost entering into the Apostles as a 
 "tongue of fire." 65 For the Holy Ghost is 
 Love. 
 
 In fact, from the Holy Ghost come both 
 kinds of grace to which in the Comedy Dante 
 lays claim. These two kinds are "grace 
 
 64 Par. xxvi, 13- 5. Cf. Purg. vi, 38; viii, 77; xxvii, 96; 
 Par. xx, 115, etc. 
 65 Acts ii, 3-4. 
 
234 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 making acceptable," and "grace freely given." 
 Meriting the former, man is united to God. 
 Given the latter, with or without merit, man 
 receives power "above the faculty of nature," 
 to aid his fellow-men towards salvation. 66 As 
 has been shown, the "Dante" of the Comedy 
 has both kinds of grace in the highest degree, 
 is in fact openly and by manifold insinuation 
 represented as coequal in quality with the 
 Apostle whose conversion was also by a 
 miracle, 67 who also, and otherwise alone of 
 living men, had in rapture immediate cogni- 
 tion of the divine essence, and who also in 
 the charity so infused bore the persecutions 
 of evil men that he might reveal God unto 
 others. 68 
 
 To modern ears, and I should think even 
 to medieval ears, a self-exaltation like this 
 
 66 ". . . Duplex est gratia: una quidem, per quam ipse 
 homo Deo conjungitur, quae vocatur gratia gratum faciens; 
 alia vero, per quam unus homo cooperatur alteri ad hoc, 
 quod ad Deum reducatur: hujusmodi autem donum 
 vocatur gratia gratis data: quia supra facultatem naturae, 
 et supra meritum personae homini conceditur: sed quia 
 non datur ad hoc, ut homo ipse per earn justificetur, sed 
 potius ut ad justificationem alterius cooperetur, ideo non 
 vocatur gratum faciens." St. Thomas, 5. T. I — II, cxi, I, c. 
 
 67 Cf. St. Thomas, 5. T. I— II, cxii, io, c. 
 
 68 "Paulus sextupliciter excellit caeteros apostolos: 
 scilicet quantum ad specialem electionem, secretorum Dei 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 235 
 
 must appear, must have appeared, if not 
 lunatic, almost blasphemous in its arrogant 
 pride. Let me hasten, therefore, to make the 
 distinction which the scholastically minded 
 poet ever insists upon. I mean the distinction 
 between quality and degree. Though he 
 might repeat in kind St. Paul's experience, 
 and from the similar effect deduce similar 
 causal grace, yet his experience and his grace 
 might well be upon an indefinitely lower plane 
 of perfection. Indeed, he confesses by impli- 
 cation to the sins of pride and envy 69 and per- 
 haps lust. 70 And he is humble enough before 
 Beatrice's rebuke. True, even in this humility 
 of self-denunciation he still parallels St. Paul, 
 who said : "And lest I should be exalted above 
 measure through the abundance of the rev- 
 elations, there was given to me a thorn in 
 the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, 
 lest I should be exalted above measure." 71 
 
 cognitionem, malorum perpessionem, virginalem integri- 
 tatem, bonorum operationem et maximam scientiam qua 
 emicuit." St. Thomas, II Cor. xii, lect. 3, prin°. The only 
 one of these excellences not attributed to the protagonist 
 of the Comedy is "virginal integrity." 
 
 69 Purg. xiii, 133-138. 
 
 70 At least, his terror of the purgative flame and scorch- 
 ing by it {Purg. xxvii, 13-51) have been so construed. 
 
 71 II Cor. xii, 7. 
 
236 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 For the "thorn in the flesh" — in the Vulgate, 
 "stimulus carnis" — is interpreted by Dante's 
 master, St. Thomas, as "prick of concupis- 
 cence," and was given to St. Paul, not for his 
 damnation, but to cure him of his spiritual 
 blindness. 72 Precisely so Beatrice declares 
 that Dante 
 
 "Tanto giu cadde che tutti argomenti 
 Alia salute sua eran gia corti, 
 Fuor che mostrargli le perdute genti." 73 
 
 Really, he was shown the state of the damned, 
 not objectively, but subjectively — in his own 
 soul. One knows sin only by sinning. But 
 even because his self-curative sinning was by 
 divine mercy, he must be predestined to 
 salvation. 74 
 
 St. Paul's further words, however, give 
 the final clue to Dante's attitude. When 
 St. Paul besought the Lord that this "mes- 
 
 72 "Peccatum autem ad duo ordinatur: ad unum quidem 
 per se, scilicet ad damnationem; ad aliud autem ex divina 
 misericordia, vel providentia, scilicet ad sanationem; 
 inquantum Deus permittit aliquos cadere in peccatum, ut 
 peccatum suum agnoscentes humilientur, et convertantur." 
 St. Thomas, S. T. I — II, lxxix, 4, c. 
 
 73 Purg. xxx, 136-138. 
 
 74 ". . . haec misericordia non omnibus impenditur 
 excaecatis, sed praedestinatis solum, quibus omnia co- 
 operantur in bonum." St. Thomas, ib. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 237 
 
 senger of Satan," this "prick of concupis- 
 cence," might depart from him, the Lord 
 answered him: "My grace is sufficient for 
 thee: for my strength is made perfect in 
 weakness. Most gladly therefore will I 
 rather glory in my infirmities, that the power 
 of Christ may rest upon me." 75 Therefore 
 Dante's "glorying," like St. Paul's, is in his 
 "infirmities;" since in so "glorying," he 
 magnifies the grace of God which has lifted 
 him above them. And so indeed he would 
 explain even the supreme "grace freely 
 given" of his foretaste of beatitude in his 
 momentary beatific vision of God. Having 
 asserted the truth of this vision, he adds in 
 his Epistle : "Si vero in dispositionem elevationis 
 tantae propter peccatum loquentis oblatrarent, 
 legant Danielem, ubi et Nabuchodonosor in- 
 venient contra peccatores aliqua vidisse divini- 
 tus, oblivionique mandasse. Nam 'Qui oriri 
 solem suum facit super bonos et malos, et 
 pluit super iustos et iniustos, 1 aliquando 
 misericorditer ad conversionem, aliquando severe 
 ad punitionem, plus et minus, ut vult, gloriam 
 suam quantumcumque male viventibus mani- 
 festat." 76 "There is no respect of persons with 
 
 75 II Cor. xii, 9. 
 76 11. 557-569- 
 
238 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 God." 77 In spite of his "infirmities," or 
 mercifully through them, Dante has turned 
 to the light reflected for him in Beatrice; he 
 has been converted. He has received the 
 "grace making acceptable" in sufficiency to 
 be assured of ultimate citizenship in that 
 Rome where Christ is a Roman. 78 For 
 salvation, his merit, however otherwise slight, 
 is enough increased by the very reception of 
 the grace bestowed. 
 
 "E non voglio che dubbi, ma sie certo, 
 Che ricever la grazia e meritorio, 
 Secondo che l'affetto l'e aperto." 79 
 
 The degree of "openness" depends upon holy 
 love, or charity, and his potential charity had 
 been actualized by Beatrice, the incarnation 
 on earth, and for him the representative in 
 heaven, of divine charity. In other words, 
 Dante's saving merit is, like Folquet, "quia 
 multum amavit." Indeed, Dante may have 
 intended to draw a closer parallel with 
 Folquet. For Dante too might say to himself: 
 
 "Questo cielo 80 
 
 77 Rom. ii, 11. 
 
 78 Purg. xxxii, 100-102. 
 
 79 Par. xxix, 64-66. 
 
 80 Venus, the sphere of love which on earth had been 
 "shadowed" with carnal desire. Cf. Par. ix, 11 8-1 19. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 239 
 
 Di me s'imprenta, com'io fei di lui, 
 Che piu non arse la figlia di Belo — 
 Noiando ed a Sicheo ed a Creusa — 
 Di me, infin che si convenne al pelo; 
 Ne quella Rodopeia, che delusa 
 Fu da Demofoonte; ne Alcide 
 Quando Iole nel cor ebbe richiusa." 81 
 
 Also, assured of redemption, he might echo 
 Folquet's further words : 
 
 "Non pero qui si pente, ma si ride — 
 Non della colpa, ch'a mente non torna, 
 Ma del valore ch'ordino e prowide, — " 82 
 
 that is, as already said, of God's strength, 
 which, made perfect in Dante's weakness, 
 transformed Dante's very fault into a saving 
 grace. Finally, his association with Folquet 
 and the heaven of Venus may be insinuated 
 in Folquet's remark : 
 
 "Ma perche le tue voglie tutte piene 
 Ten porti, che son nate in queste spera, 
 Procedere ancor oltre mi conviene." 83 
 
 In other words, Dante's "will and desire" are 
 moved in perfect accord with divine love, 
 
 81 Par. 95-102. 
 
 82 lb. 103-105. Dante has already experienced this 
 forgetfulness of past fault after his immersion in Lethe. 
 Purg. xxxiii, 91-96. 
 
 83 Par. ix, 109-111. 
 
24O SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 caritas in patria, but the grade of his charity 
 is indicated by association with the earth- 
 shadowed heaven of Venus. 
 
 If thus his future rank among the blest is 
 comparatively modest, among men he goes 
 possessed of another grace "freely given," that 
 is, altogether independent of his own merit, 
 which makes him an inspired instrument of 
 God. God has revealed himself to him; and 
 by that revelation he is given the gift of 
 prophecy, both fore-seeing and far-seeing, 
 that is, capable both of predicting future 
 contingencies 84 and of interpreting things 
 beyond sense. Moreover, with that gift is 
 given also the ancillary gift, or grace, of 
 "discourse," the "bello stile" in which Virgil 
 had indeed been his human master, 85 but now 
 he follows the dictation of a power greater 
 than any human art, namely, of holy love, 86 
 which, in the last analysis, is but the inspira- 
 tion of the Holy Ghost, who is Love. 87 
 
 84 E. g., the coming triumph of the Veltro. 
 
 85 Inf. i, 85-87. 
 
 86 Purg. xxiv, 52-54. 
 
 87 St. Thomas, 5". T. I, xxxvii. Cf. ib. II — II, clxxvii, 1, 
 i m : ". . . Spiritus Sanctus excellentius operatur per 
 gratiam sermonis id, quod potest ars operari inferiori 
 modo." In connection with the above definition of Dante's 
 claim of the gift of prophecy, cf. lb. 1 1 — II, clxxi-clxxvii • 
 also the essay in this volume entitled Ariadne's Crown. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 24 1 
 
 In spite of these distinctions, the question 
 presses for answer — Did Dante — not the 
 protagonist of the Comedy, but the actual 
 Dante Alighieri who wrote the Comedy — 
 experience the mystic vision of God, or think 
 so? Of course, to such a question a categorical 
 yes or no is impossible. At most, we can only 
 urge probabilities. 88 To my mind, the gravest 
 objection to taking Dante at his apparent 
 word is the apparently total absence of 
 contemporary acceptance of, or even interest 
 in, the matter. If a man of Dante's position 
 and note had seriously put forward a claim 
 not uncommon among mystics, we should 
 hardly expect the conspiracy of silence that 
 exists. His own son, Pietro, in his commen- 
 tary frankly calls the literal story of the 
 Comedy a "poetic fiction" (ficta poesis). It 
 seems unlikely that he could so misconceive 
 so tremendous an experience of his own 
 father's. 
 
 Without pretending demonstrative cer- 
 tainty, I would offer a compromise view. 
 
 88 Mr. E. G. Gardner in his Dante and the Mystics finds 
 more positively affirmative grounds in the Epistle to 
 Can Grande than I at least can quite accept. Unquestion- 
 ably, assuming the role of his protagonist, Dante writes 
 as if he had had the vision. 
 
242 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Feeling himself moved by a strong spirit of 
 charity actualized by the influence of Bea- 
 trice, Dante would have theological justifica- 
 tion for believing himself given in consequence 
 the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 89 Principal among 
 the gifts of the Holy Spirit are intelligence 
 and wisdom, possessing which, man "by a 
 certain connaturalness" has cognition of 
 divine things, not by discursive reason 
 merely, but by a "divine instinct" above 
 reason and participant in the intuitive faculty 
 of separate, or angelic, intelligences. 90 The 
 terminus ad quern of this intuitive cognition of 
 
 89 " . . . qui charitatem habet, omnia dona Spiritus 
 Sancti habet, quorum nullum sine charitate haberi potest." 
 St. Thomas, S. T. I — II, lxviii, 5, c. 
 
 90 " . . . circa res divinas ex rationis inquisitione rec- 
 tum judicium habere pertinet ad sapientiam, quae est 
 virtus intellectualis: sed rectum judicium habere de eis 
 secundum quamdam connaturalitatem ad ipsas, pertinet 
 ad sapientiam, secundum quod donum est Spiritus Sancti 
 . . . sapientia, quae est donum, causam quidem habet 
 in voluntate, scilicet charitatem, sed essentiam habet in 
 intellectu, cujus actus est recte judicare." St. Thomas, 
 5. T. 1 1 — II, xlv, 2, c. ". . . sapientia dicitur intellectualis 
 virtus, secundum quod procedit ex judicio rationis: dicitur 
 autem donum, secundum quod operatur ex instinctu 
 divino." lb. I — II, lxviii, I, 4 m . "... quamvis cognitio 
 humanae animae proprie sit per viam rationis, est tamen 
 in ea aliqua participatio illius simplicis cognitionis quae in 
 substantiis superioribus invenitur." St. Thomas, De ver. 
 xv, 1, me°. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 243 
 
 divine things is the beatific vision, or intuitive 
 cognition of the supremely divine thing, God. 
 Dante's "poetic fiction," then, would be to 
 represent his protagonist as possessing to its 
 human limit a gift of the Holy Spirit actually 
 possessed by himself, but in lower degree. 
 Such is his procedure with all his principal 
 characters, — except indeed with the Virgin 
 Mary, who needs no such enlargement. But 
 Beatrice, who represents Divine Charity, 
 caritas in patria, for him, is conceived as 
 representing Divine Charity in itself. 91 Lucia, 
 the light-bringer to darkened eyes, becomes 
 "intellectual light" itself. Virgil, the poet of a 
 perfectly rational philosophy and unwitting 
 prophet of Christ, becomes Reason itself 
 made the instrument of God by the infusion 
 of "grace freely given," but without the "grace 
 making acceptable." Cato, martyr to self- 
 freedom, stands for the very principle of 
 Free Will. And so it is with the rest. Now 
 one man actually fulfilled the requirements 
 for making the human comedy of salvation 
 perfect, who in this life rose out of the utter- 
 most depths of spiritual misery to the 
 uppermost heights of spiritual felicity. That 
 
 91 Cf. the accompanying essay — The Three Blessed 
 Ladies. 
 
244 SYMBOLISM OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 man was St. Paul. And Dante, always 
 imaginatively sensitive to analogies and 
 correspondences more or less mystical, dis- 
 covered many such between his own spiritual 
 experiences and those of the Apostle, — 
 enough at least to justify his asking, What 
 man so worthy to represent St. Paul as 
 Dante? even as he had asked, What man so 
 worthy to represent God as Cato? 92 But his 
 poetically affirmative answer in his own case 
 no more means that he regarded himself as 
 the actual peer of St. Paul than that his 
 affirmative answer in Cato's case means that 
 he regarded Cato as the actual peer of God. 93 
 In conclusion, it may be again noted that 
 what, as Dante said, gave "perfection" to his 
 exordium — declaration of the beatific vision 
 — gave also perfection, in the same literal 
 rhetorical sense, to his "comedy" as such. It is 
 altogether incorrect, therefore, to define the 
 hero of the poem as allegorically signifying 
 typical Man, — as, for instance, does the hero 
 of Everyman, or Bunyan's Christian. 94 The 
 
 92 Conv. IV, xxviii, 121-123. 
 
 93 Cf. the similar extension towards an ideal of his own 
 character in the New Life. Cf. The "true meaning" of the 
 Vita Nuova by the present writer, in The Romanic Review, 
 Apr-June, 1920. 
 
 94 Cf. Paget Toynbee, Concise Dante Dictionary, s. n. 
 Dante. 
 
THE COMEDY OF DANTE 245 
 
 "Dante" of the Comedy, on the contrary, 
 represents, not mean humanity, but pro- 
 gressive ly the whole potentiality of human w 
 nature from worse than brute to equal with' 
 angel. 95 Or, in other words, the character is 
 an example, not of Man as he normally is, but 
 of Man as he may by perversion of free will, 
 or by the grace of omnipotent God, extra- 
 ordinarily become. And the comedy of Dante 
 is that, in the beginning a potential demon, 
 he was raised by love of the perfectly loving 
 Beatrice to connaturalness with her, the 
 actual peer of angels. 96 
 
 95 Cf. Conv. Ill, vii, 69-88. 
 
 96 This assimilating power of love is clearly stated by 
 Albertus Magnus: "Est enim amor amantis et amati quasi 
 quaedam unio potissimum in bonis, et naturaliter illud 
 quod amatur, in sui naturam suum convertit amatorem." 
 De laudibus b. Mariae Virg., IV, xvii, 1. 
 
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