Babylon

Description

In the twenty-third canto of Paradiso Dante recalls Babylon in a simile: the blessed who form the garland are like the good hinds that yield a hundredfold the fruit of the seed, in contrast with those who in Babylon abandoned the gold, preferring earthly riches to faith. The verse "di Babillòn, ove si lasciò l'oro" thus evokes a place-symbol of corruption and moral failing, set against the righteousness of the souls of the Heaven of the Wise. In the notes to canto V of Inferno it is further recalled that the name Babylon indicated for Dante a specific seat, distinct from the so-called Babylon of Egypt.