Tiber

Description

In the Commedia the Tiber is recalled in two precise topographical moments. In Canto XXVII of the Inferno the river appears as a geographical reference, mentioning the yoke from which the Tiber bursts forth. In Canto II of the Purgatorio, on the other hand, the mouth of the Tiber is the point of departure for the angelic bark that gathers the souls and carries them toward the island of Purgatory, crossing a distance that separates the world of man from the divine world. Still within the same context, Dante indicates the mouth as the place where the river's fresh water mingles with the salt water of the sea. The critical notes further specify that the recollection of the Virgilian bank of Acheron, with the unburied driven back by Charon, informs the Purgatorial scene of the souls waiting on the shore.