Achan

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The name Achan appears in Purgatorio XX, v. 109, within the great indictment against the house of France, in a list of figures whom the lust for gold brought to ruin. The verse «Del folle Acàn ciascun poi si ricorda» presents him as a memorable example of a sin connected to covetousness. The authorized note to canto XX introduces and identifies this character after the examples of Pygmalion and Midas, mythical figures already cited as symbols of destructive avarice, pointing out the thematic continuity of the passage. The identification of the biblical character Achan is confirmed by the note itself, which opens with the spelling «Acàn» corresponding to Dante's textual form. The narrative placement is the terrace of the proud in Purgatory, where Hugh Capet lists examples of pride and avarice, but the character neither speaks nor appears physically on the scene: he is only mentioned as a moral exemplum.