Ahasuerus

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In Purgatorio XVII, the name of Ahasuerus appears at verse 28, in a passage in which Dante recalls biblical examples of pride and punished rebellion. The poet defines him as "the great Ahasuerus," king of Persia, a figure whom tradition identifies with the historical Xerxes I. According to the note on the canto, Ahasuerus is the king under whose reign the minister Haman had ordered the crucifixion of Mordecai, uncle of Queen Esther, and the extermination of the Jews; but Esther revealed the cruel plot to the king, and Ahasuerus had Haman crucified on the cross prepared for Mordecai, thus saving the Jews. The adjective "great" is used by Dante to give prominence and nobility to the royal personage, just as "just" qualifies Mordecai. The three figures — Haman, Mordecai, and Ahasuerus — surround the crucified one, recalling with their mere names the entire biblical episode. In tradition, beginning with Saint Jerome, Esther saving her people is a figure of the Church, and Haman a figure of the demon.