Historical
Cato
Figure evoked in Inferno XIV as the protagonist of the crossing of the Libyan desert: his feet trod the arid sand that Dante likens to the sandbank where the flakes of fire fall.
Profile
In Inferno XIV the desert of burning sand on which tongues of fire rain is assimilated, by means of a simile, to the Libyan region that Cato crossed with the defeated Pompeians, as narrated by Lucan in the Pharsalia. The note to the verse specifies that the sandbank is compared to that desert in order to recall the place best known at the time, made more desolate by the memory of the lost army crossing it. The same note also recalls a second Dante passage, Inf. XXIV 85 ff., where Dante again cites the episode of Cato and the Pompeians. The introduction to the canto confirms the connection with the classical image of the march through the desert after the defeat. The canonical name "Cato" corresponds to the textual form "Caton" offered by the verse; the entry deduces neither placement in the journey nor attribution of further roles beyond what the authorized notes document.
In the text
Linked verses
1 verses| Cantica | Canto | Verso | Testo | Open verse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inferno | Canto XIV | 15 | che fu da’ piè di Caton già soppressa. | Open verse |