Clotho

Profile

In the twenty-first canto of the Purgatorio, Statius, addressing Dante, recalls how the blessed in paradise are exiles only for having aided Christ, and compares himself to one who sighs as he looks upon the spindle that Clotho imposes upon each person and fills. The verse, inserted in a simile that introduces the pagan poet's lament over the destinies of the human race, presents Clotho as the mythical personification who governs and measures the thread of existence. The immediate context is the conversation with Statius on the second terrace of the Purgatorio, where the Theban poet joins Dante and Virgil during the ascent of the sacred mountain. The commentary note on the canto, while dealing principally with the preceding tercets and the dialogue with Statius, confirms the placement of the passage within the character's discourse and the figurative use of the spindle simile.