Esau

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Esau is recalled by Dante in the Paradise as a scriptural example of two twins of opposed character. The verses of canto VIII and the corresponding notes place him beside his brother Jacob, his twin, to illustrate the principle that the celestial bodies imprint individual characters on those conceived, acting upon the single person and not upon the family. The biblical tradition recalls that the two already clashed in their mother's womb, as a sign of a diversity of nature and destiny. The notes further specify that it is precisely upon the diversity of the two twins that the origin of the plurality of men depends, a condition necessary for civil coexistence. In the Dantean passage, Esau is thus invoked not as an autonomous moral figure, but as a term of theological comparison confirming the thesis on providence and on celestial influences.