Jupiter

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Jupiter appears in the Comedy as a deity of the classical pantheon. In Inferno XIV, v. 52, Capaneus names him in his defiance: «Se Giove stanchi ’l suo fabbro da cui», referring to Vulcan who forges the thunderbolt with which he was struck; the note to the canto specifies that this is the smith from whom Jupiter «procured the thunderbolt by which (whereby) I was struck on my last day». In Inferno XXXI, v. 45, the giant recalls him as «Giove del cielo ancora quando tuona». In Purgatorio XXIX, v. 120, he is cited as an example of justice mysteriously accomplished: «quando fu Giove arcanamente giusto». In Paradiso IV, v. 62, he is mentioned in connection with the spread of his worship in the ancient world. In Paradiso XXII, v. 145, Beatrice invokes him as the maker of the «temperar» of the planets. The note to Inferno VI clarifies that in the Middle Ages the appellation «sommo Giove» could be transferred to Christ.