Mordecai

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In Purgatorio XVII, among the examples of humility and punished pride carved into the cornice, Dante recalls the biblical story of Esther and the righteous Mordecai. The notes to the canto explain that Haman, minister of the Persian king Ahasuerus (identified with Xerxes I), had ordered the crucifixion of the Jew Mordecai, uncle of Queen Esther, because he refused to pay him the worship he demanded, and intended with him to exterminate all the Jews of the kingdom. 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 righteous attributed to Mordecai by the notes qualifies his condition as a God-fearing Jew, while the adjective great reserved for Ahasuerus gives prominence to the royal figure. The three figures – Esther, Mordecai, and Ahasuerus – are evoked by their names alone surrounding the crucified figure, recalling the entire biblical story. The episode is presented as a figure of the salvation of the Church, according to the tradition that from Saint Jerome saw in Esther the Church and in Haman the devil.