Noah

Profile

Dante mentions Noah in Inferno IV, 56, where, alongside Abel, he is recalled among the figures of Limbo whom the poet indicates with the demonstrative article "quella di Noè," placing him within the series of great spirits gathered in the castle of the ancients. The same expression "quella di Noè" shows how the biblical patriarch is evoked within the setting of Limbo alongside the other souls. In Paradiso XII, 17, Noah is cited as a participant in the covenant established by God with him, expressed in the verses "per lo patto che Dio con Noè puose." The notes to Canto XII explicitly connect this passage to Genesis 9, 11-3 and explain that the rainbow, image of the heaven in which the two crowns of the blessed move, is the sign left by God of the promise never again to submerge the earth with the flood. The notes thus clarify that the mention of Noah is tied to the theological theme of the divine promise evoked by the rainbow, without further specifications regarding his placement in other parts of the poem.