Biblical figures
Simon Magus
Simon, the magician of Samaria, recalled by Dante as responsible for the sin that takes its name from him, simony, condemned as the progenitor of the simonists.
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Simon, the magician of Samaria, is a character from the Acts of the Apostles, from whose name was designated the sin that he was the first to commit: he asked Peter to sell him for money the ability to transmit the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, as the apostles did. Peter replied to him: «Pecunia tua tecum sit in perditionem, quoniam donum Dei existimasti pecunia possideri» (Acts 8:20). Dante, at the beginning of canto XIX of the Inferno, opens with a solemn apostrophe: «O Simon Magus, o wretched followers», meaning by «wretched followers» all the simonists who have imitated him. In Paradiso XXX, v. 147, Cacciaguida recalls the place «there where Simon Magus is by his merit», indicating the seat of the punishment of the simonists.
In the text
Linked verses
2 verses| Cantica | Canto | Verso | Testo | Open verse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inferno | Canto XIX | 1 | O Simon mago, o miseri seguaci | Open verse |
| Paradise | Canto XXX | 147 | là dove Simon mago è per suo merto, | Open verse |