Purgatory

Dante and Virgil emerge from Hell, meet Cato, and prepare for the ascent of the mountain.

The angel helmsman comes ashore with the souls; Dante recognizes Casella and asks him to sing, but Cato commands the ascent.

Dante and Virgil at the base of Purgatory: they meet the souls of the excommunicated and Manfred of Sicily.

Dante and Virgil climb back up the slope of Purgatory, stop to rest, and encounter the slothful soul of Belacqua.

Souls late in repentance ask for prayers: Jacopo, Bonconte, and Pia.

Dante leaves the crowd of the ancients and meets Sordello, who opens the civil invective against Italy.

Sordello guides Dante to the valley of kings, where the princes sing the Salve Regina and atone for their negligence.

Two angels protect the valley from the serpent, and Dante meets Currado Malaspina.

Dante dreams, awakens, and with Virgil reaches the gate of Purgatory guarded by the angel.

Dante enters Purgatory and reaches the cornice of the proud, bent beneath enormous stones.

On the first ledge the proud recite the Lord’s Prayer and warn Dante about the vanity of glory.

On the terrace of the proud, sculpted figures of punished pride. Then the angel, the stairway, and a climb that is now light.

On the second cornice Dante meets the envious, with their eyes sewn shut, and dialogues with the Sienese Sapia.

Dante speaks with two envious spirits, hears the malediction of the Arno, and the lament over the vanished Romagnoli.

An angel of mercy, a theological question, and three dreams open the third terrace of Purgatory.

In the smoke of the wrathful Dante meets Marco Lombardo, who explains the corruption of the world.

Dante leaves the smoke of the wrathful, climbs to the fourth circle, and receives from Virgil the doctrine of love.

Virgil explains the nature of love and free will, then the penitents of the fifth terrace pass by running.

Dante dreams of the siren of vice, then enters the fifth cornice where he meets the avaricious pope.

In the fifth circle Dante listens to Hugh Capet, amid political prophecies and a trembling that heralds a change of pace.

In the sixth circle a shade approaches Dante and Virgil: it is Statius, who owes his poetry and his faith to Virgil.

Statius explains why he atones for avarice, recounts his conversion, and the tree of gluttony closes the terrace.

Dante recognizes his brother Forese among the souls of the gluttons, emaciated by hunger and thirst.

Dante meets Bonagiunta, speaks of the stil novo, passes the second tree, and climbs toward the seventh circle.

Statius explains the formation of the body and of the shade, then the three enter the cornice of the flames.

In the seventh terrace Dante meets the sodomites, recognizes Guinizzelli, and hears Arnaut Daniel speak in Provençal.

Dante crosses the fire, dreams of Leah, and reaches the Earthly Paradise where Virgil leaves him free.

In the forest of the Earthly Paradise Dante meets Matelda, who explains the origin of the place and of the river.

A sudden light crosses the forest and Dante watches the passing of candelabra, elders, and winged creatures.

Beatrice rebukes Dante, who weeps bitterly after the sudden disappearance of Virgil.

Dante weeps, confesses his errors before Beatrice, is immersed in the Lethe, and gazes upon the griffin.

The chariot is bound to the tree and blooms anew. Then an eagle, a fox, and a dragon mar it, and a monster with seven heads is born.

Beatrice prophesies, reproaches Dante, and leads him to Eunoe, the water that renews the memory of the good.