Human souls 'inhabit' the "stars" (planets) in between, placed in ascending order of blessedness. The Empyrean, or realm of God and the angels, is the largest.
Dante path to paradise series#
We can envision Heaven the same way we see Hell and Purgatory, if we picture Heaven as a series of circular orbits, which get progressively bigger and bigger the farther away from Earth you go.Īs in the Inferno, the smaller your circle (your orbit), the more corrupt you are. This idea that the environment reflects the inhabitants' moral-state is present in every cantica.ĭid you notice that each heaven is called a sphere? Kind of like circles (in Hell and Purgatory), only 3-D? Dante is taking this motif of stacked circular levels and applying it to Heaven. For example, the Moon's inhabitants are inconstant because they break their vows, Mercury's inhabitants are motivated by fame, Venus' souls are too passionate, Mars holds warriors, Jupiter houses just rulers, etc. These characteristics rub off on the blessed souls found in each sphere and define their flaws and their virtues. Each one is ruled by a "star" (we would call them planets), which is associated with certain human characteristics. Like Hell and Purgatory, Heaven has a definite order with nine different layers. So let's take a look at the way Heaven is structured.
For our purposes, we're going to pretend there is a time and space for a setting because this is the only way we humans can understand the book. So, in this sense, at least, there is a spatial setting. In fact, they saw the universe as geocentric, with the earth in the middle, all the celestial bodies ("stars") revolving around it, and the highest sphere of Heaven at the edges. (Trippy, right?) However, this is inherently contradictory because medieval philosophers did indeed think of what we call outer space today as a place. That is the paradox of the poem Dante is trying to describe in temporal and spatial terms (the only way humans can understand things) something that defies those laws.īasically he's in a timeless nowhere traveling deeper into nowhere.
Dante path to paradise free#
And, when things become challenging, Dante reminds us that ‘The path to Paradise begins in Hell.Technically, there is no setting for Paradiso because, in Dante's conception, God's realm is utterly free from time and space. Basically, Dante is telling us to follow our own star – to walk our own unique path. And, perhaps, embracing those ‘4-i’s’ will help us to find a way to get through the current global health crisis – to stop this dreaded illness that continues to inflict our world.ĭante’s lesson to all of us: “Segui il tuo corso e lascia dir le gente” (“Follow your own road and let people talk”). Taken together, those ‘4-i’s’ are the essential ingredients for hope and a brighter future for ourselves and our posterity. Indeed, ‘Dantedi’ is an opportunity for us to welcome Dante’s spirit back to our society – a spirit that encompasses innovation, imagination, inspiration, and intensity. ‘Dantedi’ reflects the spirit of the Fourth Canto of the Inferno, depicting Virgil’s welcome as he returns among the great ancient poets spending eternity in Limbo: ‘L’ombra sua torna, ch’era dipartita’ (‘His spirit, which has left us, returns’). This year, 2020, commemorates the 700th anniversary of the completion of the Divine Comedy, Unfortunately, Dante died in 1321, some 150 years before the Divine Comedy was published. According to scholars, Dante’s journey to Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, which he recounted in his masterpiece, the Divine Comedy began on March 25 (his travels in the afterlife began during Easter week in they year 1300). “The Italian government has designated March 25 as ‘Dantedi,’ a day set aside to honor and pay tribute to Dante Alighieri, ‘Il Sommo Poeta’ (‘The Supreme Poet’).
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