Previous
Canto 11
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Purgatorio, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Purgatory and the Heavenward Journey
Love, Sin, and God
Free Will
Spiritual Power vs. Earthly Power
Time
Summary
Analysis
As Virgil and Dante continue to climb, Dante notices fine carvings along the path, depicting various biblical and classical figures. Among these are Satan being thrown down from Heaven; Briareus, who tried to overthrow the Olympian gods; Nimrod, who tried to climb to Heaven by building the Tower of Babel; and the destruction of the city of Troy. As Dante contemplates these, Virgil urges him not to waste time; an angel is approaching.
These carvings correspond to the carvings Dante saw when he first entered the Pride level of Purgatory. While those carvings showed examples of humility, these ones give examples of prideful behavior and its consequences. Each level of Purgatory contains a meditation of this type, showing a virtue and its sinful opposite.
Active
Themes
The angel shows them a set of steps that will lead them more easily upward, and he brushes his wings across Dante’s forehead, erasing the first of the seven “P”s. As the two climb, they hear voices singing Beati pauperes (“Blessed are the poor in spirit”), and Dante notices how different this is from the atmosphere in Hell. He also notices that he’s walking more lightly, and Virgil explains that as each “P” is erased, Dante’s journey will become easier. As he climbs higher, he will be led by his own will, and it will be his delight to climb higher.
