Editing Divine Comedy (section)

=== ''Purgatorio'' ===
{{Main|Purgatorio}}
[[File:Hippolyte Flandrin - Le Dante, conduit par Virgile, offre des consolations aux âmes des Envieux.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Dante, accompanied by Virgil, consoles the souls of the envious, from the Canto III of ''Purgatorio'']]
Having survived the depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom to the Mountain of [[Purgatory]] on the far side of the world. The Mountain is on an island, the only land in the [[Southern Hemisphere]], created by the displacement of rock which resulted when [[Satan]]'s fall created Hell<ref>''Inferno'', Canto 34, lines 121–126.</ref> (which Dante portrays as existing underneath [[Jerusalem]]<ref>Barolini, Teodolinda. "Hell." In: Lansing (ed.), ''The Dante Encyclopedia'', pp. 472–477.</ref>). The mountain has seven terraces, corresponding to the [[seven deadly sins]] or "seven roots of sinfulness".<ref>[[Dorothy L. Sayers]], ''Purgatory'', Introduction, pp.&nbsp;65–67 (Penguin, 1955).</ref> The classification of sin here is more psychological than that of the ''Inferno'', being based on motives, rather than actions. It is also drawn primarily from Christian theology, rather than from classical sources.<ref>Robin Kirkpatrick, ''Purgatorio'', Introduction, p.&nbsp;xiv (Penguin, 2007).</ref> However, Dante's illustrative examples of sin and virtue draw on classical sources as well as on the Bible and on contemporary events.

Love, a theme throughout the ''Divine Comedy'', is particularly important for the framing of sin on the Mountain of Purgatory. While the love that flows from God is pure, it can become sinful as it flows through humanity. Humans can sin by using love towards improper or malicious ends ([[Wrath]], [[Envy]], [[Pride]]), or using it to proper ends but with love that is either not strong enough ([[Sloth (deadly sin)|Sloth]]) or love that is too strong ([[Lust]], [[Gluttony]], [[Greed]]). Below the seven purges of the soul is the Ante-Purgatory, containing the Excommunicated from the church and the Late repentant who died, often violently, before receiving rites. Thus the total comes to nine, with the addition of the Garden of Eden at the summit, equaling ten.<ref>Carlyle-Oakey-Wickstead, ''Divine Comedy'', "Notes on Dante's Purgatory.</ref> <!-- 7 + 2 = 9 not 10 -->

Allegorically, the ''Purgatorio'' represents the Christian life. Christian souls arrive escorted by an angel, singing ''[[Psalm 114|In exitu Israel de Aegypto]]''. In his [[Epistle to Cangrande|letter to Cangrande]] (the authenticity of which is disputed<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Henry Ansgar |author-link=Henry Ansgar Kelly |date=2018-09-18 |title=Epistle to Cangrande Updated |url=https://www.dantesociety.org/publicationsdante-notes/epistle-cangrande-updated |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Dante Society |publisher=[[Dante Society of America]]}}</ref>), Dante explains that this reference to Israel leaving Egypt refers both to the [[redemption (religious)|redemption]] of [[Christ]] and to "the conversion of the soul from the sorrow and misery of sin to the state of grace."<ref>"The Letter to Can Grande," in ''Literary Criticism of Dante Alighieri'', translated and edited by Robert S. Haller (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1973), p. 99.</ref> Appropriately, therefore, it is [[Easter Sunday]] when Dante and Virgil arrive.

The ''Purgatorio'' demonstrates the medieval knowledge of a [[spherical Earth]]. During the poem, Dante discusses the different stars visible in the [[southern hemisphere]], the altered position of the sun, and the various [[time zone]]s of the Earth. At this stage it is, Dante says, sunset at Jerusalem, midnight on the River [[Ganges]], and sunrise in Purgatory.