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Dante's Purgatory: A Study on Part II of The Divine Comedy
We Know What Happens in Hell...But What about Purgatory?
Dante's Inferno revealed some titillating details about the punishments inflicted on sinners - but in a way, we already knew what happens to people in Hell. What we don't know is what happens to people who end up in Purgatory. In this second part of The Divine Comedy, Dante probes the mysteries of that strange and often misunderstood place between earth and Heaven.
Climb the Mount
Purgatory is a place to work through - no one gets stuck there forever. The souls in Dante's Purgatory must climb up seven terraces on Mount Purgatory before they can reach Heaven. On these terraces, Dante and Virgil find:
The prideful who are forced into humility by heavy loads of stones on their backs
The envious whose eyes are sewn shut to prevent them from seeing the goods of others
The wrathful climb through choking smoke which represents the blinding nature of anger
The slothful engage in ceaseless activity to overcome their former laziness
The covetous who must lie face down on the ground for their attachment to earthly goods
The gluttonous must starve in sight of unreachable fruit hanging from trees above them
The lustful are purified by running through a wall of flame which represents God\'s pure love
Along the way, they are cleansed from the stains of sin by punishments which are like, and very unlike, those suffered by the sinners in Hell. Here, the suffering souls glorify God and rejoice in their suffering because they know it prepares them for the eternal bliss of Heaven.
A Real Place
Virgil and Dante discover the astonishing spiritual reality of Purgatory as they climb through the terraces on Mount Purgatory. Dante created a poetic vision which might be the best imaginative representation of Purgatory ever written. While his poem might not reflect the actual nature of Purgatory, his insights can help us understand it better.
Your Expert Guide
A celebrated translator and teacher of Dante, Professor Esolen interprets and describes the rich theological insights discovered by Dante on his journey up the mountain. Join Dante, Virgil, and Professor Esolen to continue the journey begun in the Inferno which will culminate in the ineffable beauty of Paradise.
Dante's Inferno revealed some titillating details about the punishments inflicted on sinners - but in a way, we already knew what happens to people in Hell. What we don't know is what happens to people who end up in Purgatory. In this second part of The Divine Comedy, Dante probes the mysteries of that strange and often misunderstood place between earth and Heaven.
Climb the Mount
Purgatory is a place to work through - no one gets stuck there forever. The souls in Dante's Purgatory must climb up seven terraces on Mount Purgatory before they can reach Heaven. On these terraces, Dante and Virgil find:
The prideful who are forced into humility by heavy loads of stones on their backs
The envious whose eyes are sewn shut to prevent them from seeing the goods of others
The wrathful climb through choking smoke which represents the blinding nature of anger
The slothful engage in ceaseless activity to overcome their former laziness
The covetous who must lie face down on the ground for their attachment to earthly goods
The gluttonous must starve in sight of unreachable fruit hanging from trees above them
The lustful are purified by running through a wall of flame which represents God\'s pure love
Along the way, they are cleansed from the stains of sin by punishments which are like, and very unlike, those suffered by the sinners in Hell. Here, the suffering souls glorify God and rejoice in their suffering because they know it prepares them for the eternal bliss of Heaven.
A Real Place
Virgil and Dante discover the astonishing spiritual reality of Purgatory as they climb through the terraces on Mount Purgatory. Dante created a poetic vision which might be the best imaginative representation of Purgatory ever written. While his poem might not reflect the actual nature of Purgatory, his insights can help us understand it better.
Your Expert Guide
A celebrated translator and teacher of Dante, Professor Esolen interprets and describes the rich theological insights discovered by Dante on his journey up the mountain. Join Dante, Virgil, and Professor Esolen to continue the journey begun in the Inferno which will culminate in the ineffable beauty of Paradise.
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CD-ROM
Published January 1, 2012
1 person is currently reading
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About the author
Anthony Esolen
60 books483 followersAnthony Esolen is the author of over twenty-five books and over 1,000 articles in both scholarly and general interest journals. A senior editor of Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity, Esolen is known for his elegant essays on the faith and for his clear social commentaries. His articles appear regularly in Touchstone, Crisis, First Things, Public Discourse, The Catholic Thing, Chronicles, Inside the Vatican, and Magnificat, among others. An accomplished poet in his own right, Esolen is known for his widely acclaimed three-volume verse translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy (Modern Library). His Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child has been described as "a worthy successor to C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man." And its sequel, Life Under Compulsion, has been called "essential reading for parents, educators, and anyone who is concerned to rescue children from the tedious and vacuous thing childhood has become." His recent books of social commentary include Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture, Nostalgia: Going Home in a Homeless World, and the forthcoming, No Apologies: Why Civilization Depends upon the Strength of Men.
Anthony Esolen has been writing his own poetry for decades, but until recently most of his published poetry has appeared in his verse translations of the great poets, Dante, Tasso, and Lucretius. More than a hundred of his own poems have appeared in such venues as Fine Madness, The Plains Poetry Journal, and Modern Age. After studying and teaching great poetry for nearly thirty years, Professor Esolen set out to write a book-length unified poem of his own, a project which he hopes will show that serious and significant long poetic works can still be written in our time. The result of his effort is The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord, a book-length single poem composed of 100 parts -- short lyrics, dramatic monologues, and hymns -- centered on the life of Christ. He is working now on a second such long poem, The Twelve-Gated City, a collection of 144 interrelated poems centered on the parable of the prodigal son.
The grandson of Italian immigrants to America, Anthony Esolen was born and raised in the coal-mining country of Northeastern Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. from Princeton University, and his Ph. D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Fellow. He is the 2020 recipient of the CIRCE Institute's Russel Kirk Prize, awarded each year to a writer and scholar "in honor of a lifetime dedicated to the cultivation of wisdom and virtue." He is writer-in-residence at Magdalen College in Warner, NH.
For more from the mind and pen of Anthony Esolen, visit his online magazine called Word and Song, at https://anthonyesolen.substack.com
Anthony Esolen has been writing his own poetry for decades, but until recently most of his published poetry has appeared in his verse translations of the great poets, Dante, Tasso, and Lucretius. More than a hundred of his own poems have appeared in such venues as Fine Madness, The Plains Poetry Journal, and Modern Age. After studying and teaching great poetry for nearly thirty years, Professor Esolen set out to write a book-length unified poem of his own, a project which he hopes will show that serious and significant long poetic works can still be written in our time. The result of his effort is The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord, a book-length single poem composed of 100 parts -- short lyrics, dramatic monologues, and hymns -- centered on the life of Christ. He is working now on a second such long poem, The Twelve-Gated City, a collection of 144 interrelated poems centered on the parable of the prodigal son.
The grandson of Italian immigrants to America, Anthony Esolen was born and raised in the coal-mining country of Northeastern Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. from Princeton University, and his Ph. D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Fellow. He is the 2020 recipient of the CIRCE Institute's Russel Kirk Prize, awarded each year to a writer and scholar "in honor of a lifetime dedicated to the cultivation of wisdom and virtue." He is writer-in-residence at Magdalen College in Warner, NH.
For more from the mind and pen of Anthony Esolen, visit his online magazine called Word and Song, at https://anthonyesolen.substack.com
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 16, 2020
I can't praise this course highly enough. I listened to the Audible version, having gotten so much from Esolen's commentary on Inferno. Esolen is informative, insightful and brings the inspiration of Dante alive for our lives today.
January 21, 2021
It made me want to be holy. Esolen is a powerful lecture. Dante's telling of Purgatory reinforces the virtues for us who are still on the way.
April 10, 2021
Listen to this before you've read Dante, or listen to it after you've read Dante. It really doesn't matter. These guides are great for whoever takes the time to listen to them.
April 8, 2020
Professor Esolen is one of the most helpful and inspiring expositors of Dante that I know of.
June 17, 2022
Dr. Esolen’s lectures are fantastic. I read the assigned chapters of Purgatory before listening to the lectures. Highly recommended.
August 21, 2023
Part two in the three lectures on the Divine Comedy. I remained captivated as I listened to Prof. Esolen teach and expound on one of the greatest poems in history. One thing that has stood out is just how pernicious "little sins" can be to our souls.
October 27, 2023
Another good study!
December 13, 2024
Esolen is always marvelous, as a writer and as a performer. His love for The Divine Comedy carries the reader up Mount Purgatory with him.
July 23, 2021
This is an amazing series of lectures. Esolen really opens up the whole of The Divine Comedy to me as I listen through these lectures while reading the book. I recommend them heartily and so glad I am listening.
April 1, 2019
Professor Esolen was a most excellent guide through this journey. I look forward to listening to more. I found his insight and style to be most enjoyable and intriguing.
February 24, 2021
Feb 2021. Moving on to Part II for the long weekend.
November 27, 2021
Excellent lecture series Part 2 of 3 on Dante's Divine Comedy.
Dr. Esolen makes for a great Virgil as you travel through Dante's work.
Dr. Esolen makes for a great Virgil as you travel through Dante's work.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews