“Thus, if the present world has gone astray, in you is the cause, in you let it be sought, and now I will be a true spy of it for you.” (Purg 16.82-85)
For this canto, it is important to keep in mind that Dante is not just in the middle of his journey through Purgatory, but also the entire afterlife. Purgatorio 16 is the 50th canto of all the comedy and takes place in the third terrace, which is for wrathfulness. Here Dante encounters Marco from Lombardy, who is suspected to have been a counselor and diplomat a Northern Italian prince. He was known to have been virtuous and generous. In the canto, Marco tells Dante that he knew the world, but that the world no longer values the values he loves. The two proceed to have an intellectual conversation …show more content…
He says it would not be fair to mourn for evil and be joyous for good if one has no control over it. However, God is just, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. He sees everything before it happens and that is how there is a paradox of free will. Here, Marco establishes that human souls are born good, and if the lights given to us are well-nourished, our souls can overcome anything. He gives the example of a little girl who weeps and laughs childishly and unknowingly. She would turn to whatever amuses her and if a less good comes long and amuses her, the little girl would follow that unless guided. Marco iterates that laws are then important because if a guide is bad, so are the people, establishing the necessity for both spiritual and temporal guidance. He concludes that it is not nature, but rather bad governance that leads people to be misguided. Therefore, he tells Dante that if the world has gone astray, the cause can be found within the people, not in heavens. Free will is a recurring theme …show more content…
The two are still in the terrace of wrathfulness, but are walking toward the terrace of slothfulness. After Dante’s visions, Virgil lectures him on love. He first says that the creator and the creature have never been without love. He continues on saying there are two types of love. Natural love cannot be wrong, but mental or elective love can lead to wrongness because one may choose the wrong thing to love, to love them too much, or to love them too little. Elective love is choosing a means to an end, and if it is directed toward God, it won’t succumb to evil because one cannot love God too much. However, if it turns to other things that God or does not set God above all things, then the creature is essentially turning against the creator. Virgil then continues on explaining the triples types of love against a neighbor, but the above passage is simply about natural v. elective love. This is relative to the canticle because the first three terraces are called “love perverted,” which is when one chooses to love the wrong thing. The next terrace is where those guilty of “defective love” are punished. These are those who love the right thing, but they love too litte. The next three terraces are where those guilty of “excessive love” are being punished. These are people who do love the right thing, but at excessive, unhealthy
For this canto, it is important to keep in mind that Dante is not just in the middle of his journey through Purgatory, but also the entire afterlife. Purgatorio 16 is the 50th canto of all the comedy and takes place in the third terrace, which is for wrathfulness. Here Dante encounters Marco from Lombardy, who is suspected to have been a counselor and diplomat a Northern Italian prince. He was known to have been virtuous and generous. In the canto, Marco tells Dante that he knew the world, but that the world no longer values the values he loves. The two proceed to have an intellectual conversation …show more content…
He says it would not be fair to mourn for evil and be joyous for good if one has no control over it. However, God is just, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. He sees everything before it happens and that is how there is a paradox of free will. Here, Marco establishes that human souls are born good, and if the lights given to us are well-nourished, our souls can overcome anything. He gives the example of a little girl who weeps and laughs childishly and unknowingly. She would turn to whatever amuses her and if a less good comes long and amuses her, the little girl would follow that unless guided. Marco iterates that laws are then important because if a guide is bad, so are the people, establishing the necessity for both spiritual and temporal guidance. He concludes that it is not nature, but rather bad governance that leads people to be misguided. Therefore, he tells Dante that if the world has gone astray, the cause can be found within the people, not in heavens. Free will is a recurring theme …show more content…
The two are still in the terrace of wrathfulness, but are walking toward the terrace of slothfulness. After Dante’s visions, Virgil lectures him on love. He first says that the creator and the creature have never been without love. He continues on saying there are two types of love. Natural love cannot be wrong, but mental or elective love can lead to wrongness because one may choose the wrong thing to love, to love them too much, or to love them too little. Elective love is choosing a means to an end, and if it is directed toward God, it won’t succumb to evil because one cannot love God too much. However, if it turns to other things that God or does not set God above all things, then the creature is essentially turning against the creator. Virgil then continues on explaining the triples types of love against a neighbor, but the above passage is simply about natural v. elective love. This is relative to the canticle because the first three terraces are called “love perverted,” which is when one chooses to love the wrong thing. The next terrace is where those guilty of “defective love” are punished. These are those who love the right thing, but they love too litte. The next three terraces are where those guilty of “excessive love” are being punished. These are people who do love the right thing, but at excessive, unhealthy