How Is Purgatorio Related To Dante's Inferno?

Purgatorio, Canto II The second canto in “Purgatorio”, even more so than the first, is an explanation of how, and in what state, new souls arrive in Purgatory. The canto begins with Dante explaining that he and Vigil are still on the beach near the ocean. From the beach Dante looks out over the water and notices some sort of bright light, but he can not immediately determine what it es. The light seems to be moving towards Virgil and Dante at an incredible speed. At first, it seems that Virgil does not know what the light is, but as it comes closer Virgil sees that it is an angel of the Lord and commands that Dante should kneel and pray. Dante and Virgil see that the angel is leading a boat but virgil explains that the angel doesn’t need any …show more content…
What is interesting in Dante’s usage is that he seems to use these astrological signs as scientific markers for time and location rather than as some sort of prophetic device. For example in the first few lines of the canto Dante says: “The sun, had already reached the horizon, whose meridian circle, at the zenith, covers Jerusalem: and night, that circles opposite him, was rising, out of Ganges, with the Scales, Libra, that fall from night’s hand, when the days shorten…” Dante seems to use the position of Libra to mark the relative length of the day rather than as some sort of prophetic sign. Later Dante says: “The sun, who had chased Capricorn from the height of heaven with his bright arrows, was shooting out the light on every side…” Dante uses the location of Capricorn to indicate the location of the sun. Dante always seems to use the Zodiac as part of the scientific sphere rather than the prophetic. This type of usage would likely be much more consistent with modern day Astronomy, specifically using the measurements of the stars and planets as a function of time and earthly geography, rather than what the average person would think of as astrology in the modern era. This dichotomy is