The Divine Comedy with Commentary by Cristoforo Landino

19

The handwritten "19" in the margin likely refers to a later archival page numbering.

a iii

Vice continually goads us with constant fears—either of the future eternal punishments ordained for the soul of the sinner, or of the present punishments with which civil and moral laws threaten us. The flaming caverns of Etna or Mongibello Mongibello is the local Sicilian name for Mount Etna, derived from the Arabic 'Jabal' and Latin 'Mons', both meaning mountain. do not heave or boil as much as the conscience of the sinner. HARD: because the habit already contracted in vice is difficult and almost impregnable. WHICH IN MY HEART RENEWS THE FEAR: And certainly, just as we remember laudable deeds with a certain pleasure and supreme satisfaction of conscience, so on the contrary, when we have reduced ourselves from vice to virtue, we remember our past and vicious life with horror and supreme repentance. For this reason, Plato warned his friends to remember that bodily pleasures were momentary and brief, and left nothing behind them but regret. IT IS SO BITTER that death is little more. BUT TO TREAT OF THE GOOD THAT I FOUND THERE, I will tell of the other things I perceived. There is death, as we said a little before, of the animal, and there is death of the soul. And death of the soul is also understood in two ways: either according to the Platonists, when the soul, entering the body, is submerged and suffocated by it and loses almost all its vigor; or when the soul separates from the body and remains dead in sin. It is this latter type he intends at present, because it is the most horrendous, seeing as it has no redemption and such death is eternal and perceptible to the senses. Therefore, the soul is dead not because it does not remain immortal and endure forever, but because it is placed in supreme misery for eternity. Thus, we will say that the forest is bitter because such is the vicious life of a man still living in the body. But because he has redemption and can convert to God and perform good, it follows that the death mentioned just above is "more bitter" because it is beyond all hope. BUT TO TREAT OF THE GOOD THAT I FOUND THERE. And certainly, it is no small good to recognize the darkness of the forest—that is, the vice which deprives the soul of all light. For once known, it becomes so abominable that we flee and purge ourselves of it with all industry. Thus, we find this good in the forest. For this reason, Horace wisely said: Virtue is to flee vice, and the first wisdom is to have been free of folly. original Latin: "Virtus est vitium fugere: et sapientia prima stultitia caruisse" Some say that the poet wants to demonstrate that even in Hell good is found, because there is justice there, which is the highest of the moral virtues. Although this is true, nevertheless the first interpretation fits the text better. I CANNOT WELL REPEAT HOW I ENTERED IT, so full was I of sleep: This declares what we said above regarding the forest and the entry of the soul into the body, and then of all that time when reason is dormant and nothing but the senses can act within us. A man, therefore, cannot say how or in what manner he enters the forest—that is, how the soul enters the body where it contracts many vices—because at that point he is full of sleep; that is, he becomes so intoxicated by the corporeal mass The physical weight and sensory distractions of the human body that "drown out" the soul's divine reason. that reason falls asleep within him and does not wake until the "midway point of the journey." And so it follows: SO FULL WAS I OF SLEEP at that point: That is, the soul was so lulled by the drunkenness of the senses that reason, thus asleep, left the straight way—that is, the path of the virtues, which cannot be seen by one who walks in darkness. And moral virtue, as every philosopher confesses, is a "middle" established between two extremes. As an example, there is a virtue regarding the distribution and spending of our money, which observes a moderate middle ground between the "too little" and the "too much," and it is called liberality. This has two extremes: the defect called avarice, because it falls short and does not reach the middle; and the excess called prodigality, which is not restrained within the boundaries of the middle but exceeds and passes them. Therefore, just as if you draw a line through the middle of a wide and spacious field, it must be straight, and all others bending to any side will be crooked, even if they were innumerable; so too virtue alone is "straight" because it always proceeds at an equal distance from the extremes. And all vices are "crooked" because they twist toward one extreme or another. Similarly, just as in that field it is impossible to find the middle line in the dark and continue in it without twisting, so without the light of reason it is impossible in human life to find the middle ground of virtue and persevere in it without straying into some extreme where the vices are. For this reason, walking in the dark, one does not find the middle line, which is only one—or if it is found by chance, it is not maintained. But of the others, which are many, it is easy to find them without any light, and easy also to decline from one into another, always erring. Therefore, the Greek poet Hesiod wisely said that vice could be taken all at once referring to the ease and broadness of the path to vice, but God did not want one to come to virtue without sweat. And Arcesilaus, the Academic philosopher, said that the way leading to hell is easy because one goes there with eyes closed—that is, without the light of reason—because every sin proceeds from ignorance, which is nothing other than the privation of reason. For this reason, David, speaking of the works and actions of the sinner, said: Let their ways be dark. original Latin: "Fiant viae illorum tenebrae" (Psalm 35:6) And certainly, the ways of the sinner are darkness, because in them he does not discern the truth. I believe I have shown quite aptly why the poet calls the way of virtue "straight" and why sleep makes one lose it. Therefore, let us proceed. BUT AFTER I HAD REACHED THE FOOT OF A HILL, there where that valley ended: Let us first understand according to the historical sense that, walking through the forested valley, he encountered a mountain in such a way that it was necessary either to twist the path, wishing to avoid the climb of the hill, or to ascend the hill, desiring the path to be straight. One does not come to the virtues except by the ascent of the mountain. For this reason, Basil said: Rough at first and nearly impassable, and full of continuous sweat and labor is the way that leads to virtue. Wherefore it is not for just anyone to undertake it because of that steepness, nor for the one undertaking it to easily ascend to its summit. original Latin: "Aspera principio et paene invia et sudoris continui et laborum plena est via quae ad virtutem ducit..." quoting Basil of Caesarea's "Address to Young Men on Greek Literature." The mountain, then, is contemplation, and at the summit is the sun—that is, wisdom. And just as Virgil places the golden bough, which is wisdom, on the heights of a tree surrounded by valleys; so Dante places the sun at the summit of the mountain. Virgil places the doves, representing contemplation, as guides for Aeneas to the golden bough because they fly high, and elsewhere says: Therefore search on high with your eyes. original Latin: "Ergo alte vestiga oculis" (Aeneid VI) Thus, by the tree and the doves and by this verse, he demonstrates the height that Dante demonstrates by the mountain. While he looked into the valley, he saw nothing but darkness, because in earthly things one does not see the sun—that is, wisdom. But it is seen on the mountain—that is, in the elevation of the soul to divine things. Whence David: I lifted up my eyes to the mountains. original Latin: "Levavi oculos meos in montes" (Psalm 121:1) Under this figure, we will understand the same thing that Pythagoras, the Samian philosopher, expressed through the letter Y, which he discovered. This letter has a single line at the beginning until it reaches the point of the fork. There it divides into two, and one goes straight up on the right, the other twists to the left. This represents all of human life: for there is almost a single life for all men until the years of discretion, because nothing done in the first age is imputed to either perfect virtue or complete vice, where ignorance is excusable without true choice. Therefore, here the poet by the way of the forest meant the first part of the aforementioned letter. Then at the end of the valley, he found that the way which had been one until then divided into two: one followed straight up the steepness of the hill, the other twisted to the left at the foot of its base. Having reached this crossroads, just as until now he had gone in darkness, so then he began to see the light of the sun, which was already striking the shoulders of the mountain, and having seen it, he straightened himself toward it. For when we reach the years of discretion, the light of reason begins to shine in us, showing us the mountain already resplendent and inviting us to climb it. This signifies that reason directs us to contemplation and the knowledge of divine things, in which our supreme good consists. God created in His image and likeness not our body, but our soul. Therefore, there is innate in the soul a supreme and seraphic Referring to the Seraphim, the highest order of angels, associated with burning love and light. love to join ourselves with Him. And through such love, reason is awakened—which until this time had been drunk and sleepy—and having fallen in love, it deserves to be illustrated by cherubic Referring to the Cherubim, the order of angels associated with divine wisdom and knowledge. light, with which it sees and knows God as much as its nature is capable. He placed the mountain for...