Paradiso, Canto 20

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Summary

As the Eagle falls silent, the multiple voices burst into heavenly song; this is followed by a murmuring which, rising up through the neck of the sacred ensign, is converted once more into a single utterance. The Eagle bids Dante fix his gaze upon the six lights which compose its pupil and the curve above its eye; these it identifies as David, Trajan, Hezekiah, Constantine, William II of Sicily and Rhipeus the Trojan. Dante expresses his amazement at the presence of Trajan and Rhipeus, who are declared by the Eagle to have died in the true faith.

The Prepatory Lecture

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Questions for Reflection

• Who are the two unexpectedly saved souls in the eyebrow of the eagle? Based on the logic of Dante’s poem so far, where in his afterlife would we expect these characters to be? How does Dante register his surprise at their presence?
• Regarding Trajan (20.106-117), Dante draws on a popular folktale in which St. Gregory the Great prays for the soul of the deceased pagan emperor Trajan. God raises Trajan from Limbo in hell so that Trajan can be baptized. Once baptized, Trajan dies again and ascends to heaven. How does Dante depict Trajan’s love and hope for Trajan playing a role in Trajan’s salvation? Did Gregory’s will change God’s will for Trajan? How might we see Gregory and Trajan as ciphers for Dante and Virgil?
• Dante likens the magnificent eagle to a humble songbird–the lark (LINES). What does this imagery help us to understand about the relationship between contemplative vision, humility, and praise?
• Who is Ripheus and how is he saved (20.67-78; 118-129)? What is Ripheus’ relationship to Virgil? How did Ripheus come to be saved? Does Ripheus’ presence in heaven offer any hope for Virgil’s salvation?
• Why should mortals restrain themselves from exercising judgment on the eternal state of individuals (20.133-135)?

Paradiso, Canto 20 © Jan Hearn

The Images

The Heaven of Jupiter: see Canto xviii, under Images.

The Eye of the Eagle: The six lights forming the pupil and the curve above the eye of the eagle are recognized by the body as the greatest representatives of justice on earth. David, the pupil of the eye, was the first true king of the chosen people. Of him Dante writes in the Convivio: “It was in the very same age that David was born and Rome was born, that is, that Aeneas came from Troy to Italy, which was the origin of the most noble city of Rome, as the records testify; so that the divine choice of the Roman Empire is manifest from the birth of the holy city being contemporaneous with the root of Mary’s race.” David represents a combination of spiritual and temporal authority on earth; he is the psalmist who sang of the Holy Ghost, he brought the ark, the tabernacle of the divine presence, to his city, and his kingdom was founded on worship. In Trajan, Hezekiah, and Constantine, Dante presents three instances of the wonder of God’s grace; for Trajan was restored to life and converted by the prayers of Pope Gregory the Great; to Hezekiah was granted a further lease of live in response to prayer and repentance; and Constantine’s bliss is shown to be undiminished by the iniquity which sprang from his good action. The only modern ruler, William II of Sicily, is a striking image in his isolation, at once a rebuke and an inspiration to the contemporary world.

​Climax of the six is Rhipeus the pagan, at mention of whom an expression of amazement bursts from Dante’s lips. The presence in Heaven of both Rhipeus and Trajan at last provides Dante with the answer for which his soul has yearned for so long. Redemption is not, of necessity, denied to those who knew, or know, not Christ. The divine will, operating by grace in ways which man’s mind cannot fathom, grants salvation to the righteous. It would appear from this that Dante’s faith had broadened and deepened during his later years and that he came to know, and to rejoice in the knowledge, that Christian truth was not bounded by his understanding.

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