Purgatory, Canto 6

The Text of Purgatory Canto 6 (Open PDF)

Summary

AFTER extricating himself from a whole crowd of the Unshriven, who besiege him with requests for help, Dante asks Virgil about the ef icacy of prayer, and receives an interim answer, the profounder aspects of the matter being referred to Beatrice for explanation. The Poets meet with Sordello, who af ectionately hails Virgil as his fellow Mantuan, and thus prompts Dante to denounce at some length the internecine quarrels which divide Italy, concluding with a savagely ironical passage of invective directed against Florence.

The Prepatory Lecture

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Questions for Reflection

• Why do the souls in Purgatory want Dante’s prayers? Aren’t they beyond the need and possibility of prayer at this point?
• Dante and Virgil have a consequential back-and-forth about Christian and pagan prayer. What do we learn about how Dante thinks about prayer from this discussion? Can prayer bend the decrees of God? What is the difference between Christian and pagan prayer, according to Virgil? What might this mean for Virgil’s salvation?
• In each canto 6, the discussion inevitably turns to the political. In Purgatorio 6, Dante the Poet offers an extended comment on the politics of the Italian peninsula (6.76-151). What do we learn about Dante’s accounting of the purpose of politics, the corruption of a Church mixed up with political haggling, and the need for divine intervention?
• Is Dante’s critique of Florence’s mutability and inconsistency purely negative or does the fact that Florence changes so much offer the hope for its redemption and salvation (6.145-147)?

Purgatory, Canto 6 © Jan Hearn

The Images

Sordello: Since Virgil (whether considered literally as an Ancient and a heathen, or allegorically as the Natural Man) cannot of himself know all the inhabitants of Mount Purgatory or explain its organization in detail, an interpreter is provided at each stage of the journey to supply the deficiency. Sordello performs this office in Ante-Purgatory, as does Statius later on in Purgatory Proper, and Matilda in the Earthly Paradise.

​In this canto we are still in the region of the Unshriven.

Mark Vernon's Lecture