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Canto 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Paradiso, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Earthly and Heavenly Justice
Creation and God’s Providence
God’s Character and Will
Vision, Knowledge, and the Pursuit of God
Language and the Ineffable
Summary
Analysis
When Dante broods over his future, Beatrice encourages him to take heart. When he looks at her, Dante is overwhelmed by the look of love in Beatrice’s eyes; it escapes his powers of both speech and memory. (Now, as he’s writing, all Dante remembers is that his heart was momentarily freed of desire for anything but Beatrice.) But Beatrice she urges him to turn around and continue listening to Cacciaguida; Heaven isn’t just within her eyes, she says.
Dante can now endure looking in Beatrice’s eyes for an extended period instead of being dazzled by them; in fact, she now has to remind him to pay attention to his surroundings, not just her. This suggests that Dante’s ability to gaze on the truths of God has become much stronger since he began his journey, though those truths still overpower speech, and he still can’t look at them directly.
Themes
Cacciaguida points out to Dante the various warriors making up the fiery cross. These include Joshua, Maccabeus, Roland, Charlemagne, and other, more recent warriors and crusaders. Then, Cacciaguida rejoins his fellows within the cross, singing.
The figures within the cross represent what Dante sees as holy warfare, with many of the figures having died in battle against those who were seen as resisting the biblical God. In the Bible, the Israelite warrior Joshua led his people into the Promised Land; Judas Maccabeus was a Jewish freedom fighter in the second century B.C.E.; Charlemagne was crowned as the first Holy Roman Emperor in 800; and Roland was one of Charlemagne’s heroic warriors, celebrated in the epic poem Song of Roland.
Themes
Dante soon realizes that he and Beatrice have been abruptly moved to the sixth heaven, the sphere of Jupiter, where the souls of the just reside. Dante watches in wonder as the bright, singing stars of this sphere form themselves into letters and then words. Gradually, the words spell out the Latin phrase DILIGITE IUSTITIAM QUI IUDICATIS TERRAM. Souls congregate on top of the final M, and as these lights rise, Dante sees an eagle’s head taking shape. Moved as he witnesses this, Dante prays that those who corrupt the Church on earth will be brought to justice.
The Latin phrase in this passage is translated “Love justice, you rulers of the earth.” It’s the opening verse from the Book of Wisdom, written in the first century B.C.E. and included within the Catholic biblical canon. The eagle emerging from the letter “M” will be an emblem and spokesman for justice in this sphere. The Latin phrase emphasizes the connection between earthly and heavenly justice; in other words, as Dante instinctively recognizes with his prayer, God is concerned about injustice on earth.
Themes
