Previous
Canto 19
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Purgatorio, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Purgatory and the Heavenward Journey
Love, Sin, and God
Free Will
Spiritual Power vs. Earthly Power
Time
Summary
Analysis
As Dante and Virgil continue climbing, Dante hears a weeping voice calling out examples of poverty, greed’s opposite—such as Mary’s humble dwelling after Christ’s birth. Dante investigates the source of this voice and learns it’s Hugh Capet, an ancestor of the kings of France. Hugh laments his offsprings’ lust for earthly power and wealth, which was accompanied by much cruelty over centuries. He prophesies that, out of this line, Charles of Valois will betray Florence and Charles’s brother Philip the Fair will have Pope Boniface slain, “Christ recaptured.”
Hugh Capet was the 10th-century founder of the Capetian dynasty of France, which held great power across Europe until Dante’s own day. While Pope Adrian provided an example of greed for spiritual power, Hugh Capet is an example of lust for earthly power and the devastation this creates. The two contemporary figures Dante identifies are of special note: Charles of Valois surrendered Florence to the Black Guelph party, resulting in Dante’s own exile. And though Dante despised Pope Boniface VIII, he nevertheless views the papal slaying as a betrayal of Christ himself due to Dante’s respect for that office.
Themes
After Dante and Virgil move on, Dante is alarmed when the entire mountain shakes violently. All the souls cry out the hymn, “Gloria in excelsis Deo!” Dante is filled with wonder at this mystery.
“Gloria in excelsis Deo,” or “glory to God in the highest,” was the angels’ hymn at the announcement of Christ’s birth. This hymn, praising God in the heavens, is appropriate for souls doing penance for an excessive preoccupation with earthly things.
Themes
