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Canto 31
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
Overwhelmed, Dante cannot stop staring at Beatrice until his gaze is forcibly turned aside by the Graces. When his dazzled eyesight recovers, he sees that the procession has turned and begun to march eastward. He and Statius follow. A short distance away, they come to a bare tree, and everyone murmurs, “Adam.” The Gryphon attaches the pole of Beatrice’s chariot to the tree, and at this, the tree suddenly bursts into vivid, purplish-rose blossom, and the others sing an unearthly hymn, which Dante finds unbearably beautiful.
This Canto draws on the interpretive tradition that viewed the tree (from which Adam and Eve ate, plunging humanity into sin) as that from which the wood of Christ’s cross was taken. Hence, the same tree that led to humanity’s fall is also the source of its salvation and of eternal life. This unlocks the imagery of the scene: the Gryphon, symbolizing Christ’s Incarnation, connects the chariot-pole (the cross) to the barren tree, and the tree bursts into new life as a result.
Themes
Dante is lulled to sleep by the beautiful hymn, and Matilda awakes him sometime later. She shows him that Beatrice is sitting at the base of the newly flowering tree, guarding the chariot; the rest of the procession has ascended, still singing. The Virtues and Graces surround her. Beatrice tells Dante to write down what he sees in order to instruct those on earth. Dante looks at the chariot and sees an eagle suddenly swooping down, stripping the tree of its bark and blossoms. The chariot lurches, and a “vixen” throws herself within. Out of the earth beneath the chariot, a dragon emerges and stings the chariot with its tail, leaving it damaged.
Earlier, Dante saw a pageant depicting the life of the Church up to the time of Christ. This pageant depicts the life of the Church since then. In short, it depicts the tragedy of conflict between the earthly and spiritual realms. The eagle represents the Roman Empire, persecuting the Church in its early centuries, but also the Emperor Constantine’s establishment of the Church as the official imperial religion. The vixen, or fox, represents heresies that troubled the Church from within. The dragon probably presents the devil. Each of these images represents a way in which the Church is persecuted by foreign influences.
Themes
The chariot repairs itself, covering its damaged parts with eagle feathers, and then numerous heads emerge from it—three heads horned like oxen, and the other four bearing a single horn each. A scantily dressed “whore” also appears, as well as a giant; the two frequently embrace. When the whore is distracted by Dante, the giant becomes enraged and beats her; the two then disappear into the surrounding woods.
The eagle-feathers represent the world’s riches corrupting the Church, turning it into a many-headed beast like the apocalyptic imagery found in the Book of Revelation. Dante uses the “whore” as a symbol of the corrupt papacy and the “giant” as a symbol of worldly power—particularly the French monarchy. In 1305, France’s King Philip the Fair had the papal see (essentially the Church’s government) transferred from Rome to Avignon, France, a scandal which would have been fresh on Dante’s mind.
Themes
