Dante, Purgatory and Paradise
The Gryphon of Dante’s Procession
A Gryphon draws the two-wheeled car at the centre of the procession. Its bird-like members are golden, while the remaining body is white with red interwoven, giving the creature a visibly joined nature. In Beatrice’s eyes, its twofold being appears by turns in one form and the other while the creature itself remains steady. The traveller wonders at a fixed object producing a changing reflected appearance.
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In the sources
Principal account
LiteraryA Gryphon draws the two-wheeled car at the centre of the procession. Its bird-like members are golden, while the remaining body is white with red interwoven, giving the creature a visibly joined nature.
Further detail
LiteraryIn Beatrice’s eyes, its twofold being appears by turns in one form and the other while the creature itself remains steady. The traveller wonders at a fixed object producing a changing reflected appearance.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows Cary’s translation of Dante’s poem. The entry follows the procession and reflected image in Dante; the two-natured symbol is kept distinct from a zoological description of a griffin. Its people and places are presented within the literary vision, with the historical or theological subject distinguished from the role Dante assigns it.
Original passages
Source 1
Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante
Drawn at a GryphonOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante, Purgatory and Paradise; active reader leaf 180
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0119-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0119-E001-P0180
- Original scan leaf
- 181
- Recorded leaf number
- 181
- Current Reader position
- 177
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante
the twyfold being shoneOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante, Purgatory and Paradise; active reader leaf 192
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0119-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0119-E001-P0192
- Original scan leaf
- 193
- Recorded leaf number
- 193
- Current Reader position
- 189
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed