Dante, Purgatory and Paradise
Marco Lombardo
Marco offers to walk with Dante through the smoke, keeping company by hearing when sight is impossible. He identifies himself as a worldly man of Lombardy and asks for prayer at the summit. He argues that referring every cause to Heaven would eliminate free choice and the justice of reward or punishment. Human beings retain reason and the power to choose despite an initial celestial inclination.
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In the sources
Principal account
LiteraryMarco offers to walk with Dante through the smoke, keeping company by hearing when sight is impossible. He identifies himself as a worldly man of Lombardy and asks for prayer at the summit.
Further detail
LiteraryHe argues that referring every cause to Heaven would eliminate free choice and the justice of reward or punishment. Human beings retain reason and the power to choose despite an initial celestial inclination.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows Cary’s translation of Dante’s poem. The entry concerns Marco’s argument in Purgatory XVI; its celestial influences are part of the poem’s philosophical setting. 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
I was of Lombardy, and Marco callOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante, Purgatory and Paradise; active reader leaf 100
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0119-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0119-E001-P0100
- Original scan leaf
- 101
- Recorded leaf number
- 101
- Current Reader position
- 97
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante
Seek in yourselves the cause, and find it thereOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante, Purgatory and Paradise; active reader leaf 101
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0119-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0119-E001-P0101
- Original scan leaf
- 102
- Recorded leaf number
- 102
- Current Reader position
- 98
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Illustrations
Continue exploring
Literary & Visionary Figures ↗
Free Choice in Dante
The power to admit or reject an affection despite its first arising.
Same subject and traditionBeatrice, Dante’s Heavenly Guide
The woman whose recognition leads through confession towards the celestial journey.
Same subject and traditionBelacqua
The familiar spirit whose delayed repentance becomes a long wait beneath the rock.
Same subject and traditionBernard, Dante’s Final Guide
The elder who directs Dante’s last attention towards Mary and the ultimate vision.