Dante, Purgatorio
Ottocar beside Rodolph
Sordello identifies the kindly spirit who comforts Rodolph as Ottocar and locates his former country through the rivers that lead from the Moldaw to the Elbe and the ocean. The speaker compares Ottocar as an infant favourably with his grown son Winceslaus, whom he describes as given to luxury and ease. The comparison belongs to the poem's discussion of rulers and their descendants.
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In the sources
The encounter
LiterarySordello identifies the kindly spirit who comforts Rodolph as Ottocar and locates his former country through the rivers that lead from the Moldaw to the Elbe and the ocean.
Further detail
LiteraryThe speaker compares Ottocar as an infant favourably with his grown son Winceslaus, whom he describes as given to luxury and ease. The comparison belongs to the poem's discussion of rulers and their descendants.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows the supplied Thompson & Thomas edition of H. F. Cary’s translation. It describes Dante’s literary vision, distinguishing its assignments and reported claims from historical biography, other classical traditions and independently established accounts of an afterlife.
Original passages
Source 1
Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante
Ottocar his name : Who in his swaddling clothes was of more worth Than Winceslaus his son, a bearded man, Pamper'd with rank luxuriousness and ease.Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Purgatory and Paradise, Cary translation; active reader leaf 48
Passage read in the exact edition’s extracted canto text; whitespace-normalised anchor and original-leaf mapping checked. Associated plates separately inspected.
- Edition
- IMJ-0119-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0119-E001-P0048
- Original scan leaf
- 49
- Recorded leaf number
- 49
- Current Reader position
- 45
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante
Who in his swaddling clothes was of more worth Than Winceslaus his son, a bearded man, Pamper'd with rank luxuriousness and ease. And that one withOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Purgatory and Paradise, Cary translation; active reader leaf 48
Passage read in the exact edition’s extracted canto text; whitespace-normalised anchor and original-leaf mapping checked. Associated plates separately inspected.
- Edition
- IMJ-0119-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0119-E001-P0048
- Original scan leaf
- 49
- Recorded leaf number
- 49
- Current Reader position
- 45
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Illustrations
Continue exploring
Literary & Visionary Figures ↗
Rodolph in the Valley of Princes
An emperor sits above the other spirits while the guide recalls an unfulfilled duty.
Shared illustrationHarry of England in the Valley
The English king appears alone within the company of waiting rulers.
Shared illustrationWilliam of Montferrat's Upward Gaze
A marquis sits lowest in the valley while looking upward.
Shared illustrationThe Limit on Ascent after Sunset
The mountain cannot be climbed upward once daylight has gone.