Dante, Purgatory and Paradise
Statius in Purgatory
A newly freed shade explains that the mountain shakes when a spirit is purified and able to rise. Statius announces that he has spent more than five hundred years in the punishment and now feels free to seek a happier region. He credits the poem of Aeneas with kindling his poetic fire. His account of inspiration prepares the recognition of Virgil, making literary inheritance part of the meeting on the road.
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In the sources
Principal account
LiteraryA newly freed shade explains that the mountain shakes when a spirit is purified and able to rise. Statius announces that he has spent more than five hundred years in the punishment and now feels free to seek a happier region.
Further detail
LiteraryHe credits the poem of Aeneas with kindling his poetic fire. His account of inspiration prepares the recognition of Virgil, making literary inheritance part of the meeting on the road.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows Cary’s translation of Dante’s poem. The entry describes Dante’s imagined Statius, including the poem’s spiritual history; it does not transfer that history without qualification into Roman literary biography. 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
Five hundred years and moreOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante, Purgatory and Paradise; active reader leaf 131
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0119-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0119-E001-P0131
- Original scan leaf
- 132
- Recorded leaf number
- 132
- Current Reader position
- 128
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante
the song I mean Which sounds EneasOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante, Purgatory and Paradise; active reader leaf 131
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0119-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0119-E001-P0131
- Original scan leaf
- 132
- Recorded leaf number
- 132
- Current Reader position
- 128
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Literary & Visionary Figures ↗
Beatrice, 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.
Same subject and traditionCasella
The beloved singer whom Dante tries, unsuccessfully, to embrace after death.