PURGATORIO, Episode 172. The Path To God Is Lined With Misquoted, Misinterpreted Texts: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, Lines 25 - 54

Statius and Virgil continue their conversation as they climb to the sixth terrace with the pilgrim Dante.

Statius explains that he discovered his error when he read two lines from Virgil's AENEID. The problem is that Statius misquotes these lines and misinterprets them, making them fit his personal situation while pushing them through Aristotle's ethics.

What if the way you can get saved is by misinterpreting a classical text?

Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

[01:57] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 25 - 54. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please scroll down this page.

[05:08] The binary relationship becomes a triangulation, thereby elevating the pilgrim Dante.

[08:30] Statius' changing status in Purgatory colors (or darkens) Aristotle's notions of accidents and substances.

[16:06] Statius seems to have read Dante's INFERNO!

[21:19] Statius misquotes and misinterprets a passage from THE AENEID, which then leads to his salvation (or at least to the recognition of his errors).

[29:16] Avarice and prodigality are apparently mostly connected to the clergy.

[30:18] The whole discussion falls back to Aristotle's ethics, (mis)interpreted for the Christian reader.

[32:58] To sum, a misquoted, misinterpreted passage from classical literature begins the journey toward redemption.

[35:46] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 25 - 54.

And here’s my English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, Lines 25 – 54

At first, these words moved Statius to make

A small smile; then he replied,

“Everything you say about love is a cherished sign for me.

“In truth, many things happen like this

To give doubt a false substantiality.

The true reasons are then hidden.

“Perhaps because of the circle where I was,

Your question brings you to believe that

I was greedy in that other life.

“Know now that avarice was a long way off

From me. Thousands of lunar months have purged

My lack of measured action.

“And if I hadn’t straightened out my wishes—

[That is,] at the moment when I interpreted the spot where you make your laments,

Furious at human nature [when you wrote];

“‘Why, o holy hunger for gold, do you not

Rule over the appetites of mortals?’—

I would now be twisting around, feeling those horrid jousts.

“That’s when I understood that a guy can unfurl his wings

Too wide when his hands start spending. And I repented

Of this [fault] as I did my other evils.

“How many will rise again in ignorance

With their bangs snipped. That [ignorance] prevents them from

Repenting of this sin during their lives and even at their end!

“What’s more, know that any sin that headbutts

Against its direct opposite
Dries any verdancy connected with it.

“Therefore, if I was cleansing myself among those

Who mourn their avarice,

I was doing it for the opposite reason.”