Purgatorio

Purgatorio

Plan of Mount Purgatory. As with Paradise, the structure is of the form 2+7=9+1=10, with one of the ten regions different in nature from the other nine.
Purgatorio (Italian for "Purgatory") is the second part of Dante's Divine Comedy, following the Inferno, and preceding the Paradiso. The poem was written in the early 14th century. It is an allegory telling of the climb of Dante upthe Mount of Purgatory, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Purgatory is depicted as a mountain in the Southern Hemisphere, consisting of a bottom section (Ante-Purgatory), seven levels of suffering and spiritual growth (associated with the seven deadly sins), and finally the Earthly Paradise at the top. Allegorically, the poem represents the Christian life, and in describing the climbDante discusses the nature of sin, examples of vice and virtue, and moral issues in politics and in the Church. The poem outlines a theory that all sin arises from love – either perverted love directed towards others' harm, or deficient love, or the disordered love of good things.
The seven terraces of Purgatory
From the gate of Purgatory, Virgil guides the pilgrim Dante through its seventerraces. These correspond to the seven deadly sins or "seven roots of sinfulness."[16] The classification of sin here is more psychological than that of the Inferno, being based on motives, rather than actions.[17] It is also drawn primarily from Christian theology, rather than from classical sources.[18] The core of the classification is based on love, with the first three terraces of Purgatoryrelating to perverted love directed towards actual harm of others. The fourth terrace relates to deficient love (i.e. sloth or acedia), while the last three terraces relate to excessive or disordered love of good things.[16]
Each terrace purges a particular sin in an appropriate manner (those in Purgatory can leave their circle voluntarily, but will only do so when they have corrected the flaw withinthemselves that led to committing that sin). The structure of the poetic description of these terraces is more systematic than that of the Inferno,[19] and associated with each terrace are an appropriate prayer, a beatitude, and historical and mythological examples of the relevant deadly sin and of its opposite virtue.
First terrace (the proud)

Dante's first example of humility is taken fromthe Annunciation. Relief in Auch Cathedral, Canto 10.

Building the Tower of Babel was, for Dante, an example of pride. Painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Canto 12.
The first three terraces of Purgatory relate to sins caused by a perverted love directed towards actual harm of others. The first of these is pride. On the terrace where proud souls purge their sin, Dante and Virgil see beautifulsculptures expressing humility, the opposite virtue. The first example is of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, where she responds to the angel Gabriel with the words Ecce ancilla Dei ("Behold the handmaid of the Lord," Luke 1:38[20]). An example of humility from classical history is the Emperor Trajan, who, according to a medieval legend, once stopped his journey to render justice to a poorwidow (Canto X).
Also associated with humility is an expanded version of the Lord's Prayer:
Our Father, You who dwell within the heavens
but are not circumscribed by them out of
Your greater love for Your first works above,

Praised be Your name and Your omnipotence,
by every creature, just as it is seemly
to offer thanks to Your sweet effluence.

Your kingdom's peace come unto us, for ifit does not come, then though we summon all
our force, we cannot reach it of our selves.

Just as Your angels, as they sing Hosanna,
offer their wills to You as sacrifice,
so may men offer up their wills to You.

Give unto us this day the daily manna
without which he who labors most to move
ahead through this harsh wilderness falls back.

Even as we forgive all who have done
us...