The Siren's Song

Dante's Differentiation from Virgil in Purgatorio II, XIX, and XXX

Abstract

Many have been fascinated by Dante’s treatment of Virgil in his Commedia. He is simultaneously Dante’s beloved master, and a character who does not escape Hell. Robert Hollander famously asserts that Dante wields Virgil to classify him as a failed poet-vates, and therefore by contrast, to show himself, Dante, as theologus-poeta. In this paper, I will show that more than demonstrating himself a true prophet, Dante also utilises Virgil to suspend Christian comedy above classical tragedy. This paper will explore the Siren theme throughout Purgatorio, namely in Cantos II, XIX, and XXX, for observing how Dante himself moves beyond the Siren, and concurrently evinces Virgil’s failure to do so. As Beatrice is contrasted to the Siren, Dante is paired with Virgil, his Commedia with the Aeneid. In making this argument, I tie everything together by showing how the appearance of Beatrice alludes to Nisus and Euryalus (a hitherto unnoticed allusion), the very characters that Virgil had written to insert higher morality into Homer’s Odysseus and Diomedes. While those characters met tragic end, Dante and Beatrice, by contrast, are reunited in Christian splendor—that is, redemptive and transformative grace. Dante’s Commedia is therefore a comedy because Dante moves beyond the Siren to Beatrice, a feat that Virgil was not able to accomplish.