Dante warns his reader to think twice about following him out onto the “sea” of his poem, lest the reader become lost in the complexity of his language, yet he invites those who are willing to follow in his wake. And so, rising upward into the Cosmos with Beatrice, Dante finds himself literally in the Moon. Dante raises the question of the dark spots on the Moon and Beatrice engages him in a scientific discussion that leads him to the truth.
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My dear Reader, be warned! If you have read my words and have followed in your tiny boat behind my great ship that happily sails these waters – turn back now while you still have the shore in sight. Do not attempt to follow me out into the deeps, because you might lose sight of me, and you yourselves will be lost! Emboldened by the gods, my course will take me through uncharted waters with Minerva filling my sails, Apollo at the helm, and all the Muses as my navigators. Those of you – and there are not many – who have eaten the bread of angels in search of heavenly wisdom,
though you always hunger for more, come and follow me onto the high seas,
and stay close within the wake of my words. If the Argonauts, in their quest for the golden fleece, were amazed to see their hero, Jason, behind a plow, I promise you more amazement here than you can imagine![1]Throughout the Poem, Dante stops at various significant points to address the Reader. This address is by far the longest, and given the breadth and depth of this third Canticle, the Poet’s warning … Continue reading
And so, by the power of that thirst for God within us, we soared upward at amazing speed. As we moved, I kept my gaze on Beatrice, whose face was fixed on Heaven. In no time at all, like an arrow hitting its mark, I realized that I had arrived at a place where something amazing absorbed me in complete wonder. Then she, who knew already what I was dying to know, turned the joyous beauty of her face toward me and said: “Now, direct your grateful thoughts to God who has brought us to His first star.”[2]Dante realizes that his own innate hunger and thirst for the things of God (which we are all born with) is what speeds him (and Beatrice) into the heavens where he will find fulfillment. Likening … Continue reading
It seemed to me that we were wrapped within a cloud that shone with the brilliance of a perfect diamond pierced by a ray of sunlight. And yes, we were actually taken into that celestial pearl, like a ray of light into water – our material wholeness completely intact.
Now, in earthly terms, it’s impossible for two solid forms to inhabit the same space. But that is not the case here, since we were here – substance within substance. And if this is the case, imagine how much more we should long to see God, within Whom we will see the union our nature with His. At that moment, what we now believe by faith to be true will be revealed in its fullness.[3]Apart from the speed with which Dante and Beatrice ascended into the heavens, this is the first of those Jason-moments the Poet promised he would astound us with, an imaginative tour de force with … Continue reading
So, in response to her urging, I said to Beatrice: “My Lady, I adore Him and offer him in humility all my gratitude for raising me from the mortal world. But let me ask this: the dark spots on this body which we see from earth – and which lead us to tell stories about Cain – what are they?”[4]Now begins a science lesson that will take us to the end of this canto. Inside the Moon, substance within substance, and realizing this is physically impossible, one would think that Dante’s … Continue reading
Smiling gently, she answered me with another question. “It shouldn’t surprise you when, with insufficient evidence from our senses, people arrive at faulty conclusions. For that matter, human reason, even with sensory evidence will sometimes fall short of its intended goal. But tell me: what do you think causes these dark spots?”[5]Here, Beatrice politely dismisses Dante’s reference to the legend of the Man in the Moon, first for lack of evidence, and second for a faulty conclusion. Ever the teacher, however, she throws the … Continue reading
Right away I replied: “Well, I think the spots we see from earth are actually caused by different densities within this body.”[6]This was the view he held when he wrote the Convivio (1304-1308). Basically, the Moon was made up of both thick (dense) and thin (transparent) material. Where the substance of the Moon was thicker … Continue reading
“Ah,” she said. “I think you will quickly discover that what you believe to be the case is actually false. So, listen to what I will now propose to you. As you know, heaven’s eighth sphere is lit by a great many stars whose light differs wonderfully in both quality and quantity. But, if this diversity were simply produced by rare and dense, then all of them would possess more or less the same amount of light. Instead, as you can plainly see, they all shine differently because of the diverse powers active within them – all of which your rare and dense principle would collapse into one.[7]Beatrice minces no words as she trashes Dante’s theory. The eighth sphere is the Heaven of the Fixed Stars, situated in Dante’s cosmos between Saturn and the Primum Mobile. It contains all the … Continue reading
“Furthermore, if your dark spots were the result of density alone, then the substance of this planet might actually be seen through in places. Or, on the other hand, there might be some areas that are rare and others that are dense like the flesh and fat in a piece of meat, or like alternating pages in one of your books.
“However, if my first theory were true, then the moon would not completely block the sun’s rays. In an eclipse, for example, some light would shine through its rarer parts – but, of course, it doesn’t. So, let’s explore your other argument, and if I prove that one wrong as well, then your thinking about the dark spots will be mistaken.[8]Beatrice continues to show the error of Dante’s theory. Cutting to the chase and keeping an image of the Moon with its dark and light areas in mind: if we were to take just one or the other … Continue reading
“If the rare matter that you propose doesn’t go all the way through the moon, then obviously there must be some place where the dense matter blocks it in some way. At that place the rays of the sun would be reflected back out as though from a mirror.
“Now, you could raise an objection to this by suggesting that the rays reflected back out are dimmer there than at other places, since they have to reflect back from a greater distance. But you can drop this objection if you’re willing to perform a simple experiment. These often fill the streams of your art with new knowledge.[9]Beatrice begins to show the absurdity of Dante’s theory by suggesting that there might be places on the moon that are thin (on the side facing the sun), but that thinness doesn’t go all the way … Continue reading
“So, take three mirrors and place them in front of you so that two of them are equidistant. Place the third mirror between them, but farther away. As you stand facing these three mirrors, have someone place a lamp behind you so that its light strikes all of them and reflects back to you. Although the light from the farthest mirror is smaller than from the two closer to you, observe that its brilliance is the same.[10]This is a simple but elegant experiment. All three mirrors are in front of Dante, but the middle one is farther away than the other two which are equidistant from him. Consider that the two side … Continue reading
“Now then, as snow in the bright sunshine loses its color and its coldness, just so your brain should be clear, because I am going to disclose to you a truth so bright and joyful that it will sparkle in your mind. Within the Heaven of God’s peace, which we call the Empyrean, there revolves a sphere in whose power lies the essence and being of all things contained within it. Within this sphere the next one, ablaze with countless lights, divides the essence of things into various kinds – different, yet contained within it. And the other spheres within these – all unique – have their own distinct qualities that serve their own ends and purposes.[11]All along, Beatrice’s purpose has been to open Dante’s mind to the vastness of Paradise rather than holding to narrow earthly, and erroneous, beliefs. She wants him to see that the rich diversity … Continue reading
“I hope you can see now how these organs of the cosmos proceed downward from sphere to sphere, getting their powers from those above them, and in turn influencing those below. So, attend carefully, now, as I lead you to the truth you seek, so that in the future you will be able to do this on your own.[12]With a quick view of the cosmos, Beatrice will now lead Dante to the truth. A series of ever larger crystalline spheres encircles the earth, the largest and farthest away is the Primum Mobile. Beyond … Continue reading
“The motion and the power of these sacred spheres comes from the blessèd angels who guide them, just as the blacksmith’s hammer shapes the metal. The sphere ablaze with countless lights derives its power directly from the angelic hosts who guide it. From these it takes the stamp which it imprints on the vast diversity of creation below it. Just as your soul animates your body and diffuses its power among all your parts according to their various purposes, so do the angelic Intelligences spread their bounty among the stars. Just as your soul blends different powers within you, so also the various powers animating the cosmos blend with the countless stars.[13]Beatrice tells Dante that the spheres that make up the cosmos are sacred because they were created by God who assigns various orders of angels (Dante refers to them as Intelligences) to watch over … Continue reading
“And since these blended powers reflect the divine throughout creation, they shine throughout the spheres and stars just as happiness is evident in living eyes. And it is from this power within the universe, not from rare and dense, that comes the variation in the light we see. And it is according this variation that we perceive differences of light and darkness.”[14]And so, Beatrice ends, let this make you happy: it is not simply a matter of dense or rare materials (Dante’s theory about the moon), but the infinite diversity of God’s creative power … Continue reading
Quod erat demonstrandum.
Notes & Commentary
| ↑1 | Throughout the Poem, Dante stops at various significant points to address the Reader. This address is by far the longest, and given the breadth and depth of this third Canticle, the Poet’s warning should be heeded. Using nautical imagery, Dante likens his Paradiso to a “great ship” moving quickly across the depths (of space). We, who have followed him through the Inferno and Purgatorio, have had a fairly easy time of it in our small boats. But if we choose to follow him now, we run the risk of being lost, outrun by a much faster ship, one that is heading directly out to sea. Interestingly, Dante referred to his poem as “the little vessel of my genius” in the opening lines of the Purgatorio. That small ship has grown considerably! And having now left the Earth, he points out that there is no longer the safety of “hugging the coastline.” Furthermore, just as Ulysses, in Canto 26 of the Inferno, left the safety of the Mediterranean for terra incognita, Dante leaves the known world, sailing into the realms of the Eternal. Unlike the voyage of Ulysses, though, this one is not a “mad flight.” Dante claims he has an amazing heavenly crew: having earlier invoked the inspiration of Apollo, the god of poetry, now all nine Muses handle his navigation, and Minerva, the goddess of wisdom (a reference to Beatrice) is the energy that powers his ship. Then, in lines that seem almost elitist, Dante appears to offer “safe passage” on this voyage to those who have eaten the bread of angels. This is clearly a Eucharistic image, but also a reference to those who have spent their lives in the study of theology and (perhaps) philosophy, those who seek the wisdom of divine things. That they hunger for more of this “food” points to the fact that, for humans, the search for knowledge of divine things will always be inadequate this side of Heaven. What Dante also has in mind here is that, if one decides to follow him in spite of the risks, the pursuit of this kind of knowledge will have offered a greater preparation for what this journey is going to demand. Moreover, he invites these readers to actually follow closely in the wake of his great ship (not the safest thing to do). And he promises that those who do this are in for more amazement than the crew of the Argo who joined Jason in his great adventures. As if we haven’t already been amazed at his Inferno and Purgatgorio! |
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| ↑2 | Dante realizes that his own innate hunger and thirst for the things of God (which we are all born with) is what speeds him (and Beatrice) into the heavens where he will find fulfillment. Likening himself to an arrow that has hit the mark, he arrives at a place so amazing he is completely overcome in wonder. This arouses his curiosity and Beatrice, beatifically beautiful, reads his thoughts and announces that they have arrived at the Moon. The image of the speeding arrow is Dante’s way of suggesting that their arrival at/in the Moon was virtually instantaneous – that moment between when the arrow is released and when it hits its target. A better modern image of what he may have had in mind may be the speed of a bullet which, as opposed to an arrow, we can’t see. And then the wonder of such speed is eclipsed by the wonder of their arrival in the Moon. |
| ↑3 | Apart from the speed with which Dante and Beatrice ascended into the heavens, this is the first of those Jason-moments the Poet promised he would astound us with, an imaginative tour de force with more to come. Not only have they arrived at the sphere of the Moon, they are actually in the Moon – not on its outer surface, not as in a cave or cavern deep within the Moon, but in the Moon as being one with its substance. At first, he thought he was within a bright luminous cloud. Then he realizes this is impossible, a violation of the laws of physics. And he emphasizes this by using words like “diamond” and “pearl” that have a definite solidity. But this is Heaven where different laws apply and, as we will see, a host of surprises await the Poet. As Beatrice noted in the previous canto, all of this should now seem “natural” to Dante. Furthermore, if, as he noted above, we eat the food of angels, but are always hungry for more, this is the place – Paradise – where our spiritual appetites are nourished to the full. At the same time, there is a significant theological point Dante wants to make here about the central doctrine of the Christian faith: that God becomes human in the person of Jesus. The wonder of this union of divinity and humanity is symbolized in this first stop the Poet makes in Heaven. That he is in the Moon is his way of making the point that here faith is no longer necessary. What we have believed is now what we see. More than this, Dante would say that the fondest hope of Christian believers is to experience the ultimate union with God. Earlier, I spoke of Eucharistic imagery. Theologians speak of the bread and wine becoming the body and blood of Jesus as “transubstantiation.” When we consume the Eucharist, in another act of union, the bread and wine, now body and blood, become a part of us. Where we speak of God becoming human as the “incarnation,” Dante here speaks of the opposite as what we might call the “indivination.” Lastly, Ronald Martinez, in his commentary here, gives us a sense of the rich imaginative structure behind Dante’s imagery describing the Moon: “In addition to the powerfully imagined sensory vividness, two traditional ideas are at work here; (1) the ancient, universal association of the moon with water (it was known to govern tides and women’s menstrual cycles and was thought to rule the growth of all plants and animals; (2) according to St. Albert the Great’s Book of Minerals (2.2.11), the transparency of certain stones is ‘caused by the large amount of air and water hardened and compacted within them’: hence the associations of cloud, water, and diamond.” And he continues with this: “More than the vivid image is involved here, too: medieval writers never tired of repeating Pliny’s account of the formation of pearls (Natural History 9.54): that oysters and other shellfish rose to the surface of the waters at night and opened to receive drops of dew, which by gestation became pearls. Isidore of Seville (Etymologies, Bk. 16) adds that the entire life of sea creatures is naturally governed by the moon and that shellfish swell and diminish with its phases.” |
| ↑4 | Now begins a science lesson that will take us to the end of this canto. Inside the Moon, substance within substance, and realizing this is physically impossible, one would think that Dante’s curiosity would lead him to ask Beatrice to help him understand what has happened and how this could be. But no, he wants to know about the dark spots that appear on the surface of the Moon as seen from the Earth. Nevertheless, we know enough about how the Poet operates to know that there’s method in his supposed madness here, and that there’s a significant purpose in digressing about dark spots and not some other phenomenon. In Dante’s time, the telescope would not come into use for another three hundred years, and there were many theories about the shadows on the Moon – e.g., images of gods or other mythical creatures, the Man in the Moon, etc. Dante refers here to one story about Cain, the tragic son of Adam and Eve, that was popular in Medieval times. According to Genesis 4:14, Cain considered himself banished from the presence of God and condemned to wander on the earth. In Dante’s time he was now carrying a bundle of sticks and wandered across the surface of the Moon. As a matter of fact, Dante has already referred to this same legend in the Inferno at the end of Canto 20 (124ff): “Cain with his thorn-bush straddles / the confines of both hemispheres already / and dips into the waves below Seville; / and the moon last night already was at full.” He also names the inner circle of ice holding Lucifer at the bottom of Hell for him as well (Caina). |
| ↑5 | Here, Beatrice politely dismisses Dante’s reference to the legend of the Man in the Moon, first for lack of evidence, and second for a faulty conclusion. Ever the teacher, however, she throws the question back at the Poet in true Socratic fashion. In this way, Dante will have to explain his own thinking on the matter which, though outmoded today, was, in fact, the latest scientific thinking in his day. And, as it turns out, here he will actually correct an earlier view he stated in his Convivio (2:13). Also, his earlier mention of the folk legend about Cain stands as a foil to the science that follows. |
| ↑6 | This was the view he held when he wrote the Convivio (1304-1308). Basically, the Moon was made up of both thick (dense) and thin (transparent) material. Where the substance of the Moon was thicker and more dense, the light of the sun did not shine through. Where that substance was thinner or more transparent, the light shone through. Thus, when we look at the Moon, the darker areas we see are the more dense parts, and the lighter areas are more transparent. Keep in mind that this has nothing to do with the phases of the Moon, where it waxes and wanes monthly. |
| ↑7 | Beatrice minces no words as she trashes Dante’s theory. The eighth sphere is the Heaven of the Fixed Stars, situated in Dante’s cosmos between Saturn and the Primum Mobile. It contains all the constellations we see (including the Zodiac), all of whose stars, in a grand diversity, differ from each other in size and brightness. The constellations themselves are diverse in terms of their size and shape and the stars that shape them. The problem is this, she tells Dante: if the tremendous diversity among these stars were simply a matter of density and rarity as he proposes for the Moon, then on average, all of them would shine with the same amount of light. To add some context here, it was believed that the stars and planets exerted some degree of power or influence on the rest of the cosmos – in this case, those spheres below the Heaven of the Fixed Stars. That influence or power was also believed to have some effect on humans and the rest of the material world. This power or energy came from the Empyrean, the abode of God, and was passed to the Primum Mobile. This sphere, acted as a conduit for the divine influence to the Heaven of the Fixed Stars. In that sphere, the divine power mixed and differentiated itself among all the stars that make it up. It was then showered down to a greater or lesser extent on the rest of the cosmos. Going backwards, or back upwards, all these differentiating powers have one source: God. In the end, Beatrice wants Dante to appreciate both the beauty and the necessity of difference and diversity in the cosmos – all of which leads back to the Heaven of the Fixed Stars. Otherwise, the cosmos would be quite a boring place. |
| ↑8 | Beatrice continues to show the error of Dante’s theory. Cutting to the chase and keeping an image of the Moon with its dark and light areas in mind: if we were to take just one or the other quality, either density or rarity, we end up with something like a piece of meat that is made up of flesh in parts and fat in others. Or a book with different pages. Obviously, the Moon isn’t all light area and it isn’t all dark area. In the end, especially relative to the rarer parts, during an eclipse light would shine through them. But it doesn’t. |
| ↑9 | Beatrice begins to show the absurdity of Dante’s theory by suggesting that there might be places on the moon that are thin (on the side facing the sun), but that thinness doesn’t go all the way through to the side facing us. In this case, she suggests, there might be some place where the dense material of the Moon blocks the light from going all the way through to the side facing us. The light must get reflected back out the way it came in as in a mirror. Continuing with Dante’s thinking, she admits that one could object here by suggesting that the light reflected back to the sun from somewhere deeper inside the Moon is dimmer than light that is reflected back to the sun from the Moon’s surface. This sounds logical, but she will now suggest an experiment that will show that Dante’s theory is faulty. Here the connection between experiment and art reflects the thinking of Aristotle. |
| ↑10 | This is a simple but elegant experiment. All three mirrors are in front of Dante, but the middle one is farther away than the other two which are equidistant from him. Consider that the two side mirrors are the surface of the Moon and the middle mirror is a place somewhere far inside the Moon. Now, place a candle just behind Dante, but a bit above him. All three mirrors reflect the light of the candle back at him. The light reflected in the farther (middle) mirror is obviously smaller than that reflected in the two closer mirrors, but all three are equally bright. |
| ↑11 | All along, Beatrice’s purpose has been to open Dante’s mind to the vastness of Paradise rather than holding to narrow earthly, and erroneous, beliefs. She wants him to see that the rich diversity of the cosmos is a reflection of the Creator. The simile of the snow (Dante’s clouded thinking) is used to remind him that it is simply clear water that appears white and feels cold. The sun that melts it, of course, is God, whose light of Truth can now reflect through it enabling him to have the fullest experience of Heaven without the encumbrance of earthly thinking. And so, she asks Dante to consider the farthest reaches of the cosmos, the Primum Mobile, which is filled with the creative, forming, shaping, and sustaining power of God. This grand sphere contains the entire universe, and contained within it, she tells him, lies “…the essence and being of all things.” As was noted earlier, this essence of being is passed directly to the next sphere, the Heaven of the Fixed Stars. It is within this sphere that this essence of being is divided into many different types. And within this sphere reside all the rest of the spheres, each with their own distinct powers. |
| ↑12 | With a quick view of the cosmos, Beatrice will now lead Dante to the truth. A series of ever larger crystalline spheres encircles the earth, the largest and farthest away is the Primum Mobile. Beyond this sphere is the Empyrean, the abode of God. It is the Empyrean that imparts tremendous speed and energy to the Primum Mobile, which then gives ever-decreasing speed to the spheres below it. The Primum Mobile also receives various creative powers from the Empyrean, and these it sends to the sphere next down from it, the Heaven of the Fixed Stars. Here, as was noted earlier, these creative forces are diversified into a great number of different powers which are showered down among the rest of the spheres, each sphere getting its specific powers from the one(s) beyond it, and so on. |
| ↑13 | Beatrice tells Dante that the spheres that make up the cosmos are sacred because they were created by God who assigns various orders of angels (Dante refers to them as Intelligences) to watch over and guide them. It is they who (like the blacksmith or artist) impart to each sphere it’s unique characteristics along with its motion and power. At the same time, this power, which is derived from God in the Empyrean, passes from the Primum Mobile to “the countless lights” of the Heaven of the Fixed Stars, continues to flow downward through the spheres of the cosmos infusing the vast diversity of creation with itself. To help the Poet understand this better, Beatrice notes how our souls animate all the various parts of our bodies according to each part’s purpose. Thus, each of our bodies is a collection or blend (a diversity) of all the animating powers that make up our life and unique being. In the end, it is the same with the cosmos, which she likens to a body. |
| ↑14 | And so, Beatrice ends, let this make you happy: it is not simply a matter of dense or rare materials (Dante’s theory about the moon), but the infinite diversity of God’s creative power manifesting itself in countless ways to make the universe something of amazing beauty. |