The Divine Comedy: Volume 2: Purgatory

The next step on the journey to Paradise

Dorothy Leigh Sayers continues her excellent translation of the Divine Comedy with the second stage of the journey. Having passed through the center of the Earth, Dante and Virgil emerge on the shores of an island in the Southern Hemisphere, the only mass of land in that hemisphere of the world. (Remember that the Comedy was written in the medieval period.) This is the island of Purgatory, where souls who have died in grace go to purge themselves of their sins before final entry into the appropriate circle of heaven. Along with DLS' idiomatic translation, we have an excellent explanation of how Purgatory functions in the doctrine of the Church, as well as the notes that explain to modern readers the references that were common knowledge in Dante's time and place.

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