Dear Nicole,
thank you for posing your query to the list. I'm afraid I can't add much to what
other colleagues have told you, except to reiterate Otfried's point regarding
Celestine. The only evidence that Dante might have been referring to Celestine in
*Inf* 3.59-60 lies in the guesses made by commentators who wrote expositions on the
*Commedia* shortly after Dante's death; during the first decade or so of these
commentaries, there seems agreement that Dante was referring to Celestine. But the
opinions of a small number of commentators do not indicate beyond doubt that this is
really what Dante had in mind! I am rather of the opinion that Dante was not
referring to Celestine, and in fact I am tempted to consider that this passage serves
primarily to 'hook' the reader, and that Dante may well have had no one particular in
mind here. And even if he did, he wouldn't tell us; after all, these people are not
worthy of being remembered!
With all good wishes,
George
George Ferzoco tel ++ 44 (0)116 252 2654
Director of Italian Studies fax ++ 44 (0)116 252 3633
University of Leicester e-mail [log in to unmask]
School of Modern Languages
LEICESTER LE1 7RH
UNITED KINGDOM
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