User:Lennonlup/Cato the Younger

Edit the medical section of Cato the Younger's page which included info on Dante.

The translation had no citation so I put in the Hollander Translation in with a citation:


 * I saw beside me an old man, alone,
 * who by his looks was so deserving of respect
 * that no son owes his father more.
 * His beard was long and streaked with white,
 * as was his hair, which fell
 * in double strands down to his chest.
 * The rays of those four holy stars
 * adorned his face with so much light
 * he seemed to shine with brightness of the sun
 * adorned his face with so much light
 * he seemed to shine with brightness of the sun

insert the canto numbers which were referenced and the line numbers

get rid of extra-info on statius as it was not relevant

add info about his suicide as relates to Dante

add why dante included Cato (a pagan and suicide victim) in purgatory (his cardinal virtues and fighting against tyranny)

info on the ship Cato welcomed

Final version:

In Dante's The Divine Comedy, Cato is portrayed as the guardian of the mount of Purgatory (Cantos I-II). Despite Cato having been a Pagan, Dante does not place him in Inferno with the other heretics. For example, Dante places many great Greek and Roman thinkers in the first circle of Hell, Limbo, because they lived good lives but lived before Christ so could they could not be saved. Cato is one of the two pagans presented by Dante in Purgatorio, the other being Statius who is revealed to have converted to Christianity secretly (Cantos XX-XXII). Cato's suicide would have placed his soul in the 7th circle of Hell for committing violence against himself. However, Dante again chooses to place Cato in Purgatory. Cato appears in the Purgatorio not as a soul who is purifying himself of his sins, but instead holds a more administrative role in the realm. Dante tells us that Cato who will receive special compensation on the Day of Judgment and will eventually be saved. Because of his sins, Cato is not allowed into Purgatory proper; he instead exists on the shores of "The High Mount" in part of ante-purgatory. There, Cato welcomes the new souls who arrive on the shores of Purgatory in an angel led ship. Dante chose to save Cato from eternal punishment because Cato fought to protect the Republic of Rome from the corruption of Caesar, a matter very important to Dante as his home city of Florence was wrought with corruption. Cato was thought to embody the four cardinal virtues which are symbolized by "four holy stars." In Canto I lines 31-39 of Purgatorio, Dante writes of Cato:
 * I saw beside me an old man, alone,
 * who by his looks was so deserving of respect
 * that no son owes his father more.
 * His beard was long and streaked with white,
 * as was his hair, which fell
 * in double strands down to his chest.
 * The rays of those four holy stars
 * adorned his face with so much light
 * he seemed to shine with brightness of the sun.
 * adorned his face with so much light
 * he seemed to shine with brightness of the sun.