La pugna spiritualis : una chiave per l’interpretazione del canto II dell’«Inferno»

The purpose of this article is to analyze the 2nd canto of the Inferno through the metaphor of 'pug spiritualis' (cfr. Inf. 2.1-6). In the christian tradition, 'pugna spiritualis' is the drama of liberty when it is faced with the decision between following or refusing the announcement of a Christian life. This parallel perfectly fits into the narrative development of the 1st and 2nd cantos, where Virgil assists the pilgrim who had been lost, and announces to him a «new life». To become 'agens' Dante has to give an affirmative answer to Virgil. Nonetheless, he is dominated by vileness, a spiritual attitude that – as a passage of the 'Convivio' 4.7 explains – has the result of blocking any reasonable behavior. Given these considerations, I could realize that Dante needs fortitude, the virtue with which the pilgrim is able to follow the rightness of reason and that indicates the necessary steps to take in order to reach its own destiny, defying the vileness that is stopping him. Only through the strength of this virtue, sustained by the company of Virgil, Dante can overcome all threats. This representation of the ethical theme allows me to outline, at the end of my article, the novelty of Dante’s poetry compared to the allegorical tradition this poem comes from.