Historical+Context+-+Purgatorio+-+Canto+6

//Ah, slavish Italy, hostelry for griefs,// Ship without a captain in huge storms, No madam of the provinces but of brothels! //.// //..// //Come see your Rome,////weeping in widowhood// //All by herself, wailing day and night:// //"My Caesar, why have you abandoned me?"//

One of the most significant passages in //The Divine Comedy// occurs in Canto 6 of Purgatorio where he inserts into the middle of the story a narrative critique on modern Italy. He critiques the way it has degenerated from its former glory and become a place where brothers are pitted against each other and nationalism is totally lost. The above quotation is a passage from the Canto, wherein Dante laments the current condition and weeps for the magnificent days of the Roman Empire. __Questions:__
 * In your own words and with a minimum of 3 sentences, interpret the quotation above.


 * Leen: The way Purgatorio was weeping for Rome to return to its normal state of Empire, **
 * it is representing the Christian life. It is a call out to God, where evil contradicts. **
 * Rome has become full of sin and wrong, immorality and violence. **


 * Which Canto is the quotation from?


 * Leen: Canto 6 or Canto VI **

__Research Options:__
 * Find the name of the Pope that was mentioned, and find out the possible reasons for the way he was represented in the text.


 * Leen: ** ** Pope Boniface VIII, he was a hated pope, he was represented with hatred due **
 * discrimination against people. He favored the Blacks over the Whites and was seeking **
 * to destroy them to eventually put them into exile. **