Page 38 - GALIET EXILE: Dante IV+

Galiet & Galiet
Once more, as in Inferno, a prudent Dante warns pilgrim readers to be mindful of their journeys. Pilgrim readers ought neither suffer distractions nor assume the early vainglories of Odysseus’s travails, swift and wily captain of a ship in tumultuous seas, sinking moments before landing (Par. 13, 136-139). Pilgrim readers, too, ought to avoid the dangers of blind, ‘mindless navigation’ without a specific port in sight (Par. 13, 124-126). Paradiso, too, sings of the sea as a symbol of God’s mighty power. In the Old Testament, God parts the Sea of Reeds; in the New Testament, Peter, devout seafarer, follows Christ, the Messiah (Par. 11, 118-120). To Dante’s heart, the Jordan driven back and the parting of the Sea of Reeds are great wonders to behold (Par. 22, 94-96). Fish and fishing and the sea, in the New Testament, are symbols of conversion to Christianity. The fish becomes a password for persecuted Christians and also for Dante. Beatrice reminds Dante, too, of the importance of having the right skill to ‘fish for truth,’ for without it, Dante may return empty handed (Par. 13, 121-124).
Paradiso also delights in reminding pilgrim readers of the joys of returning home. The pilgrim, like the falcon (Par. 19, 34-38), moves in love towards its Maker just as the falcon returns to its beloved master, the falconer. This heavenly metaphor becomes also a marine celebration sea singing of how each and every nature, moved by its inner light, searches and sails, from its many different ports of being, towards the ultimate harbour of divine love (Par. 1, 112-114). Towards this God-sea, all things and beings move (Par. 3, 85-87) and, from this sea, too, the Logos and Word of God emerges beautifully (Par. 9, 82-84). Like God’s nature, the sea’s vast depth, cannot be fully discerned (Par. 19, 58-63; Par. 20, 70- 72). Yet the seafarer from Inferno to Paradiso must never forget the necessity of faith to walk on the sea (Par. 24, 37-39). It is Jesus, and always Jesus, who continuously admonishes Peter and his
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