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However, while Dante is in the first sphere, it is explained that all the souls in fact occupy the same Heaven and receive the same reward. Different categories of souls appear in different places as an aid to his (and the reader's) understanding, but this should not be taken as a literal representation of what Heaven is like. To accomplish this, each sphere's role derives from an association with the heavenly body that occupies it. For example, Mercury is usually hard to see because it is outshone by the sun, just as those souls found there have their good works overshadowed by their desire for glory. Jupiter, called after the king of the gods in [[Roman]] [[mythology]], is home to kings and other rulers.
However, while Dante is in the first sphere, it is explained that all the souls in fact occupy the same Heaven and receive the same reward. Different categories of souls appear in different places as an aid to his (and the reader's) understanding, but this should not be taken as a literal representation of what Heaven is like. To accomplish this, each sphere's role derives from an association with the heavenly body that occupies it. For example, Mercury is usually hard to see because it is outshone by the sun, just as those souls found there have their good works overshadowed by their desire for glory. Jupiter, called after the king of the gods in [[Roman]] [[mythology]], is home to kings and other rulers.
== End ==
== Ending ==
The Paradiso ends when Dante sees God. He tries to describe what he has seen, but admits defeat as his poetic gifts fail in their attempt to give form to the ineffable. The reader can only assume that the poet was somehow returned to Earth, and given the task of returning to life and writing down what he has seen for the benefit of those still living. Dante equates this purpose to that of the man the [[Apostle Paul]] wrote about who ascended to the 3rd Heaven in a vision, or that [[John the Divine]] wrote in the Apocalypse ([[Book of Revelation|Revelation]]). <ref> [[The Divine Comedy]], By Dante Alighieri, Translated by Charles Singleton, Bollingen Series 80, Vol. 3: Paradiso. Copyright 1975 by Princeton University Press. </ref>
The ending of the Paradiso (and thus the whole Divine Comedy) is rather abrupt. Dante sees God and tries to describe Him, but his poetic gifts fail in the attempt: understanding the vision of God is likened to squaring the circle, a mathematical problem with no solution. In the last lines of the poem, the poet finally gives in to the ineffable as he says that his will has become one with God's.
The reader can only assume that the poet was somehow returned to Earth, and given the task of returning to life and writing down what he had seen for the benefit of those still living. Dante equates this purpose to that of the man the [[Apostle Paul]] wrote about who ascended to the 3rd Heaven in a vision, or that [[John the Divine]] wrote in the [[Book of Revelation]]. <ref> [[The Divine Comedy]], By Dante Alighieri, Translated by Charles Singleton, Bollingen Series 80, Vol. 3: Paradiso. Copyright 1975 by Princeton University Press. </ref>
== Sources ==
== Sources ==
Dante's allusions are again rooted in Greek and Roman mythology which he relates to Christian virtues and doctrines, symbols from astrology, Biblical history, Church teaching, and honored political figures. The high position of [[Mary]] is emphasized as it was the prevailing belief of the time.
Dante's allusions are again rooted in Greek and Roman mythology which he relates to Christian virtues and doctrines, symbols from astrology, Biblical history, Church teaching, and honored political figures. The high position of [[Mary]] is emphasized as it was the prevailing belief of the time.