Sphere of the Moon

E515845

Sphere of the Moon is the lowest celestial heaven in Dante Alighieri’s Paradiso, where souls who failed to keep their vows reside.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Sphere of the Moon canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf afterlife realm
celestial sphere
fictional location
literary setting
above Earthly realm
appearsIn Paradiso, Canto II
linked to: Paradiso

Paradiso, Canto III
linked to: Paradiso

Paradiso, Canto IV
linked to: Paradiso
associatedTheme difference of glory among the blessed
free will and external compulsion
associatedVirtue obedience to vows (imperfectly realized)
associatedWith the Moon
authorNationality Italian
below Sphere of Mercury
cosmologicalModel Ptolemaic geocentric system
linked to: Ptolemaic system
describedBy Dante Alighieri
doctrineExplainedBy Beatrice’s discourse on vows
entryCondition having made vows not fully kept
eschatologicalRole illustration of graded heavenly happiness
firstEncounteredBlessedSoul Empress Constance
Piccarda Donati
genreContext medieval Christian epic poetry
guidingFigure Beatrice
inhabitedBy souls impeded from fulfilling vows
souls who failed to keep their vows
lightSource reflected light from the Sun
locatedIn Dante’s Empyrean-centered universe
moralCategory defect in constancy
movementType circular motion around the Earth
narrativeFunction Dante’s first experience of the celestial heavens
partOf Dante’s cosmos
Divine Comedy
Paradiso
perceivedAs faint, pearly radiance
perceivedByDante as spots on the Moon explained allegorically
philosophicalDiscussion apparent inequality among the blessed
nature of substances and accidents
positionInCosmos lowest celestial heaven
reasonForDefect coercion or external force
religiousContext Catholic theology
symbolizes inconstancy
instability of human vows
mutability
textualLanguage Italian
theologicalStatus lowest degree of beatitude
state of blessedness
visitedBy Dante (pilgrim)
linked to: Dante (protagonist)
workComposedInCentury 14th century

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Paradiso hasPart Sphere of the Moon
Sphere of Venus contrastedHeaven Sphere of the Moon