Canto XII The poets leave the proud behind them and carry on around the terrace, noticing on the ground engravings of examples of pride from biblical and classical sources. These all contrast with the images of humility by the entrance. In contrast to the Annunciation and Incarnation we see creatures usurping the place of God, for example, Lucifer. In contrast to David’s dance before the Ark we see those who are proud in the face of heaven, for example, Saul. In contrast to Trajan’s humility before the roman widow we see those who are proud in the face of their fellows, for example Holofernes the Assyrian. The poets meet the angel of the terrace who erases one of the ‘P’s from Dante’s forehead and directs them through the pass, an easier climb than any so far on the mountain.

I have often wondered why the terraces of Dante’s purgatory have, as well as the ‘whip’ (the exemplars of virtue), these examples of the vice being purged, the ‘bridle’. Indeed, the proud, stooped down, can only see the bridle during their purgation. Perhaps the bridle is important because it is a reminder that we ourselves are fellow sinners with the notorious scriptural or classical figures. Jonathan Aitken, the former cabinet minister who was imprisoned for perverting the course of justice, was interviewed by Margaret Hebblethwaite after his release. She asked him what he thought his overbearing sin was, and he said pride. She responded that that would not do, it is too easy for the powerful to flatter themselves with the sin of Lucifer, rather than honestly accuse themselves of something more squalid and to the point. Similarly, my weekend newspaper runs an interview in which well-known figures are asked questions including ‘what trait in yourself do you most deplore’, and ‘what trait do you most deplore in others’. It is remarkable how often the failing in self is something rather mild or endearing, while that in others is truly deplorable. The bridle of pride, and indeed those of the sins further up the mountain, are a reminder of the simple reality of our situation, and encourage in us a genuine self-awareness.

Having said that, Aitken had half a point. St Thomas recognized pride as the source of all sin, the abandonment of a true creaturely dependence on God. With pride purged, the souls on Dante’s mountain proceeds more lightly and eagerly. Their reclamation has begun in earnest.