Observations placeholder
Dante and the siren
Identifier
006712
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Dante – The Divine Comedy
'I am' she said 'I am the sweet siren
Who leads sailors astray on the high seas;
So full of pleasure am I to those who hear me!
I turned Ulysses from the wandering path
With my songs; and he who gets used to me
Rarely escapes; so completely do I satisfy him'
…...........
'Why do you keep your eyes fixed on the ground?'
My guide began to say to me, at the point
When we had both advanced a little …...........
And I said 'I go in such doubt and fear
Because a vision I had just now so draws me
That I cannot stop myself thinking about it'
'You saw' he said 'that ancient sorceress
On whose account alone there is weeping above us;
You saw how a man frees himself from her.