![]() These souls waited for their chance to begin their ascent up Purgatory but remained joyful, as their presence here was a clear sign that they were spared from Hell. In an Ante-Purgatory (the counterpart to Hell's Limbo and Shores of Acheron) are those who were excommunicated or late repentant, including those who did not receive Last Rites. Cato is cast in this role by Dante despite being a pagan, because of his fame as an orator and a virtuous man. The Roman philosopher, Cato the Younger, was Charon's counterpart here as ferryman of the repentant sinners, who arrive at the mountain on Cato's ship, singing in praise of God (their contrition saved them from being condemned to Hell). ![]() ![]() His long journey through the Inferno finally came to an end, but his journey through Purgatory only just began. Stating, "I did not die and I did not live," Dante smiled and ripped the cross-shaped tapestry off his chest, tossing it aside. When Dante slowly made his way out of a cave, naked and stripped of all of his equipment, he beheld a large mountain, with several waterfalls streaming out of it at several points. The realm of Purgatory appeared briefly at the end of Dante's Inferno, when Dante finally escaped from Hell. ![]()
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