Papé Satàn, papé Satàn aleppe
Encyclopedia
Papé Satàn, papé Satàn aleppe is the opening line of Canto
VII of Dante Alighieri
's Inferno
. The line, consisting of three words, is famous for the uncertainty of its meaning, and there have been many attempts to interpret it. Modern commentators on the Inferno view it as some kind of demonic invocation to Satan
.
. Pluto (also identified with Plutus
and Hades
) was originally the Roman god of wealth and the underground, but in the Inferno, Dante has made Pluto into a repulsive demon who guards the fourth circle, where souls are punished who have abused their wealth through greed or improvidence.
Here is the full strophe
, plus the following four, which describes Dante's and Virgil's
entire meeting and confrontation with Pluto:
Original Italian text:
"Pape Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe!",
cominciò Pluto con la voce chioccia;
e quel savio gentil, che tutto seppe,
disse per confortarmi: "Non ti noccia
la tua paura; ché, poder ch'elli abbia,
non ci torrà lo scender questa roccia."
Poi si rivolse a quella 'nfiata labbia,
e disse: "Taci, maladetto lupo!
consuma dentro te con la tua rabbia.
Non è sanza cagion l'andare al cupo:
vuolsi ne l'alto, là dove Michele
fé la vendetta del superbo strupo."
Quali dal vento le gonfiate vele
caggiono avvolte, poi che l'alber fiacca,
tal cadde a terra la fiera crudele.
One translation into English reads:
"Pape Satan, Pape Satan, Aleppe!"
Thus Plutus with his clucking voice began;
And that benignant Sage, who all things knew,
Said, to encourage me: "Let not thy fear
Harm thee; for any power that he may have
Shall not prevent thy going down this crag."
Then he turned round unto that bloated lip,
And said: "Be silent, thou accursed wolf;
Consume within thyself with thine own rage.
Not causeless is this journey to the abyss;
Thus is it willed on high, where Michael wrought
Vengeance upon the proud adultery."
Even as the sails inflated by the wind
Involved together fall when snaps the mast,
So fell the cruel monster to the earth.
The scant information that can be gleaned from the text is this:
The meaning of the words then becomes, "Oh (papé), our foremost (aleppe) enemy of God/demon (ha-Satan), as aleppe is the first letter of the alphabet (aleppe)!", which is "Oh, Satan, o Satan, god, king!". So the sentence would be a mixture of Greek
and Latin
/Greek
.
) and the break (the comma) in the hendecasyllable
, gives it a tone of a prayer or an invocation to Satan (although there is no verb traceable). Another version is that it might be an invocation to the evil against/within the intruders.
spoke in the Gospel according to St Matthew (xvi, 18:"...and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it"). The meaning would be to signify that Hell (Satan) has conquered.
The first reads: "Pas paix Satan, pas paix Satan, à l'épée" ("No peace Satan, no peace Satan, to the sword").
The second is: "Paix, paix, Satan, paix, paix, Satan, allez, paix!" ("Peace, peace, Satan, peace, peace, go, peace!"). The latter phrase can be interpreted as "Satan, make peace!". Benvenuto Cellini
, in his autobiography, reports hearing the phrase in Paris, transliterating it as "Phe phe, Satan, phe phe, Satan, alè, phe" and interpreting it as "Be quiet! Be quiet Satan, get out of here and be quiet."
Canto
The canto is a principal form of division in a long poem, especially the epic. The word comes from Italian, meaning "song" or singing. Famous examples of epic poetry which employ the canto division are Lord Byron's Don Juan, Valmiki's Ramayana , Dante's The Divine Comedy , and Ezra Pound's The...
VII of Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
's Inferno
Inferno (Dante)
Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. It is an allegory telling of the journey of Dante through what is largely the medieval concept of Hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as...
. The line, consisting of three words, is famous for the uncertainty of its meaning, and there have been many attempts to interpret it. Modern commentators on the Inferno view it as some kind of demonic invocation to Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
.
Text
The line is a shout by PlutoPluto (mythology)
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Pluto was a name for the ruler of the underworld; the god was also known as Hades, a name for the underworld itself...
. Pluto (also identified with Plutus
Plutus
Ploutos , usually Romanized as Plutus, was the god of wealth in ancient Greek religion and myth. He was the son of Demeter and the demigod Iasion, with whom she lay in a thrice-ploughed field. In the theology of the Eleusinian Mysteries he was regarded as the Divine Child...
and Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
) was originally the Roman god of wealth and the underground, but in the Inferno, Dante has made Pluto into a repulsive demon who guards the fourth circle, where souls are punished who have abused their wealth through greed or improvidence.
Here is the full strophe
Strophe
A strophe forms the first part of the ode in Ancient Greek tragedy, followed by the antistrophe and epode. In its original Greek setting, "strophe, antistrophe and epode were a kind of stanza framed only for the music," as John Milton wrote in the preface to Samson Agonistes, with the strophe...
, plus the following four, which describes Dante's and Virgil's
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
entire meeting and confrontation with Pluto:
Original Italian text:
"Pape Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe!",
cominciò Pluto con la voce chioccia;
e quel savio gentil, che tutto seppe,
disse per confortarmi: "Non ti noccia
la tua paura; ché, poder ch'elli abbia,
non ci torrà lo scender questa roccia."
Poi si rivolse a quella 'nfiata labbia,
e disse: "Taci, maladetto lupo!
consuma dentro te con la tua rabbia.
Non è sanza cagion l'andare al cupo:
vuolsi ne l'alto, là dove Michele
fé la vendetta del superbo strupo."
Quali dal vento le gonfiate vele
caggiono avvolte, poi che l'alber fiacca,
tal cadde a terra la fiera crudele.
One translation into English reads:
"Pape Satan, Pape Satan, Aleppe!"
Thus Plutus with his clucking voice began;
And that benignant Sage, who all things knew,
Said, to encourage me: "Let not thy fear
Harm thee; for any power that he may have
Shall not prevent thy going down this crag."
Then he turned round unto that bloated lip,
And said: "Be silent, thou accursed wolf;
Consume within thyself with thine own rage.
Not causeless is this journey to the abyss;
Thus is it willed on high, where Michael wrought
Vengeance upon the proud adultery."
Even as the sails inflated by the wind
Involved together fall when snaps the mast,
So fell the cruel monster to the earth.
The scant information that can be gleaned from the text is this:
- Virgil understands the meaning ("And that benignant Sage, who all things knew..."), and is replying.
- That the line is just the beginning of something else ("Thus Plutus with his clucking voice began...).
- It is an expression of anger ("And said: "Be silent, thou accursed wolf / Consume within thyself with thine own rage.").
- That it has the effect of a threat to Dante (And that benignant Sage, who all things knew, / Said, to encourage me: "Let not thy fear / Harm thee; for any power that he may have / Shall not prevent thy going down this crag.").
The earliest interpretations
Some interpretations from the earliest commentators on the Divine Comedy include:- The word "papé" (or pape) might be a rendering from Latin'sLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
papae, or from Greek'sGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
παπαί (papaí). Both words are interjections of anger or surprise, attested in ancient authors (comparable to the English "damn!", or just "oh!"). - The word "aleppe" could be an Italian version as the word for the Hebrew letter א (A), alef (compare Alep in the Phoenician language and Alpha in the Greek) The consonant shift here is comparable to that in Giuseppe, the Italian version of the name Joseph. In Hebrew, Alef also means "number one" or "the origin that contains everything". It may also be interpreted as a metaphor for the head, "the first and foremost". This was an attribute for God in late medieval expressions, the meaning was like "the majesty" (of God). "Alef" was also a medieval interjection (like "Oh God!").
- The word "satan" comes from the Hebrew word הַשָׂטָן (ha-Satan), which directly translated means "adversary".
The meaning of the words then becomes, "Oh (papé), our foremost (aleppe) enemy of God/demon (ha-Satan), as aleppe is the first letter of the alphabet (aleppe)!", which is "Oh, Satan, o Satan, god, king!". So the sentence would be a mixture of Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
/Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
.
The prayer theory
The word "papé" might come from Latin's Pape, which is an old roman term for "emperor", or "father". The double mention of "papé" together with "Satan" (here interpreted as the fallen angel SatanSatan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
) and the break (the comma) in the hendecasyllable
Hendecasyllable
The hendecasyllable is a line of eleven syllables, used in Ancient Greek and Latin quantitative verse as well as in medieval and modern European poetry.-In quantitative verse:...
, gives it a tone of a prayer or an invocation to Satan (although there is no verb traceable). Another version is that it might be an invocation to the evil against/within the intruders.
Domenico Geurri's theory
Domenico Guerri made a thorough research in medieval glossaries in 1908, and interpreted it as "Oh Satan, oh Satan, God," which he wrote was meant as an invocation against travellers.Abboud Rashid's theory
Abboud Abu Rashid, the first Arabic translator of the Divine Comedy (1930–1933), interpreted this verse as a phonetic translation of spoken Arabic, Bab Al-Shaytan, Bab Al-Shaytan, Ahlibu!. This means "The door of Satan, the door of Satan, proceed downward!". According to some scholars, although Dante did not speak Arabic, he could have drawn some inspiration from Islamic sources (see also the relevant article on Islamic philosophy in the Divine Comedy). Doubts arise, however, because the meaning of this interpretation does not really match the reaction of Dante and Virgil (anger and fear), nor Virgil's answer.The Hebrew theory
Some commentators claim that the sentence is phoenetic Hebrew, "Bab-e-sciatan, bab-e-sciatan, alep!". This would be the opposite of the sentence that JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
spoke in the Gospel according to St Matthew (xvi, 18:"...and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it"). The meaning would be to signify that Hell (Satan) has conquered.
The French theories
There are also two interesting suggestions of translations from French.The first reads: "Pas paix Satan, pas paix Satan, à l'épée" ("No peace Satan, no peace Satan, to the sword").
The second is: "Paix, paix, Satan, paix, paix, Satan, allez, paix!" ("Peace, peace, Satan, peace, peace, go, peace!"). The latter phrase can be interpreted as "Satan, make peace!". Benvenuto Cellini
Benvenuto Cellini
Benvenuto Cellini was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, painter, soldier and musician, who also wrote a famous autobiography. He was one of the most important artists of Mannerism.-Youth:...
, in his autobiography, reports hearing the phrase in Paris, transliterating it as "Phe phe, Satan, phe phe, Satan, alè, phe" and interpreting it as "Be quiet! Be quiet Satan, get out of here and be quiet."
External links
- The full Divine Comedy at Wikisource
- Pictures from Divine Comedy by Gustave Doré