Virgil, The Damned Christian Missionary: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, Lines 55 - 74
Given that Statius claims a passage from The Aeneid made him see the error of his ways, Virgil wants to know how this poet of the Thebes could have ever become a Christian, particularly since his poetry shows little evidence of the faith.Statius replies with some of the most shocking lines in COMEDY: He became a Christian AND a poet because of the damned, pagan Virgil. Virgil's own poetry led Statius to his profession and his confession.To put it another way, Statius was redeemed, not by divine light, but a small human candle.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work our way through one of the…
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