Commentary Inf XV 83-87

Dante pays his debt to Brunetto. But what was it that Brunetto (or, more likely, his writings) taught Dante about immortality? Brunetto himself (Tresor II.cxx.1) says that fame for good works gives one a second life on earth. Surely that is not enough for the Christian Dante, who knows the true meaning of immortality. The only seconde vie that matters is in the afterlife. Is Dante saying that Brunetto taught him this? That seems impossible. But he did learn from him how his earthly fame might be established by writing a narrative poem in Italian. And his heavenly reward might be combined with that one if his poem were, unlike Brunetto's work, dedicated to a higher purpose. Perhaps one of the earliest commentators said this best: Brunetto gave Dante 'the knowledge that does not allow him to die either in his essential being in the other world, nor with respect to fame in this one' (Jacopo della Lana [DDP Lana.Inf.XV.82-85]). In this vein see Nevin (Nevi.1978.1), pp. 29-33, Mazzotta (Mazz.1984.1), pp. 646-47, and Bisson (Lillian Bisson, "Brunetto Latini as a Failed Mentor," Medievalia et Humanistica 18 (1992): 1-15), for the hard-edged view of earthly fame also sponsored in this note. For the work of Brunetto that had such effect on Dante, see C.Inf.XV.119.

For advocacy of the traditional Christian meaning of 'immortality' here see Muresu (Mure.1998.1), pp. 390-400. And for the view that ad ora ad ora, traditionally understood to mean, as it is translated here, 'from time to time,' really means 'continually,' see Desideri (Desi.1999.1), pp. 764-70.