Commentary Purg VIII 55-57

The meeting between Dante and Nino contrasts with that between Virgil and Sordello, this one untinged by tragic notes.  Nino assumes, almost correctly, that Dante is one of the saved; Sordello, guided by Virgil's admission that he has lost heaven, asks about Virgil's location in hell ([Purg VII 21]).

      Chiavacci Leonardi (Chia.1994.1), p. 241, cites Francesco D'Ovidio for the view that the phrase in verse 57, 'over far waters,' reflects, once again, a scene in the Elysian fields, when Anchises welcomes Aeneas (Aen. VI.692), who had journeyed 'over wide seas' to experience that reunion.