Commentary Purg XXVIII 2

This forest is sacred, in the words of Andreoli (DDP Andreoli.Purg.XXVIII.2), 'because it was planted by the very hands of God.'  Many discussants of the opening of this canto realize that the poet is drawing a line across the page between the last canto and this one.  Dante has finished the first half of the journey and now he finds himself in a very different sort of forest from the dark wood in which he came to his senses at the opening of Inferno.  That wood was 'aspra e forte' (harsh and dense [[Inf I 5]]) while this forest is 'spessa e viva' (thick and verdant).

      It is instructive and amusing to consider the opening remarks of Benvenuto da Imola (DDP Benvenuto.Purg.XXVIII.1-6) as he addresses this canto: 'Before I come to its literal meaning, I would like you first to note that this entire chapter is figurative and allegorical, for otherwise it would in large measure be fatuous and untrue.'  Benvenuto is essentially denying the claim made by the poet that this is the actual garden of Eden.  He goes on to assert that the garden signifies 'the happy state of man in the perfection of his virtue, as much as is possible in this miserable life of ours.'  Benvenuto's commentary, which remains one of the most intelligent and helpful ever written, has a blind eye for Dante's theological strategies.