Commentary Par XIV 34-36

From the earliest commentators on, e.g., Jacopo della Lana (DDP Lana.Par.XIV.34), writers have identified this unnamed figure as Solomon.  In light of [Par X 109], which says that his light was the most beautiful in his circle, it is difficult not to.  However, Francesco da Buti is the first commentator to hesitate to the point of not naming any one of the twelve in the first circle; perhaps his hesitation, shared by several, as we shall see, accounts for some of the continuing doubt about the identity of this singer.  Landino (DDP Landino.Par.XIV.34-36) advocates the candidacy of Peter Lombard; we find Vellutello (DDP Vellutello.Par.XIV.34-39) denying that this is he, and joining those who believe it is Solomon.  Both Gabriele (DDP Gabriele.Par.XIV.34) and his pupil, Daniello (DDP Daniello.Par.XIV.34-36 ) abstain.  In more modern times a similar profile describes the debate, with almost all thinking it is Solomon to whom reference is made.  However, Porena's uneasiness is perhaps instructive (DDP Porena.Par.XIV.34-358).  He suggests that Solomon may be here only because he was seen as the brightest star in his circle in Paradiso X (one would like to ask Porena why Dante has so described him if he did not mean anything by the remark).  He goes on to wonder why Solomon is never mentioned by name -- a worthy question.  It is also clear that he is a bit concerned by the fleshly activities and celebrations of the king.  Chiarenza (Chia.2000.1), p. 206, on the other hand, insists on Solomon's value, in Dante's eyes, for his heightened sense of the importance of the flesh.  She also notes that Dante's practice of not naming him, but always ([Purg XXX 10], [Par X 109], and here) presenting him as a privileged member of a group (pp. 206-7), thus examining the same phenomenon that makes Porena feel that Dante is uncomfortable with his own treatment of Solomon.  Chiarenza sees, much more steadily, that he is playing off our discomfort.  (For an example of that discomfort, see Carroll's remarks in C.Par.XIII.97-102.)

It seems clear that this is indeed Solomon, and that Dante values him very highly, ranking him even higher than Thomas, both in the description of his brightness in Canto X and in choosing him to hold the last and privileged position in the heaven of the Sun.  If we reflect how surely we expect Thomas to answer Beatrice's formulations of Dante's doubts (let the reader start reading again at Canto X and come to this canto innocent of both knowledge and inclination: Will not he or she expect Thomas to take command once more?), we can recapture some of our original surprise at finding not Thomas but Solomon here.  And, as Scartazzini (DDP Scatazzini.Par.XIV.34) reminds us (Carroll [DDP Carroll.Par.XIV.34-60] allows the same point), a passage in Ecclesiastes (3:18-22) reveals Solomon's skepticism about the destination of the soul after the death of the body.  Carroll's treatment, unlike Scartazzini's, goes on to argue that an expert of no less authority than Aquinas asserts (ST I, q. 75, a. 6) that in this passage Solomon is speaking 'in the character of the foolish' about an error of others that he states in order to refute.  Whether Scartazzini or Carroll is right, it does seem that Dante knows that, even in asserting that Solomon was saved, he was taking on some pretty estimable adversaries (e.g, Augustine); in making him an authority on the Trinity and the General Resurrection, he has, once again, chosen to live dangerously.