Dal «libero arbitrio» all’«innata libertate»: retorica di un capovolgimento nel cuore del «Purgatorio»

Against the background of some unavoidable achievements of philosophical thought concerning the relationships between will, freedom and reason, achievements recognized by the critical tradition as operating in the Comedy, the contribution focuses on the central cantos of Purgatory, specifically on the relationship between the words of Marco Lombardo and Virgil’s discours on the free will. The point of view of the analysis is rhetorical, aiming to focus on the presence and distinctive features of the expressive forms through which Dante, in order to accompany the reader, poetically represents the progressive awareness, in the pilgrim, of the relationships between intellect, will and freedom