Dante on the beach (and the migrants)

One of the most beautiful expressions of mankind's common condition and destiny is in the second canto of Dante's Purgatorio. It also represents Dante's criticism of xenophobia and nativism, themes which resonate, most loudly, with us today.

Canto 2 of Purgatorio is set on the beach between the funneled Hell and the conical Purgatory. It is the only leve…