List of Cultural References in Divine Comedy - Z

Z

• Michel Zanche (d. 1290): Governor of the giudicato of Logudoro, in Sardinia. He administered the province for King Enzo, son of the Emperor Frederick II. When Enzo was made prisoner in 1249, his wife divorced and married Zanche. The latter ruled Logudoro till 1290, when he was murdered by his son-in-law Branca Doria.
  • Among the barrators. Inf. XXII, 88–90.
• Zion: Mountain in Jerusalem where Solomon's Temple was constructed.
  • Used as a metonym for Jerusalem. Purg. IV, 69, 75.
• Zeno of Elea (c. 490 BCE–c. 430 BCE): Greek presocratic philosopher.
  • Encountered by Dante in Limbo. Inf. IV, 138.
• Zeus (also Jove or Jupiter): Chief god of Classical mythology.
  • Defied by Capaneus, he kills him with a thunderbolt Inf XIV, 43–75.
  • An Eagle ("the bird of Jove"), representing the Roman Empire, attacks the young Church in the Pageant of Church History. Purg. XXXII, 109–117.
• Saint Zita (c. 1215–1272): Canonized in 1696, she is the Patron saint of all maids and domestics. In her city, Lucca, she was already, in life, an object of popular devotion and reputed a saint. In Dante's time, her fame had already made her a sort of patron saint of her city. The Elders of Saint Zita were ten citizens of Lucca who, along with the chief magistrate, were the rulers of the city.
  • An "elder of Saint Zita" (perhaps Bottario) is plunged into a lake of boiling pitch with the barrators. Inf. XXI, 35–54.