In Canto 7, we are confronted with Plutus opening verse of “Pape Satan, pape Satan aleppe!”. This verse deserves a special mention because it is one those verse in the Divine Comedy that remains untranslated, and it might lose its intended and original meaning if it is translated. Untranslatable verse like this allows us to investigate on the general meaning and the hidden implication of the words in the verse.

In the case of “Pape Satan, pape Satan aleppe!”, Alighieri does not use the common Italian/Latin word ‘papa’ as pope, but instead uses the informal and debased version of the word ‘pape’.  And at the same time ‘Pape’ is a rhetorical device that act as an interjection for showing affection. The last word ‘aleppe’ is similar to the first Hebrew alphabet of ‘aleph’ which implies God (the divine one). In the verse ‘aleppe’ is placed at the end of the verse, showing that God permeates from the beginning to the end (Digital Dante C Inf VII).

Not only Plutus is a Greek god of wealth, we can imagine that he has shown proficiency in the art of language, mastering both Italian, Latin, and Hebrew, and as well as mastering the debauched dialects of these languages. He is to be reminded of a polyglot with a confused tongue who were banished from the tower of Babel. It is like that of Plutus, a pagan god who is punished by the Judeo-Christian version of God. Plutus, speaking with “his clucking voice”, utter the corrupted speech of interjection, “Pape Satan, pape Satan aleppe!” to show his affection to Satan, yet satirizing himself to reveal the papacy state during Alighieri’s time, when the indignation of Paganistic heresy were very common.

On a broader scale, I am not familiar with the specific historical context of how the multiplicity of language comes into play with the sociopolitical structure of the Church state (since the common language is Latin). But there might implication on how the diversity of languages and thoughts affect the sociopolitical structure of the Church state, if there is any at all, from my previous drawing of the parallel between the tower of Babel to the political state during Alighieri’s time.

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