«Questi non vide mai l’ultima sera»: Onomastic Identity of the Protagonist in Dante's Purgatorio

Abstract

Throughout Dante’s works, a unified diegetic level creates an expansive autobiographical space in which the author narratively constructs his own existence. 
This autobiographical project culminates in a conversion narrative: a pilgrim journeys through the afterlife, gradually defining himself as a poet-prophet  charged with recording his experiences. Central to this transformative process – in which Dante evolves from viator to prophet – is the onomastic identity of the protagonist. Remarkably, his name remains hidden until the conclusion of Purgatorio, a narrative choice laden with symbolic significance. This article examines the implications of this distinctive onomastic strategy and proposes several explanations for its importance, particularly within the central cantica of the Commedia.