Dante e il Salmo 120

This essay explores the role of Psalm 120 (Levavi oculos meos in montes) in Dante’s Commedia, situating it alongside the more frequently studied Psalms 50 and 113. While Dante echoes Psalm 120 already in Inferno i, its explicit citation occurs in Paradiso xxv, where the poet translates the psalm’s opening verse and aligns its imagery with the theological virtues, particularly Hope. Through close textual analysis, the essay demonstrates how the psalm establishes a dialogic link between the incipit of the Inferno and the pilgrim’s celestial ascent in the Paradiso. Drawing on Augustine, Hugh of Saint-Cher, Nicholas of Lyra, Alcuin, and Peter Lombard, it traces the exegetical tradition of Psalm 120 and its integration within the Canticum graduum (Psalms 119-133). Dante’s intertextual use of this psalm reveals a structural and theological framework that situates his poetic journey within a biblical and penitential trajectory, uniting scriptural exegesis with autobiographical narrative