Shows / Walking With Dante
Walking With Dante
Ever wanted to read Dante's Divine Comedy? Come along with us! We're not lost in the scholarly weeds. (Mostly.) We're strolling through the greatest work (to date) of Western literature. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I take on this masterpiece passage by passage. I'll give you my rough English translation, show you some of the interpretive knots in the lines, let you in on the 700 years of commentary, and connect Dante's work to our modern world. The pilgrim comes awake in a dark wood, then…
Episodes
- Walking With Dante
Chilly Dreams Before The Fifth Terrace Of Purgatory: PURGATORIO, Canto XIX, Lines 1- 15
Our pilgrim has fallen asleep on the edge of the fourth terrace of Mount Purgatory. He's seen the racing slothful but night has gotten the better of him . . …
- Walking With Dante
Greedy Beasts That Refuse The Lure: A Read-Through Of The Fifth Terrace Of PURGATORIO, Cantos XIX - XXI
We've climbed up to the fifth terrace of Purgatory proper and come among the avaricious. These three cantos become increasingly complex and daring: in their…
- Walking With Dante
Fear, New Thoughts, And Dreams: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, Lines 130 - 145
The zealous slothful have run on, although there are still two coming in the rear, "biting" the penitents from behind with warnings about sloth.After that, the…
- Walking With Dante
Speaking Truth To Power: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, Lines 97 - 129
At last, the slothful penitents arrive. They're a roiling horde in a crazy rush, whipped around the terrace to make up for the ways they were negligent in…
- Walking With Dante
The Sleepy Can Get Run Over: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, Lines 76 - 96
Our pilgrim has found himself in the dark of night, a time where he loses all effort on Mount Purgatory.But don't get too sleepy, Dante. You can get run over…
- Walking With Dante
Virgil, Reason, Love, And The Roots Of Modern Ethics: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, Lines 49 - 75
Virgil offers his third discourse on love at the middle of PURGATORIO to 1) show his work about ethics derived from Aristotle's notions of substance and cause…
- Walking With Dante
Questions Of Pregnancy And Blame: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, Lines 40 - 48
Virgil has finished his second, clarifying discourse on love, but it hasn't done the trick. The pilgrim Dante is even more full of doubts . . . pregnant with…
- Walking With Dante
The Cognitive, Rational Basis Of Love: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, Lines 19 - 39
In answer to the pilgrim's request that Virgil show his work on the nature of love, Virgil (and the poet Dante behind him) condense and recast the very bases…
- Walking With Dante
Excuse Me, Virgil, I Didn't Quite Get That: PURGATORIO, Canto XVIII, Lines 1 - 18
Virgil seemed to have come to a resting place in his monumental discourse on love: "Here's all I know . . . and all I don't know."But the pilgrim is less than…
- Walking With Dante
A (Sort Of) Short Summary Of PURGATORIO, Cantos I - XVII
We've come to the middle of PURGATORIO . . . and indeed the middle of COMEDY as a whole. Let's take a breather and review where we've been in Purgatory since…
- Walking With Dante
Love Escapes Virgil: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 127 - 139
We come to the end of Virgil's (first) discourse on love, as well as the end of the central canto of PURGATORIO.But it's a strange end since Virgil admits to…
- Walking With Dante
Love Maps Purgatory: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 106 - 126
Virgil continues his discourse about love, the central discourse in all of COMEDY. It's a tour de force of scholastic reasoning . . . that may leave something…
- Walking With Dante
Love Is The Seed: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 91 - 105
Love is the seed … of all you do. It's news to me, given the state of the world. But not to Virgil. And certainly not to Dante's COMEDY.Virgil's explosive…
- Walking With Dante
Drowsy Yet Vigilant, Slothful Yet Expectant: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 73 - 90
Welcome to the fourth terrace of Purgatory proper!Dante and Virgil reach the top of the stairs just as night falls and the pilgim loses all possibility of…
- Walking With Dante
The Fourth Terrace Of Purgatory Proper: A Read-Through Of PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Line 73, to Canto XVIII, Line 145
We're ready to get to the fourth terrace of Purgatory proper--that is, the terrace where sloth is purged.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for a read-through of this…
- Walking With Dante
All The Light Ends With The Stars: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 40 - 72
Dante the poet is having great fun with light. He's playing with its various meanings: illumination, revelation, sunrise, sunset, concealment, power--all this…
- Walking With Dante
Three Ecstatic Visions And Dante's Warning (To Himself?) About Anger: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 19 - 39
As Dante the pilgrim gets ready to leave the third terrace of Purgatory, the terrace of the angry, he has three ecstatic visions that warn about the dangers of…
- Walking With Dante
The Light Of The Imagination: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 1 - 18
Dante the pilgrim leaves Marco of Lombardy behind, but Dante the poet is not yet done with fundamental questions for his poem--particularly, how does he know…
- Walking With Dante
Marco Of Lombardy Redux: Questions From PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, Lines 46 - 145
We've finished Marco of Lombardy's central discourse about free will, the soul's maturation, and the systemic problems with the world. Now let's look back at…
- Walking With Dante
The Chatty Conclusion Of The Angry Marco's Discourse: PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, Lines 130 - 145
Marco of Lombardy's time in COMEDY comes to an end with a chatty back-and-forth between him and the pilgrim Dante. Dante wants to compliment Marco on creating…
- Walking With Dante
The Best World Is A World With Two Suns: PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, Lines 97 - 129
Marco of Lombardy, the angry penitent, continues his diagnosis of the world's problems. It's got only one sun, not two, as Rome had. And that one sun, the…
- Walking With Dante
The Shocking News That The Soul Is A Little Girl: PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, Lines 85 - 96
Marco of Lombardy continues his discourse on free will, deep in the pitch-black smoke of the third terrace of Purgatory where the angry penitents confront…
- Walking With Dante
The Cause Is In You: PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, Lines 64 - 84
Dante the pilgrim has asked the angry Marco of Lombardy the cause of the world's ills. Marco responds with both exasperation and affection before turning to…
- Walking With Dante
How Can You Justify The Ways Of God (Or At Least, The Stars): PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, Lines 52 - 63
Dante's on the verge of exploding with doubt. Marco of Lombardy's snark about the loss of valor in the bows of this world has done little more than leave the…
- Walking With Dante
Greeting The Wrathful And Slowly Changing COMEDY Itself: PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, Lines 25 - 51
Wrapped in the dark, acrid smoke, Dante encounters one of the angry penitents and one of the most seminal figures in COMEDY, here at almost the exact center of…
- Walking With Dante
Solving The Knot Of Wrath: PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, Lines 1 - 24
Dante finds himself in such dark, acrid smoke that he is reminded of the very inky desolations of Inferno. In fact, he has come to the darkest spot in all of…
- Walking With Dante
Anger In PURGATORIO and INFERNO
In this interpolated episode among those on our slow-walk through Dante's masterpiece, COMEDY, let's discuss the specific sin of anger (or wrath), particularly…
- Walking With Dante
The Third Terrace Of Purgatory Proper: A Read-Through Of PURGATORIO, Canto XV, Line 85, Through Canto XVII, Line 72
We've now come to the third terrace of Purgatory proper, the ledge of wrath (or anger).Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we read through the passages that make up…
- Walking With Dante
Lighten Up Before The Dark Smoke Of Anger: PURGATORIO, Canto XV, Lines 115 - 145
Dante comes out of his ecstatic vision only to have Virgil question whether the pilgrim has drunk too much.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this rare moment of…
- Walking With Dante
The Answer To Wrath Is Written On Your Face: PURGATORIO, Canto XV, Lines 94 - 114
Dante the pilgrim has already had one ecstatic vision as he stepped onto the third terrace of Purgatory proper. Now he has two more in quick succession.We're…
- Walking With Dante
The First Ecstatic Vision . . . Of COMEDY: PURGATORIO, Canto XV, Lines 85 - 93
Dante and Virgil have stepped onto the third terrace of Purgatory proper and our pilgrim is hit with an ecstatic vision. In fact, the first one in a poem that…
- Walking With Dante
Hunger, Light, Love, And The Theology Of Abundance: PURGATORIO, Canto XV, Lines 58 - 84
Dante the pilgrim has gotten one answer out of Virgil about the nature of abundance and scarcity in terms of heavenly good . . . but that answer was not…
- Walking With Dante
Scarcity, Abundance, And The Poetics Between The Terraces: PURGATORIO, Canto XV, Lines 34 - 57
Dante and Virgil encounter the awaited angel as they begin their ascent to the third terrace of Purgatory proper.They hear two snippets of song. They find the…
- Walking With Dante
Redefining The Terms Of What Seems To Be: PURGATORIO, Canto XV, Lines 25 - 33
Dante the poet is playing a very crafty game. He's been pulling out all the stops with two metaphors to help us understand the weight, meaning, and timing of…
- Walking With Dante
Playing Around With The Sun: PURGATORIO, Canto XV, Lines 1 - 24
Dante and Virgil pass on beyond the envious along the second terrace of Purgatory proper. As we enter the first of the middle three canti of all of COMEDY…
- Walking With Dante
Virgil Inscribes Circularity Into Linearity: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, Lines 142 - 151
Having been accosted by two voices decrying the fate of the envious on the second terrace of Purgatory proper, Dante and Virgil begin to walk toward a stairway…
- Walking With Dante
Two More Voices On The Winds Of Envy: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, Lines 127 - 141
With Guido del Duca enmeshed in his tears, Dante the pilgrim and Virgil begin to talk on along the terrace of envy, searching for a way up to the third terrace…
- Walking With Dante
Oh, For The Glory Days (That Maybe Never Were): PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, Lines 97 - 126
Guido del Duca reaches the climax of his diatribe: a nostalgic retrospective of the courts and families of Romagna. Where have the good guys gone?Is this Dante…
- Walking With Dante
Now You Know Who We Are: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, Lines 73 - 96
At long last, the speaker in PURGATORIO Canto XIV comes clean and reveals who he is . . . and who his compatriot is. They're Guido del Duca and Rinier (or…
- Walking With Dante
The Descent Of The Arno Into Metaphoric Space: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, Lines 43 - 72
Dante has been cagey about where he's from, using periphrastic phrasing to describe the Arno valley without naming it.It was apparently the wrong thing to do …
- Walking With Dante
The Many Textures Of Envy: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, Lines 22 - 42
Dante has started a conversation with two envious penitents . . . a conversation he might not be ready for. They prove more than his rhetorical match. They…
- Walking With Dante
Be Careful Of The Company You Keep: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, Lines 1 - 21
Sapía has finished her amazingly complex speech with the pilgrim Dante . . . or has she? At the opening of Canto XIV, we're not sure who is speaking? Still…
- Walking With Dante
Sapía, Part Four--The Coda: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 85 - 104
We've spent three episodes with this penitent envious soul, Sapía. Now let's look at the entire interchange between her and our pilgrim, Dante . . . as well as…
- Walking With Dante
Sapía, Part Three—Rhetorical Games Reveal Both The Penitent And The Pilgrim: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 133 - 154
In the concluding moments of Sapía's speech, we find her in dialogue with Dante the pilgrim . . . who is both forthcoming in his confessional stance and also…
- Walking With Dante
Sapía, Part Two—Blasphemy Among The Penitents Of Envy: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 112 - 132
Sapía now tells her story to Dante the pilgrim . . . and it includes one of the most blasphemous lines in all of COMEDY.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look…
- Walking With Dante
Sapía, Part One—The Pilgrim Gets More (And Less!) Than He Bargained For: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 94 - 111
Dante the pilgrim worked up the courage (or the flattery) to get one of the envious to speak up on the second terrace of Purgatory proper. She does . . . and…
- Walking With Dante
Flattery Will Get You Irony: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 73 - 93
Dante has finally come among the envious on the bare, bleak, blue-gray second terrace of Mount Purgatory. We've seen their condition: eyes stitched shut. Now…
- Walking With Dante
Eyes Stitched Shut: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 46 - 72
The second terrace of PURGATORIO proves a wild ride into interiority, into the complicated sin of envy, and back into INFERNO.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we…
- Walking With Dante
The Voices Of Love And Alienation: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 22 - 45
Dante and Virgil make haste across the second terrace of Purgatory before they're accosted by disembodied voices, calling them to the banquet of love.Sounds…
- Walking With Dante
The Easy Climb Into Complex Meaning: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 1 - 21
Dante the pilgrim and his guide, Virgil, have arrived at the second terrace of Purgatory proper. As readers, we're not even sure what this terrace is about…
- Walking With Dante
Dante, Aquinas, Aristotle, And The Fences Of Truth
Before we step onto PURGATORIO's terrace of envy, the second ledge of Purgatory proper, let's pause a moment to talk about the relationship among Dante…
- Walking With Dante
The Second Terrace Of Purgatory: A Read-Through Of PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Line 1, though Canto XV, Line 84
We've come with Dante the pilgrim and Virgil, his guide, to the second terrace of Purgatory, the terrace of envy.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this initial…
- Walking With Dante
Erasing God's Writing Even If Virgil Smiles: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 118 - 139
Dante the pilgrim and Virgil have a little ways to go before they finally exit the terrace of pride. In fact, Dante has to come to a surprising revelation…
- Walking With Dante
Narrow Stairs, Contorted Similes, And The On-Going Poetry Of Hell: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 100 - 117
Dante and Virgil begin their climb from the first to the second terrace of Purgatory but as they do, they climb up in an incredibly contorted and difficult…
- Walking With Dante
The Climb Out Of Pride: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 73 - 99
Dante and Virgil begin their exit from the terrace of pride on Mount Purgtory. To do so, they must encounter and angel who implicitly calls back Lucifer (or…
- Walking With Dante
Storytelling, Moral Allegory, And The Human Paradox: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 64 - 72
Dante the poet adds a coda to his (fake) ekphrastic poetry on the reliefs in the road bed of the terrace of pride on Mount Purgatory. He steps back and…
- Walking With Dante
More Questions Than Answers About The Reliefs In The Road Bed Of Pride: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 22 - 63
We've spent three episodes going over the reliefs in the road bed of the terrace of pride on Mount Purgatory. Now let's step back and look at the whole…
- Walking With Dante
Walking On Pride, Part Three: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 49 - 60
We've come to the last four reliefs in the paving stones of the terrace of pride. We're almost on our way to the next terrace of Purgatory . . . but not quite…
- Walking With Dante
Walking On Pride, Part Two: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 37 - 48
We're still walking on top of the reliefs of the prideful in the road bed of the first terrace of Mount Purgatory after the gate: the terrace of pride. Here…
- Walking With Dante
Walking On Pride, Part One: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 25 - 36
Virgil has directed Dante the pilgrim to look down at the road bed. Dante sees figures carved into the terrace . . . and he begins to walk on pride, the way…