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
Art, Realism, And Dante's Sheer Audacity: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 13 - 24
The opening of PURGATORIO, Canto XII, becomes even stranger as the poet Dante claims that the art he’s about to see beneath his feet is even clearer than the…
- Walking With Dante
Dante's Pride Both Lanced And Swelling: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 1 - 12
Dante is still hunched over, going along like a dumb ox, paired up with the souls on the terrace of pride. His pride has been lanced by their monologues.Until…
- Walking With Dante
A Bad Boy Makes Good On The Terrace Of Pride: PURGATORIO, Canto XI, Lines 109 - 139
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- Walking With Dante
Oderisi Redux: PURGATORIO, Canto XI, Lines 73 - 108
I said we'd move on to the second half of Oderisi da Gubbio's speech . . . but there's no way we can. There are still so many unanswered questions about the…
- Walking With Dante
Proud Oderisi Confronts The Vagaries Of Artistic Fame: PURGATORIO, Canto XI, Lines 73 - 108
If you'd like to help underwrite this podcast, WALKING WITH DANTE, you can use this PayPal link right here.On Purgatory's terrace of pride, we turn from noble…
- Walking With Dante
Proud Omberto, Humbled . . . Or Humbled Omberto, Still Proud: PURGATORIO, Canto XI, Lines 46 - 72
We've come to the first penitent who speaks after the gate of Purgatory: Omberto Aldobrandesco. He's from a storied, titled family, a nobleman brought low. Or…
- Walking With Dante
Disorienting The Reader On The Terrace Of Pride: PURGATORIO, Canto XI, Lines 25 - 45
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- Walking With Dante
Dante Rewrites The Foundational Prayer Of Christianity: PURGATORIO, Canto XI, Lines 1 - 24
Please support this podcast! Help me with streaming, hosting, licensing, and editing fees by donating whatever you can at this PayPal link right here.Dante now…
- Walking With Dante
When Art Envisions What Is: PURGATORIO, Canto X, Lines 112 - 139
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- Walking With Dante
A Seam In The Narrative Sewn With Virgil's Murmurs: PURGATORIO, Canto X, Lines 94 -111
Help support this podcast by donating at this PayPal link right here.Having seen the intaglios, Dante is still in wonder as the first penitents round the bend…
- Walking With Dante
The Moral Crux Of Justice And Compassion In The Last Intaglio: PURGATORIO, Canto X, Lines 70 - 93
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- Walking With Dante
Realism And Its Discontents: PURGATORIO, Canto X, Lines 46 - 69
After the intaglio about the annunciation, Dante moves beyond Virgil (or is prodded to move beyond his guide) to discover a second sequence, this time from the…
- Walking With Dante
Art, Creativity, And The False Promise Of The New: PURGATORIO, Canto X, Lines 28 - 45
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- Walking With Dante
The Post-Gate Letdown: PURGATORIO, Canto X, Lines 1 - 27
If you'd like to help support this podcast, please consider donating to cover hosting, licensing, and streaming fees by using this PayPal link right here.Dante…
- Walking With Dante
The First Terrace Of Purgatory Proper: A Read-Through of PURGATORIO, Cantos X - XII
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- Walking With Dante
Screeching And Singing Into Purgatory Proper: PURGATORIO, Canto IX, Lines 130 - 145
Help support the work of the podcast by donating to help me cover licensing, royalty, hosting, streaming, and editing fees associated with our walk. You can do…
- Walking With Dante
Of Keys, Gates, And Letters On The Forehead: PURGATORIO, Canto IX, Lines 106 - 129
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- Walking With Dante
Three Steps Up To The Gate And Into An Interpretive Quagmire: PURGATORIO, Canto IX, Lines 94 - 105
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- Walking With Dante
The Forbidding Angel At The Gate: PURGATORIO, Canto IX, Lines 79 - 93
Please help me cover the costs of streaming, editing, hosting, and producing this podcast by visiting this PayPal link right here.Dante seemed so full of…
- Walking With Dante
Brace Yourself For The Gate Of Purgatory: PURGATORIO, Canto IX, Lines 64 - 78
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- Walking With Dante
Lucy, Virgil, The Christian Reality, The Classical Texture: PURGATORIO, Canto IX, Lines 43 - 63
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- Walking With Dante
A Dream Of Classical Sex And Sorrows: PURGATORIO, Canto IX, Lines 13 - 42
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- Walking With Dante
Asleep In A Messy Bed Of Classical Imagery: PURGATORIO, Canto IX, Lines 1 - 12
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- Walking With Dante
The Gate Of Purgatory: A Read-Through Of PURGATORIO, Canto IX
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- Walking With Dante
The Generosity That Ends The Cantos Of Ante-Purgatory: PURGATORIO, Canto VIII, Lines 109 - 139
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- Walking With Dante
The Sun Sets On The Classical Landscape: PURGATORIO, Canto VIII, Lines 85 - 108
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- Walking With Dante
Misogyny Rears Its Head: PURGATORIO, Canto VIII, Lines 64 - 84
After Dante shocks Judge Nino and the poet Sordello with the revelation of the pilgrim's own corporeality, Judge Nino launches into a disgusting diatribe about…
- Walking With Dante
I Saw Them, They Saw Me, So The Journey Is Real: PURGATORIO, Canto VIII, Lines 46 - 63
Sordello leads Dante down three steps into the valley of the kings. There, our pilgrim Dante meets Judge Nino, perhaps a figure from the poet Dante's own past…
- Walking With Dante
The First Angels Descend From Heaven: PURGATORIO, Canto VIII, Lines 19 - 45
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- Walking With Dante
Ecstatic While Longing For Home: PURGATORIO, Canto VIII, Lines 1 - 18
Help me keep WALKING WITH DANTE sponsor-free. You can donate to support the podcast at this PayPal link here.We move closer to the negligent rulers on the…
- Walking With Dante
The Kings Who Dodged What They Should Have Done, Part Two: PURGATORIO, Canto VII, Lines 82 - 136
In the last episode of this podcast, we glossed (or explained) the long list of rulers who are in the darkening dale ahead of us, as well as Dante, Virgil, and…
- Walking With Dante
The Kings Who Dodged What They Should Have Done, Part One: PURGATORIO, Canto VII, Lines 82 - 136
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- Walking With Dante
Problems In The Poetry Of The Elysian Fields: PURGATORIO, Canto VII, Lines 64 - 81
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- Walking With Dante
Virgil, Sordello, And The Limits Of The Will: PURGATORIO, Canto VII, Lines 37 - 63
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- Walking With Dante
Virgil Redefines Limbo And The Journey Across The Known Universe: PURGATORIO, Canto VII, Lines 16 - 36
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- Walking With Dante
Virgil Returns To Center Stage: PURGATORIO, Canto VII, Lines 1 - 15
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- Walking With Dante
The Rage Comes To Rest (Sort Of): PURGATORIO, Canto VI, Lines 127 - 151
Donate to help keep WALKING WITH DANTE on its path by using this PayPal link here.Dante's invective against political strife reaches its height by turning its…
- Walking With Dante
The Poet Dante Finally Loses Control: PURGATORIO, Canto VI, Lines 106 - 126
Rage knows no bounds--even in a poem as controlled as Dante's COMEDY. The poet has been offering up an invective about Italian strife and the war-torn…
- Walking With Dante
Dante The Pilgrim Versus Dante The Poet
We've danced around the notion of Dante as the pilgrim and Dante as the poet and their competing voices in COMEDY for so many episodes--quite literally, years…
- Walking With Dante
You Don't Always Get The Poem You Want: PURGATORIO, Canto VI, Lines 76 - 105
Please consider supporting this work in WALKING WITH DANTE by donating to help me cover hosting, streaming, website, and licensing fees for this podcast by…
- Walking With Dante
Sordello, Dante's Second Guide Across The Known Universe: PURGATORIO, Canto VI, Lines 49 - 75
Help support WALKING WITH DANTE by donating to cover hosting, licensing, streaming, and podcast fees at the PayPal link here.Virgil has come in for a bit of a…
- Walking With Dante
The Garbled Logic Of A Classical Poet In A Christian Poem: PURGATORIO, Canto VI, Lines 25 - 48
Help support WALKING WITH DANTE by covering the hosting, editing, and licensing fees. You can donate through PayPal here.The pilgrim Dante and Virgil pass on…
- Walking With Dante
Winners, Losers, And Beggars: PURGATORIO, Canto VI, Lines 1 - 24
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- Walking With Dante
The Strange Brew Of Love And Disgust: PURGATORIO, Cantos VI - VIII
In this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, we'll read the three cantos that lead us up to the gate of Purgatory itself.These are tough cantos! It's important to…
- Walking With Dante
"Che Son La Pia": PURGATORIO, Canto V, Lines 130 - 136
Dante the pilgrim has heard two dramatic speeches from characters whose deaths were full of Sturm und Drang. Now, a quiet, lone voice comes forward to tell an…
- Walking With Dante
The Struggle For A Son's Soul: PURGATORIO, Canto V, Lines 85 - 129
We come to the second monologue in PURGATORIO, Canto V. This time, we're on the other side of the battle of Campeldino with one of Dante's enemies. And we're…
- Walking With Dante
The Strangely Beautiful And Poetic Death Of Jacopo Del Cassero: PURGATORIO, Canto V, Lines 64 - 84
The frenzied souls had spoken in unison, in monophony. Now they begin to differentiate, to enter into polyphony with each other.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we…
- Walking With Dante
In A Rush For Peace: PURGATORIO, Canto V, Lines 37 - 63
The pilgrim Dante and his guide, Virgil, have passed beyond the lazy souls and on to a group that's in a frenzy: running, calling out, speaking in one voice…
- Walking With Dante
The Prisoners Of Hope: PURGATORIO, Canto V, Lines 22 - 36
We come to a second scene, certainly sequential, almost contemporaneous with the previous scene among Belacqua's cohorts.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we come…
- Walking With Dante
Distractions And The Demands Of Writing About Purgatory: PURGATORIO, Canto V, Lines 1 - 21
Dante the pilgrim has had his last words with Belacqua and begins his journey on up the mountain. Or at least, laterally along the mountain of Purgatory.But…
- Walking With Dante
Mobs On The Mountain: A Read-Through Of PURGATORIO, Canto V
We've reached the end of the first narrative arc of PURGATORIO. Dante the poet brings the first five cantos to a close with a very quiet, almost disturbing…
- Walking With Dante
Belacqua Redux: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 97 - 139
We've talked about Belcqua as a parodic, ironic, or comedic figure in PURGATORIO. But is there a way to interpret his character as more straightforward? What…
- Walking With Dante
Belacqua, The King Of Misdirection Through Centuries Of Reading Dante's COMEDY: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 115 - 139
Belacqua has been the subject of hundreds of commentaries over centuries as readers have grappled with who this figure is and what purpose he serves in Dante's…
- Walking With Dante
When The Going Gets Tough, Some People Just Sit Down: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 97 -114
After all that scholastic reasoning, all that discussion of medieval astronomy and geography, all that cogitation on the soul's unity and the sun's position…
- Walking With Dante
Astronomy = Geography = Morality: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 76 - 96
Dante the pilgrim continues to rest on the first small ledge that runs around Mount Purgatory. Here, he and Virgil first discuss astronomy--or why the sun is…
- Walking With Dante
A Geocentric Rest Stop: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 52 - 75
Virgil and Dante the pilgrim have completed their first major, breath-taking climb on Mount Purgatory. They hang out for a bit on a ledge for a little rest. In…
- Walking With Dante
The Way Up Is Always Hard: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 19 - 51
Virgil and Dante leave behind the sheeplike souls that include Manfred to begin their hard climb up Mount Purgatory.The initial ascent is rough on the pilgrim…
- Walking With Dante
The First "Scientific" Disquisition Is A Grand Misdirection: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 1 - 18
Manfred's monologue has ended with some shocking conclusions: the excommunicated can indeed end up in heaven, a person can indeed repent at the last second…
- Walking With Dante
The Sad (And Fictional) Story Of Manfred's Corpse: PURGATORIO, Canto III, Lines 121 - 145
Manfred continues his shocking speech, giving us the details of his body after his death--thereby continuing the theme of the body in PURGATORIO, Canto III…
- Walking With Dante
The First Great Penitent Of Purgatory, Manfred: PURGATORIO, Canto III, Lines 103 - 120
Dante our pilgrim and his guide, Virgil, have come across a flock of sheep-like souls at the very bottom rung of Mount Purgatory. They've fallen in with them…