Walking With Dante

At the end of PURGATORIO, Canto I, l'd like to stop and start a larger discussion of what Purgatory is. It may surprise you to learn that it's fairly new doctrine in Dante's day--and that our poet is one of the people who actually sets the terms of its theology.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin a much larger discussion, one that will happen over the first nine cantos of PURGATORIO, about what exactly this place is and how it came to be such a crucial part of (some) Christian theology.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:04] Purgatory is new theological territory in Dante's day.[03:30] Everyone is in transit in PURGATORIO (with one glaring exception).[06:20] Purgatory is a liminal space--and thus an artistic space.[10:59] The meaning of pain has changed from punitive to remedial or educative.[12:22] INFERNO is purgatorial for Dante the poet; PURGATORIO is purgatorial for Dante the pilgrim.

We come to the end of PURGATORIO, Canto I. Cato has disappeared. Virgil and Dante wander around (despite being told exactly what to do). And Dante the pilgrim discovers that he himself can still change in a world where everything else is fixed or permanent.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the final passage in the Canto I of Dante's PURGATORIO, the second third of his masterwork, COMEDY. The poem has so many surprises that it's hard to keep track!Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:30] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto 1, Lines 112 - 136. If you'd like to read along, print it off, or drop a comment, please go to my website: <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:37] Cato's appearance and disappearance is like Jesus's after the resurrection. And there may be other ways they're alike.[06:19] "Follow my footsteps": a familiar emotional landscape for us readers and for the pilgrim Dante.[06:47] There are two important moments of descent in COMEDY: one in Inferno I and the second in Purgatorio I.[11:23] "The vibrations of the ocean": a call-out to THE AENEID, Book VII, lines 6 - 9. In other words, Virgil and his poetry are still our touchstone.[13:04] Dante's complex emotional landscape: wandering around a bit lost when you're in the redeemed part of the afterlife.[15:05] What exactly is Virgil's "craft"? Following Cato's directions?[17:27] Dante the pilgrim is returned to a human state, not a state of innocence.[19:58] Ulysses appears in Purgatory![21:45] In Dante's afterlife, all is permanent, except the pilgrim Dante.[24:13] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 112 - 136.

Virgil has replied to Cato--and now it's Cato's turn to answer back. This time, Cato doesn't seem so threatening. He seems more willing to help Virgil and Dante. Why could that be?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Cato's second speech at the opening of PURGATORIO. We'll talk through its implications and see how it opens up the possibilities of redemption this early on in the second third of Dante's masterwork, COMEDY.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:13] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto I, lines 85 - 111. If you'd like to read along, print it off, or drop a comment, please go to my website: <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:40] Did Virgil make a mistake in mentioning Marcia? Or is Virgil even more human in this canticle?[06:01] Cato most likely was redeemed during Jesus's harrowing of hell.[09:03] There's a strange Latinate construction at line 87. It feels very much like legalese.[11:08] Cato addresses his reply to Virgil, thereby accepting Virgil as Dante's guide.[12:23] Cato's reference to a "smooth rush" may call us back to the wood of the suicides in INFERNO Canto XIII. And his reference to "reclothing" the pilgrim may have a reference to St. Paul's theology in it.[15:43] Cato indicates that rhetoric won't save them--but their story will.[18:19] Cato is not the first minister of Purgatory--which leads some to say that Cato is not ultimately redeemed.[20:16] Pliancy is a prime virtue of PURGATORIO, both for the pilgrim and the reader.[22:58] Cato warns them off, as the Magi may have been warned off after Jesus's birth.[25:19] The sun is rising on Easter Sunday morning.[26:37] Our first glimpse of the mountain ahead of us.[27:25] The pilgrim stands up--a huge change from his behavior in INFERNO, Canto I.[28:55] Rereading PURGATORIO Canto I Lines 28 - 111.

Our second episode on this tough passage. Here, we focus on Cato and Marcia, two big problems in the text. Why and how is Cato redeemed? Or is he? And how does Marcia pray for him from Limbo?In the end, love moves the fence. But not without costs. Not without hairline fractures in Dante's COMEDY. Because moving the fence is always costly. But necessary.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:37] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 49 - 84. If you'd like to read along, print it off, or drop a comment, please go to my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:09] The gatekeeper of Purgatory is Cato the Younger, a Roman Stoic pagan suicide.[06:07] How do we know this is Cato when Dante never names him? Because of references to Lucan's PHARSALIA and Dante's CONVIVIO.[08:28] Why doesn't Dante the poet name Cato?[09:37] Who is Marcia, Cato's wife?[12:11] Is Marcia truly praying for Cato from Limbo? Four possible answers.[16:24] Is Cato truly redeemed? Many commentators quibble or just say "no."[18:53] What does it mean that Cato is redeemed? Motive begins to count as much as action.[22:19] Augustine's CONFESSIONS may be a structuring device for PURGATORIO: Stoicism, Platonism, Christianity.[27:59] Cato's place in PURGATORIO heightens Virgil's tragedy and brings hairline fractures to the very structure of COMEDY.

We have come to one of the strangest moments so far in COMEDY: the moment we recognize the lone old man is in fact the Roman pagan Stoic suicide Cato. This moment breaks COMEDY in so many ways that we're going to spend two episodes of the podcast looking at this passage from PURGATORIO.In this episode, we're going to focus on Virgil and (to a lesser extent) Dante in the passage (thereby saving Cato and his wife Marcia for the next episode). What does this long speech tell us about Virgil's possibly changing place in the poem? What is Dante the poet up to?Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[00:58] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 49 - 84. If you'd like to read along, print it off, or drop a comment, please go to my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[05:06] Virgil in Purgatory: still a strange idea, although we may (or may not) have been set up for it.[08:55] The structure of PURGATORIO, Canto I: mostly a conversation between two father figures, Virgil and Cato. But Virgil's presence still causes lots of problems.[12:17] Making Dante the pilgrim show obeisance: a mistake or a change in the dynamics in the poem?[17:28] What is Virgil doing when he apparently paraphrases Dante the pilgrim to Cato?[20:13] Dante's folly is like Pier delle Vigne's and Ulysses'--except Dante's folly happened before COMEDY, not in COMEDY.[22:28] Humor in the passage, but maybe mean-spirited and at Virgil's expense.[24:58] Freedom: the guiding principle of PURGATORIO (until we get to Beatrice).[27:14] The law--that is, how Virgil and Dante got here.[29:08] Flattery: Does it get the job done?

As Dante the pilgrim gazes at the gorgeous sky, he finds an old man standing next to him, a figure who will startle us (if not the pilgrim) and who will eventually cue us that all is not what it seems in the second third of Dante's COMEDY.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we turn with the pilgrim to PURGATORIO's first great surprise. Let's talk about this old man without identifying him yet--because that's exactly what our text does.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:18] My English translation of this passage: PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 28 - 48. If you'd like to read along, print it off, or drop a comment, please go to my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:02] Our first task: The Big Dipper. It's a minor translation problem in the passage.[04:35] The on-going movement from Dante the pilgrim: turning, not walking.[06:52] The effects of wonder in this passage have already been noted in INFERNO, Canto XXVIII.[08:00] Our first vision of the lone, old man, emerging at us from the text.[08:58] The old man is not immediately identified--and that may be crucial to our seeing the poem correctly.[12:18] The old man has a paternal quality. Does that make him a potential rival for Virgil?[13:37] The old man has a long, forked beads, reminiscent of the representation of Moses in the Florentine Baptistry mosaics.[14:58] The old man is first seen by Dante the pilgrim after he turns to the north.[15:54] The old man is directly linked to the four stars over the South Pole.[16:51] There is another old man ("veglio") in the poem: the old man of Crete.[18:18] The old man's appearance is reminiscent of Jesus's appearance to Mary Magdalene at the garden tomb.[19:35] The old man seems very keen on the legal niceties.[21:37] The old man is a blocking figure, like many others we've met in INFERNO.[22:30] But there's a significant difference: This old man may be open to change.[23:57] Rereading PURGATORIO, Canto 1, Lines 28 - 48

Dante the poet leads us in a slow turn toward Dante the pilgrim, his "fictional" alter ego, who is looking up at the heavens--that is, at Venus, at four new-to-him stars, and at the gorgeous sapphire color of a predawn sky.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we come to see the emotional complexity Dante has learned to encode in this short passage after the craft developed in the writing of INFERNO. The turn to the pilgrim is a beautiful moment, with resonances of hope and loss throughout--perhaps, then, a most human moment.This passage of PURGATORIO is also packed with interpretive problems. And you know we love those! So here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:14] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 13 - 27. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment, please find this passage on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:13] Where are we? In a terrestrial poem that yearns for the infinite--with a couple of translation problems right off.[07:03] We turn to Dante the pilgrim in a moment in which he wonders at the sheer beauty of the sky. (Such a contrast to his responses in INFERNO!)[08:30] What is the allegory of the sapphire blue? And how do we know our interpretation of that allegory is correct?[13:27] What is this "gorgeous planet"? It's a representation of love, as Dante tells us. But it's also the potential rehabilitation of the morning star from its traditional interpretation by Christian theologians as a reference to Satan before his fall.[18:07] However, there's a historical problem for the poetry: Venus was not the morning star in 1300, the year of the pilgrim's journey across the known universe.[20:39] Check out the emotional movement in the first nine lines of this passage: from beauty to global peace to internal regeneration to the laughter of the cosmos.[23:09] We see Dante the pilgrim's first physical movement: a turn to the right (that is, to the south). And there's an interpretive problem in these lines: Who are these "first people" he mentions?[26:53] And while we're at it, what are the four stars Dante the pilgrim sees?[29:41] The last lines of the passage only make sense if you've read Virgil's explanation in INFERNO.[31:08] The last lines of the passage also encode a moment of loss, maybe even melancholy. Laughter + loss = human. That's ultimately the equation of (most of) PURGATORIO.[32:47] I read PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 13 - 27 again.

These are the opening lines of PURGATORIO, in whcih we start, not with the Dante the pilgrim (as we did in INFERNO), but with Dante the poet, who puts his hubris and his doubts on full display.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slow-walk through the opening lines of the second canticle, the second third, of Dante's masterwork COMEDY. We'll hear the poet state his intentions and hear him cite a bit of orthodox theology as well as some possibly heterodox bits. He'll also invoke the muses, not to guide him, but to follow him, before expressing an implicit warning to himself about the work ahead.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:01] Reading my English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 1 - 12. You can find these lines on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>, where you can also drop comments or ask questions.[03:01] Dante arrives in PURGATORIO in his own boat, although we know an angel will bring everyone else.[08:13] PURGATORIO is a terrestrial poem that begins with the Dante the poet--whereas INFERNO was a terrestrial poem that began with the Dante the pilgrim.[10:24] Dante offers the third invocation to the Muses in COMEDY, now with distinct references to that most Christian doctrine: the resurrection.[16:39] There's a slight problem with Calliope. For Dante, she may well be the greatest muse, not necessarily "just" the muse of epic poetry.[18:55] What exactly is this thing Dante calls "deadened poetry" ("morta poesí")? The answer is harder than you may think.[22:07] The opening twelve lines of PURGATORIO are jam-packed with the poet's hubris.[26:57] But the poet Dante may also express his fears in these lines.[29:18] Something to consider before we move on in the poem: INFERNO may well have been purgatory for the Dante the poet.[30:49] Rereading PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 1 - 12.

As I told you in the previous episode of this podcast, we're taking PURGATORIO in chunks, rather than small bits. Or more like, first chunks, then small bits. And here's our first chunk: cantos 1 - 2 in my English translation.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our exploration of the shores of Purgatory. I'll first read through the first two cantos of the middle canticle from Dante's masterwork, COMEDY.Then I'll raise some initial interpretive questions--although there will be lots more as we break the cantos down into smaller chunks, starting in the next episode.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:54] Reading PURGATORIO, cantos 1 - 2.[18:26] Six initial, interpretive questions. One, are we in the same poem as we were in INFERNO?[20:53] Two, who is this solitary old man?[22:13] Three, why all the astrological and astronomical references in these cantos?[23:28] Four, why all the singing in these opening cantos of PURGATORIO?[24:43] Five, who is Casella?[25:43] Six, what does Dante the poet know about angels?

Support WALKING WITH DANTE to keep it sponsor-free by donating what you can via this PayPal link <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">here</a>.Welcome back! We've been on hiatus for a bit, after we finished INFERNO. (If, that is, you're listening to this podcast IRT.) And now we're ready to start our climb up the next third of the poem: the mountain of purgation, the (perhaps) most human section of Dante's divine masterpiece.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I offer a little introduction to PURGATORIO--not so much to the poem but to our methods in this podcast. I want to tell you how the episodes for PURGATORIO are going to work (different from those for INFERNO). And I want to let you know--in advance!--the five basic ways I interpret (or "read," to use the literary term) this second canticle of COMEDY.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, our first on PURGATORIO.[03:07] The methodology of how we'll walk through (up?) PURGATORIO: chunk, then smaller pieces (rather than the constant smaller pieces we undertook in INFERNO).[06:15] Take heart: no funny voices in PURGATORIO! But that also means there's a translation issue.[08:24] My initial five rubrics for interpreting PURGATORIO. First, PURGATORIO is about the perfection of the will and the correction of the intellect.[11:20] Second, PURGATORIO is moving away from the classical (pagan?) world and more firmly into the Christian world. But that's not an easy move for our poet who so loves his classical learning.[13:35] Third, PURGATORIO is the most heterodox portion of COMEDY.[17:12] Fourth, PURGATORIO is a meta-commentary on the writing of INFERNO.[18:35] Fifth, PURGATORIO is structured by the architecture of the New Testament.

We have come to the end of our slow-walk across Dante's INFERNO, the first third (or so) of his masterpiece, COMEDY. But there are admittedly things we missed. Perhaps you'd like to deepen your understanding of INFERNO? Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for some hints about how to further your study of this first (and most famous) part of Dante's poem.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[00:55] Consider using the medieval Florentine, particularly the rhyme and the rhythm of the original, to unlock new clues to the meaning of passages in INFERNO.[04:01] Read around among scholars who've covered INFERNO and who offer new perspectives on the poem.[06:15] Read the original sources for the poem, particularly Virgil's AENEID, Ovid's METAMORPHOSES, and Lucan's PHARSALIA. If you want to get a jump on PURGATORIO, consider reading Statius' THEBIAD.[07:39] Listen to some of the great music that's been based on Dante's poem.[08:53] Try out other translations of Dante's poem to further your understanding of his art.[10:28] To get ready for PURGATORIO, go back and look over the "great sinners" of INFERNO. They're going to be under our feet in many passages in PURGATORIO.

We've come to the end of our slow-walk through INFERNO, the first third of Dante's masterpiece, COMEDY.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for some final thoughts on this overwhelming poem. No conclusions, really. Just some access points to help you think more about this incredible journey.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:28] One negative assessment: There are some awkward transition points in the poem.[03:34] One possible explanation for those awkward points: Gothic juxtaposition.[05:37] A second negative assessment: Some classical references appear to be a tad ornamental.[07:52] But a possible answer to these rough patches: Dante sets up scenes before we encounter them.[09:18] And INFERNO has begun to fold back in on itself by its end, making reference to its own poetic self.[11:58] Dante is engaged in fantastic world-building.[14:20] Dante offers a developmental hypothesis for both the pilgrim and the poet.[17:20] Dante willingly breaks churchly orthodoxy in the service of a greater, more human orthodoxy.[21:35] Dante democratizes the afterlife.

We finish off INFERNO in my English translation, which you can find on my website: markscarbrough.com.But I hope you don't go there. I hope you sit back and listen to the conclusion of the first piece of Dante's journey across the known universe.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we finish reading INFERNO, one of the final steps before we're ready to move on to PURGATORIO.[01:33] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 32 - 34

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we fast-walk (!) through Dante's INFERNO, the first third (or so) of his masterpiece, COMEDY (or "The Divine Comedy," as some insist on calling it--although he never did).We're completed our slow walk through the poem in over 200 episodes of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE. Now we're celebrating by reading straight through my English translation. You can find this translation on my website: <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>. It's broken into smaller passages there. But I hope you don't look for it. I hope, instead, that you listen to it for the plot, for the sheer majesty of the imaginative landscape Dante has created.[01:42] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 29 - 31

We're continuing to read through my English translation of INFERNO--which you can find on my website: markscarbough.com.But I hope you don't. I hope you sit back and enjoy the work for what it is at its core: a story.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we pass through the eighth and ninth evil pouches of fraud, the vast eighth circle of INFERNO. We'll see Ulysses, Guido da Montefeltro, Mohammed, the poet Bertran de Born, and a host of schismatics, all ripped to pieces by a demon in their pit.Doesn't sound very pleasant, does it? But these are passages from our great poet Dante, working at the height of his (ever-increasing) powers. The journey defies belief, but not the imagination.[02:01] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 26 - 28

We're continuing on our journey, which has become a read-through of INFERNO. Having walked the first third (or so) of Dante's COMEDY passage by passage, even line by line, we're now experiencing this masterwork for what it truly is: a story.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I read through my English translation of INFERNO. You can find these passages on my website: <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>. But I wish you wouldn't. I wish you'd just sit back and revel in the plot.Which in this case is the evil pouch of the thieves, the seventh sub-circle of the giant landscape of fraud. Ovid and Lucan don't stand a chance against our poet![01:58] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 24 - 25.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we celebrate the conclusion of our slow-walk through INFERNO, the first third of Dante's masterpiece, COMEDY, by reading straight through INFERNO.In this episode, we'll read cantos 21 - 23. This translation is my own. You can find it on my website: markscarbrough.com. But I wish you wouldn't. Especially if you've been on this long walk with us, I wish you'd just sit back and enjoy the plot.[01:58] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 21 - 23

We're continuing to read INFERNO for what it truly is: a glorious plot, the story of a guy who wakes up lost and walks across the known universe.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we walk with him through the first of the evil pouches of fraud: the panderers/seducers, the flatterers, the simoniacs, and the diviners. This translation is my own. You can find it on my website: <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>. But I wish you wouldn't. I wish you'd just sit back and revel in the plot. It's a marvel of the imagination.[02:33] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 18 - 20

We've finished our slow-walk through INFERNO, passage by passage, bit by bit, allusion by allusion, across over two hundred episodes of WALKING WITH DANTE.Now, we're "simply" taking the canticle of pain for its plot--which may well be the heart of the work's genius.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we read through my English translation of INFERNO, Cantos 14 - 17. I'm reading my own English translation, which you can find on my website: <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>. But honestly, I wish you wouldn't. I hope you just sit back and enjoy the story for what it is: a story.[02:15] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 14 - 17.

We have finished our slow-walk through the first canticle of Dante's masterwork, COMEDY. And we're celebrating by reading the cantos straight through in my English translation--because we must remember, above all else, that Dante's work is a story, a narrative, the journey of one human across the known universe.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I read through INFERNO, Cantos 11 - 13. Sit back and enjoy the story. It's worth every step.[02:05] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 11 - 13

We're continuing our read-through of Dante's INFERNO, the first canticle of COMEDY, as we conclude our long study of this first third (or so) of Dante's medieval poem and contemporary masterpiece.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I read through INFERNO, Cantos 8 - 10: across Styx, before the walls of Dis, into the city of Dis, and to the heretics in their tombs.[01:24] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 8 - 10

We've finished our walk across INFERNO, passage by passage, interpretive knot by interpretive knot. It's now time to see Dante's INFERNO for what it is: a story of one person's walk across the known universe.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I read through INFERNO, Cantos 4 - 7. Sit back and enjoy the story. Because at the end of it all, that's what it is: a story.[02:05] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 4 - 7.

We're not ready to finish our walk across hell. Instead, there's one more thing to do: hear the walk for what it is. A story. A narrative through-line. An adventure. A journey.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore INFERNO, not as a series of interpretive points, but as a whole, as a story, as an incredible product of the human imagination.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[00:55] The point of reading INFERNO through.[03:07] The way each read-through will work for this podcast.[03:37] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 1 - 3.

Can you believe we got here? The final lines of the first canticle of Dante's masterwork, COMEDY.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we climb out of hell to see the most gorgeous things we know: the stars in the heavens above.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[00:58] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXXIV, lines 127 - 139. If you'd like to read long, drop a comment, or print it off, go to my website: <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[02:35] Dante the poet enters Virgil's space: explanatory material.[05:06] Why does Dante the poet so understate the climb out?[06:21] Virgil's explanation of this cavern and the mountain above us stated as supposition because Virgil has no experiential knowledge of this geography.[07:31] INFERNO may end on a point of uncertainty: What is this little stream they follow?[10:12] INFERNO ends with the stars.[11:48] More importantly, INFERNO ends with Virgil's exit from hell.

We've come beyond Satan and are standing in a giant, empty, baronial hall, waiting to get out of hell.But not before our pilgrim, Dante, gets some answers.And from whom would he get those answers if not from Virgil--who remains true to himself to the end of INFERNO, despite all the ribbing and drubbing he's been through.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the next to the last passage of INFERNO: Virgil's explanation time and the very formation of the universe.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:19] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXXIV, lines 94 - 126. If you'd like to read along, drop a comment, or print it off, go to my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:00] The way out of hell is indeed long! But Virgil is still our guide.[05:54] For the first time, Virgil tells the time by the sun's position.[08:20] Dante and Virgil step into irony: an empty baronial hall at the middle of the universe.[09:41] How does Dante "pull himself up by the roots" from hell?[11:34] Dante gets close to a concept of gravity--and perhaps we can understand how Satan is held in hell.[14:19] Virgil offers a geography lesson on the earth's hemispheres by indirectly mentioning Jesus Christ.[17:19] Virgil names the final circle of Cocytus: Judecca, which may be an antisemitic slur.[20:29] The clocks have been set back by twelve hours.[21:55] Virgil tells the story of Satan's fall from heaven.[23:30] Which is absurd heresy. Who then is in the garden of Eden?[26:06] Virgil's myth-making lets Virgil remain Virgil until the end of INFERNO.