Walking With Dante

Guido da Montefeltro speaks!And he speaks with the voice of J. Simon Harris, whose new translation of INFERNO has just been published.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for an interview with Harris about his new translation and then his own reading of Guido's unforgettable, self-serving, and (ultimately) self-damning monologue from this eighth evil pouch in the lower parts of fraud.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:57] My interview with J. Simon Harris on his new translation of INFERNO.[21:07] Harris reads his own translation of Guido's monumental monologue: INFERNO, Canto XXVII, lines 58 - 129.

Guido da Montefeltro is trapped in a tongue of fire in the eighth of the malebolge (evil pouches) that make up the eighth circle of hell, the landscape of fraud. But rather than bemoan his fate, he wants to know the fate of his beloved Romagna, where he was a mercenary for years.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look over this elliptical and opaque passage, which is the pilgrim's response to Guido's question of whether his home is at war or peace these days.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:57] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXVII, lines 31 - 57. If you''d like to read along or drop a comment, please do so on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[05:16] The pilgrim's eager desire is still intact toward the figures in the eighth evil pouch of fraud.[06:32] Two nice details in the opening tercet (or three-line stanza).[09:08] The big word for this passage: "tyrants."[11:03] Rationales for the opaque and elliptical complications in Dante the pilgrim's response.[14:34] The fate of seven cities in Romagna. The peace in 1) Ravenna and 2) Cervia, thanks to the Polenta family.[17:06] The bloodbath at 3) Forlí (and the victory for Guido da Montefeltro) in the late 1200s.[18:48] The defeat of the Ghibellines in 4) Rimini in the late 1200s.[21:58] The fates of 5) Faenza and 6) Imola in 1300.[24:23] The uneasy freedom in 7) Cesena in 1300.[25:46] Something intriguing: Dante is careful to give this history lesson as of 1300, the date of the action (but not the writing) of the poem.[28:08] After all this bloody political history, Dante appeals to Guido's personal vanity.[30:11] Reading the passage once again, all the way back to the start of Canto XXVII.

Ulysses leaves and a second flame shows up in the eighth of the malebolge, the evil pouches of fraud in Dante's INFERNO. Ulysses may be the great tragic figure, but this one is muttering, sputtering. He's a whining politician (and a local Romagna warlord).In other words, we're leaving epic and moving to comedy--as always with Dante.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slow-walk through Dante's incomparable COMEDY. We're down in lower hell, toward the bottom of the eighth (or next-to-the-last) circle of hell. And we're about to meet someone right out of Dante's own world.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:32] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto XXVII, lines 1 - 30. If you'd like to follow along, you can find my translation and even drop a comment on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:40] Two clues about how to judge Ulysses: his upright flame and the "sweet poet" who is Virgil.[08:00] The introduction of a comic figure: Guido da Montefeltro.[12:09] The historical background of the simile about the Sicilian bull.[14:58] Possible interpretations for the simile of the Sicilian bull: infernal speech or meta-poetics?[19:05] The fabulous explanation for how a flame can speak.[21:24] The open acknowledgment that Virgil is speaking in the Lombard dialect.[25:38] Language cues in Guido's first speech.[28:55] Back to the local after the global--as always with Dante.

In the last episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, I built a case against Ulysses without using anything but his own words against him. How do we know Ulysses is damned (other than Dante's placing him in the Inferno)? Where does his culpability lie?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this episode in which I build the case FOR Ulysses. Why does he so stand out among the sinners in hell (and even among the saints above us)? Why has his speech provoked more commentary than any other passage in Dante's COMEDY?Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:42] Once more, my English translation of his speech: Inferno, Canto XXVI, lines 85 - 142. If you'd like to read along or start a discussion about this episode, go to my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[05:30] The seven parts of the case against Ulysses. 1. His monologue demands an interpretation because there are few external cues or clues to help us know how to react.[06:39] 2. Ulysses is a Greek--which means he's part of a world Dante cannot know and desperately wants to explore.[08:54] 3. Ulysses' story is the definition of talent held in check by (literary) virtue: fully original yet anchored by classical texts.[10:35] 4. Ulysses uses the loaded word "folle" (folly)--a word so associated with Dante the pilgrim's journey and Dante the poet's COMEDY.[22:27] 5. We are the children, not of Dante, but of Ulysses, who expresses our hopes and our fears.[24:20] 6. Ulysses exhorts his men to a higher calling, just as Dante exhorts his readers to a higher calling.[25:53] 7. Ulysses' speech is so overwhelming that Dante will need a second figure in this evil pouch (this eighth of the malebolge) to balance the poem.

In the last episode of this podcast, we took apart Ulysses' speech to discover its poetics and uncover some of its historical roots. Now it's time to turn to the interpretation of his words.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I build a case against Ulysses.Yes, he's in hell. But that's not enough for us readers to condemn him, given his rousing rhetoric and gorgeous poetics. What can we learn from his speech that will help us put him far down in hell, as Dante does?Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:46] Once again, my English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXVI, lines 85 - 142. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment on this episode, go to my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[05:09] The eight pieces of our case against Ulysses: 1. Why even make a case against him if he's already in hell? Because he's been turned into a Byronic hero over the years.[06:33] 2. Ulysses is a Greek, enough in itself for Dante to condemn him.[07:46] 3. Ulysses is not forthright about his motivations.[11:04] 4. Ulysses rouses his companions with a speech that begins by quoting one by Julius Caesar in Lucan's PHARSALIA.[13:48] 5. What then are Ulysses' motivations? Perhaps to find immortality without death.[15:32] 6. Ulysses is a tempter toward destruction, like the snake in Eden.[18:20] 7. Ulysses repeatedly uses a word--"picciola"--that minimizes his guilt and the humanity of the men who die with him.[20:42] 8. Ulysses' entire speech is a masterpiece of false counsel toward Virgil, Dante the pilgrim, and, well, us, as we come to sympathize with him.

Finally, Ulysses. We've waited long enough. Here he is in all his glory: a figure out of classical literature, whom Dante couldn't know, whom Dante wants to know, whom Dante admires, whom Dante damns.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Ulysses' monologue in this first of three episodes on this most-written-about passage from INFERNO. In this episode, we'll discuss what Ulysses says, rather than what it means, untying some of the knots to better understand the gorgeous poetry at the root of his speech.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:31] My English translation of this passage: INFERNO, Canto XXVI, lines 85 - 142–but really going all the way back to line 25. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com.">markscarbrough.com.</a>[10:30] Some historical background: the Vivaldi brothers in 1291.[12:21] The structure of Ulysses' monologue: several nine-line segments with one three-line aside.[13:53] Ulysses begins his monologue in the middle of his story.[18:40] Ulysses' real motivation: discontent masquerading as exploration.[22:14] Ulysses' journey around the Mediterranean--in other words, geography as doom.[25:02] Ulysses' rousing speech to his companions.[29:19] Ulysses' three-line aside to Virgil and Dante the pilgrim.[30:28] Ulysses' voyage across the open Atlantic.[34:18] The utter strangeness of the tallest mountain on earth.[38:03] Ulysses' death is oddly the first death in a poem about the dead.

Virgil has introduced Dante the pilgrim to the twinned souls in the tongue of fire: Ulysses and Diomedes. But there's a problem. Who will talk to them? Who is worthy to discuss such illustrious Greeks? Not Dante--that's for sure.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this little back-and-forth between a very impatient pilgrim and his guide, who wins the battle and is willing to both abase and aggrandize himself to finally hear from the great Ulysses.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:34] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXVI, lines 64 - 84. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this podcast, you can do so at my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:35] More about the pilgrim Dante's eagerness--and perhaps a way to humanize his motivation: he wants to know a classical figure that he cannot know.[07:36] The curious use of the word "desire" in this passage--a loaded word in COMEDY, going all the way back to Francesca and Paolo, if not before (and certainly long after this passage).[10:42] Virgil cues us that language and its uses are central to this passage--and perhaps central to the sin of fraud.[13:29] Does Virgil speak Greek? It's a question that has bedeviled commentators for centuries. Probably not--although there may be an added reference to Pentecostal fire here. And Virgil does speak Ulysses' language: epic poetry.[16:14] Despite the pilgrim's eagerness, patience apparently was called for to talk to Ulysses and Diomedes.[17:53] Virgil's flattery and self-aggrandizement.[21:22] Virgil's last line in the canto: contorted syntax in a request for what can't be known.[25:52] György Lukács's claim that Dante wrote the last epic and the first novel, as played out in this passage.

We're in the eighth circle of hell, INFERNO's vast landscape of fraud. And we're way down in the eight of the evil pouches (the malebolge) that make up this most mucky and disgusting place--which holds one of the most noble and revered figures from classical poetry: Ulysses.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we get our first glimpse of Ulysses, trapped inside a tongue of fire with his compatriot, Diomedes. Virgil offers us an explanation for their damnation. We'll explore that bit first before we find out the ways Virgil gets it wrong.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:21] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXVI, lines 49 - 63. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, visit my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:18] What do we make of the pilgrim Dante's eagerness in this passage?[07:04] What can we make of this divided flame and the classical reference to Eteocles?[11:33] Dante does not know Homer's works but he knows about Ulysses (or Odysseus) from many other sources.[13:22] What can we make of the reference to the vendetta theme in this passage?[14:47] What can we make of the reference to the Trojan horse and the insemination metaphor that follows this reference in Dante's poem?[20:41] What can we make of the reference to Daidamia and Achilles?[24:44] What is the Palladium that Ulysses and Diomedes stole?[27:19] Not every source Dante knew condemned Ulysses. Take Horace and Cicero, for examples.[29:19] Christian neo-Platonists used Ulysses as an allegory for the soul's journey, an interpretation Dante knew well.[32:13] Rereading the passage: Inferno, Canto XXVI, lines 49 - 63.

Our first glimpse into the eighth of the evil pouches (the malebolge) that make up the giant circle of fraud in Dante's INFERNO.Except nothing's as clear as it should be. Two complex metaphors, a bumbling pilgrim, and a useless Virgil: it all adds up to the sort of interpretive fun we expect from Dante.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slow-walk with Dante across hell and beyond. We're gearing up for one of the best sinners of hell. And it's proving challenging from the start.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:13] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXVI, lines 25 - 48. If you'd like to read along or even comment on this episode, go to my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:41] The first metaphor: the rustic fellow, watching the fireflies at the summer solstice.[08:14] The second metaphor: Elijah's flaming chariot, leaving Elisha behind.[10:45] These metaphors are very curious. How exactly are the comparisons being made?[13:26] Two more Biblical references in this passage: from James 3 and its condemnation of the tongue, as well as Acts 2 and the tongues of fire at Pentecost.[15:48] Why does Dante the pilgrim almost fall into the 8th evil pouch? And what is Virgil's role here?[18:46] The peasant at the start of this passage is an echo of the one at the start of Inferno, Canto XXIV. Might this link be thematic?[21:48] Reading all of Canto XXVI so far to show the fractures in the text.

Dante and his guide, Virgil, leave the seventh of the evil pouches (the malebolge) of fraud by means of a rocky scramble. Then the poet stops and drops into a short discussion of poetic theory. He's coming to understand how he has to write his own masterwork, COMEDY. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this short passage from INFERNO, sandwiched between two tour-de-force performances in the poem.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:52] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXVI, lines 13 - 24. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode or passage, go to my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:11] The pilgrim has to climb the stairs up from the seventh pouch, which anticipates the greater climb ahead on Mount Purgatory.[06:20] The pilgrim and his guide are strolling along and scrambling, too. Is that disconnect an allegory for the passage ahead?[08:39] Dante the poet always comes back to geography as the "ground" of his story.[11:38] Dante's first notion of his poetics: pulling the reins on talent so it doesn't run in front of virtue.[15:17] Dante's second notion of his poetics: human suffering disciplines talent.[18:15] Is Dante's discussion of his poetics anticipating Ulysses just ahead of us? Or Mount Purgatory, far ahead of us?

Hi, I'm Mark Scarbrough and we've been walking with Dante for a long time. We're doing it slowly, a passage at a time, and we've come through some of the roughest bits of INFERNO, passages that require a great deal of classical learning and poetic know-how.This episode is my attempt to step back and get our bearings again. Why are we taking this walk? Why should we wrestle with Dante's masterwork, COMEDY? And how does Dante make sure his work remains readable?Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[00:53] I've upgraded my website to offer you the ability to write comments on these episodes! We can start conversations among others listening![01:54] Dante always moves the fence--and he's doing it with this "sin" of fraud.[08:31] Dante returns to the story of the walk again and again.[10:49] Dante is struggling to figure out how the past fits with the present--as are we![16:44] Dante is always gaming the poem.[18:38] Here's a review of the plot of COMEDY so far.

We have spent a long time with the thieves in the seventh of the malebolge or the evil pouches of fraud's eighth circle of hell. It's time for a retrospective!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I bring more questions than answers to this most curious pit of hell. What's going on with all these metamorphoses? Where's our pilgrim in all this? And our poet? And what's truth, what's made up, and what's the difference?Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:41] The entire passage in my English translation of the seventh of the fraud's malebolge in INFERNO: Canto XXIV, line 61 through Canto XXVI, line 12.[16:46] A confession: maybe no interpretation of this pouch can be satisfying.[18:00] The style here is prolix, almost wordy, not concise as the early cantos of INFERNO.[19:49] The pilgrim functions as not much more than an observer in this evil pouch.[21:26] The passage moves from inflicted sorrow to internalized sorrow.[22:07] The metaphor of burning paper involves white and black.[23:01] Cacus is the dividing mechanism in the passage. Is that important?[24:43] The passage moves from an inchoate cry to a secure prophetic cry.[25:19] The poet is always present in this pouch.[26:12] The poet's confession deflates his earlier bravado.[27:25] Throughout this evil pouch, there's a loss of self--even of the poet's.[28:30] The final metamorphosis is putting real people into your imagined landscape.

Dante the poet has finally wrapped up the pilgrim's time in the seventh of the evil pouches, the "malebolge" that make up the eighth circle of INFERNO, the great expanse of fraud. Our thieves have gone off stage and we're left with both an uncertain poet and a very certain prophet who sees Florence's destruction in the offing.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the final passage among the thieves, a passage that stretches over the canto break from INFERNO XXV to canto XXVI.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:36] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXV, Line 142 - Canto XXVI, Line 12. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com.">markscarbrough.com.</a>[03:51] The final revelation of the metamorphosizing thieves--which raises more questions than it answers.[06:53] An overview of the identities of the six thieves we've met in the seventh of fraud's malebolge.[09:35] Four (or five) reasons Dante the poet may have been so cagey about the identities of the five Florentine thieves.[17:11] Dante the poet slips a confession about his own writing into the end of Canto XXV.[19:15] The denunciation of Florence: the final metamorphosis of the pilgrim into the poet-prophet.[20:44] The dream of Florence's destruction--and a question about what "Prato" means in the text.[25:05] The final metamorphosis is sorrow.[28:43} The opening of Canto XXV is actually setting us up for the arrival of one of the great sinners of hell just ahead of us.

We've already explored the source material behind the third metamorphosis in the pit of the thieves, the seventh of the malebolge in the great landscape of fraud. Now let's talk through the implications in this passage.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we run from the mundane to the meta-insane with this most complicated metamorphosis, in which Dante the poet finally busts up the camaraderie he's had with his forefather poets and, well, becomes his own literary father. Or is scared to become him. Or wants to despite himself.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:52] My rough English translation of this passage: Inferno, Canto XXV, lines 79 - 141. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[05:19] Our ten implications from this passage. One, there's gay panic here, too, as in the second metamorphosis in this pit.[06:23] Two, the metaphors are fully integrated into the passage--which might indicate a developmental hypothesis among the three metamorphoses in this pit.[09:45] Three, this is the first punishment that would be turned into more stories for all of eternity.[12:48] Four, this metamorphosis has normative rules--as does modern, Western narrative.[14:34] Five, does the punishment fit the crime in this pit?[19:11] Six, Lucan has been in this pit from the start--and for good reason, given the thematics of his PHARSALIA.[21:16] Seven, the camaraderie of Limbo is busted.[22:28] Eight, can you finally swap places with your literary fathers (or forebearers)?[23:17] Nine, does this pit express the fear of losing your identity to your literary fathers (or forebearers)?[25:19] Ten, language finally breaks down into soliloquy, not dialogue, which sets us up for the next great sinner of hell, just ahead of us.[28:34] A coda: remember, it's still the early 1300s, not the postmodern moment.

We've reached the third and final metamorphosis in the seventh of the evil pouches, the malebolge that make up the eighth circle of hell in INFERNO.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Lucan, Ovid, and Dante's own masterwork COMEDY to uncover the roots of this complicated yet clear passage among the thieves in hell. Identity theft is not just a modern problem. It's a medieval one, too.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:23] My English translation of this passage: Inferno, Canto XXV, lines 79 - 141. If you'd like to read along, you can find it on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[06:51] The passage begins, not with narrative, but with metaphor.[11:40] The third metamorphosis among the thieves in the seventh of the malebolge is a blasphemous inversion of creation and procreation.[13:50] The passage is rife with references to Lucan's PHARSALIA. And rife with erotic implications, too.[17:23] The references to Lucan's PHARSALIA (Book IX, lines 761 - 804).[22:28] The references to Ovid's METAMORPHOSES: Arethusa (Book V, lines 572 - 641) and Cadmus (Book IV, lines 563 - 603).[29:04] A comparison of Ovid's Cadmus story with Dante's metamorphosis.[33:44] Language is destroyed and created as the last act of this metamorphosis.[34:50] The passage ends with a bit of dialogue--which doesn't tell us much.[37:36] Reading the passage (INFERNO, Canto XXV, lines 79 - 141) one more time.

In the last episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, I helped you understand the sources and textual problems in this second metamorphosis from the seventh of the evil pouches (the malebolge) in INFERNO's great ring of fraud. Two become one, two beasts become one, and both become nothing.Now let's talk through the implications of the passage and follow out some of its premises and conclusions. We're about to get very meta. But you knew that already.Here are the episodes of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:49] Once again, as in the last episode, my English translation of this passage: INFERNO, Canto XXV, lines 34 - 78. If you'd like to read along, you can find this translation on my website: <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>[04:43] Six implications from this passage. First, gay panic.[06:58] Second, questions about the nature of the self as a created thing.[10:06] Third, questions about what exactly is fusing here.[11:50] Fourth, theological blasphemy.[14:37] Fifth, literary blasphemy.[17:30] Sixth, Dante the poet's fears exposed.

First, a guy burns up, turns to ashes, comes back to life, and prophesies the future. Then a centaur run by with snakes and dragons on his back. And if that wasn't enough, now one of the most daring metamorphoses of all.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we watch the second metamorphosis in the seventh evil pouch in the sub-circles of the thieves. This passage is so complex that this episode is the first of two on it. Poor Angello. He never knew what hit him.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:59] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXV, lines 34 - 78. If you'd like to read along, you can find this translation on my website: markscarbrough.com.[05:50] Questions about dialogue and discourse in Canto XXV (as opposed to the longer, fuller conversations and speeches of Canto XXIV).[10:53] The pilgrim Dante silences Virgil--and maybe the poet Dante, too. This is one of the many silencings in the seventh of the evil pouches (the "malebolge").[14:17] Dante the poet steps out to address the reader--thereby silencing me (!) to make a reality claim for these events.[19:20] Ovid's story from METAMORPHOSES that forms the basis for this metamorphosis in COMEDY. It's an erotic tale about the danger of the beast with two backs.[27:06] The metaphors Dante uses to explain the metamorphosis he lifts from Ovid.[30:09] Who are these guys in the seventh of the evil pouches? The early commentators know for sure--but maybe they miss the point.[34:46] A final hint of nihilism at the end of this most incredible metamorphosis.

Vanni Fucci has run off, wrapped up in snakes. But he's now just prey for Cacus, a centaur who arrives toting lots of snakes and even a dragon. Can it get any more dramatic?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this strange passage in which we get a centaur who doesn't look much like his classical representations in Virgel, Ovid, and Livy--passages in which he's not even a centaur! This passage may explain the insistence on poetics throughout the seventh evil pouch, the seventh of the malebolge that make up the eighth circle of fraud in hell.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:44] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXV, lines 17 - 33. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:45] Cacus is a centaur but not like any of the other centaurs we've seen.[05:51] What does Cacus look like? There's a distinct tie between him and Vanni Fucci.[08:13] Virgil steps up to play the guide and explain who Cacus is.[10:45] Too bad Virgil's explanation bears only a passing resemblance to his version of Cacus in THE AENEID![14:55] Dante the poet is often seen as "coming out of the closet" in the seventh of the malebolge and admitting himself a literary thief. But all medieval poetry is based on theft. It's how the authority structure gets built. We'd expect Dante to be nothing less than a literary thief.[17:35] Rather than an admission from the poet, this passage may provide us with a clue about his art: poetry = theft + metamorphosis.

Vanni Fucci has given his big speech, complete with a clear statement of his crime/sin and an opaque statement of the future of Dante's friends and family (and even the poet himself) in Florence.But we're not done with Fucci. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for his final moments in Dante's INFERNO. Fucci gives God a vulgar hand gesture, is wrapped up in snakes, and runs off, leaving our poet with the last laugh.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:21] My English translation of this passage: INFERNO, Canto XXV, lines 1 - 16. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[02:57] Vanni Fucci gives God the sign of the figs. What does that mean?[06:07] Dante reverses the Genesis curse as the snakes become his friends.[08:26] Dante the poet curses Pistoia. Why is the poet so present in the seventh of the evil pouches, the malebolge of fraud?[09:56] Dante continues his tour of Italian cities in Inferno's eighth circle of fraud.[12:50] Dante makes a reference to Capaneus--and thus, to his own text, Inferno.[14:50] Fucci flees--and we're left with a question: Is Comedy a revenge fantasy?[18:21] I read the entire Vanni Fucci episode: from Inferno, Canto XXIV, line 79 to Canto XXV, line 16.

We have watched a sinner burn up from a snakebite and reconstitute right in front of the pilgrim Dante's eyes. But who is this damned guy? The answer to that question is as complicated as it gets.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the revelation of the sinner (Vanni Fucci), the problems with the historical record, and his sin (theft, although maybe not). Vanni Fucci comes shrouded in historical ambiguities. And he comes into INFERNO comes hauling behind him a giant prophecy about Dante's fate in exile.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:30] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXIV, lines 121 - 151. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:28] The revelation of who this is: Vanni Fucci.[09:40] What does Dante the pilgrim want to know? And did Dante the poet actually know Vanni Fucci?[14:09] The first part of Vanni Fucci's reply: shame.[17:31] The second part of Vanni Fucci's reply: the confession of his crime.[24:13] The third part of Vanni Fucci's reply: the (ostensible) "prophecy" of the Black/White Guelph war in Tuscany that will lead to the poet's exile.[28:15] Three points about this prophecy: its metamorphoses and metaphorics.[31:21] One final point about Fucci's prophecy: it's the last of four such prophecies given to Dante the pilgrim in INFERNO (Ciacco's in Canto VI, Farinata's in Canto X, Brunetto Latini's in Canto XV, and Fucci's here).[33:51] The final revelation of Fucci's motives: to make the pilgrim suffer. Nobody gets out of hell unscathed.

Our pilgrim, Dante, and his guide, Virgil, have come down to a place where they can see into the darkness of the seventh of the malebolge, the evil pouches that make up the eighth circle of fraud in hell.And what a sight they see! A pit of writhing snakes, one sinner bitten, then incinerated and reconstituted, right before their eyes.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slow-walk through Dante's masterwork COMEDY. Hell is about to get wild. The poet, too!Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:32] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXIV, lines 97 - 120. If you'd like to read along, you can find this translation on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:56] A little pep talk for reading on in Dante's COMEDY.[05:50] The first snake bite: right between the shoulder blades of an unknown sinner.[10:29] The soul burns up--and Dante the poet burns up texts in a conflagration of literary allusions.[15:31] What's with the "o" and the "i" bit? Four possible interpretations. (And there are of course probably many more.)[21:12] The phoenix as a symbol of the resurrection--but here?[25:03] A final metaphor to explain the sinner's incineration and rebirth: demonic possession or a medical condition?[29:37] The poet steps out from behind the curtain to speak--and only complicates matters further.

Dante the pilgrim has wanted a good, close look into the seventh of the evil pouches, the seventh of the malebolge that make up the great landscape of fraud in the eighth circle of hell. And boy, does he get what he wants!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as the pilgrim and his guide, Virgil, slip down the wall and catch a glimpse of a nightmare of snakes, a tangle of them--that almost rivals the tangle of literary allusions the poet makes in a mere twelve lines.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:08] My English translation of this passage: Inferno, Canto XXIV, lines 79 - 96. If you'd like to read along, you can find it on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:08] Delay, delay, delay--it's the growing tantric structure of COMEDY.[08:47] The seventh malebolge, evil pouch: the snake pit of the thieves.[10:31] But there's another theft afoot: Dante's. Literary theft. In a mere twelve lines, the poet steals as many bits from other works as he possibly can.

Dante is still out of breath because of the arduous climb out of the sixth of the malebolge of fraud. But he doesn't want Virgil to know it!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as the pilgrim Dante hears something he can't understand and wants to get a lot closer to this unintelligible voice. He and Virgil cross the bridge to climb down a bit on the wall and peer into the seventh pit of the eighth circle of hell.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:17] Virgil is the character in flux in COMEDY. Why and how?[05:24] The passage for this episode: Inferno, Canto XXIV, lines 61 - 78. If you'd like to see this passage, you can find it on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com.">markscarbrough.com.</a>[06:56] The landscape may be becoming more rugged although the bridges across the pits of fraud are becoming more architecturally sound.[09:11] Dante's words-even when he's pretending--make more sense than the words of some others in the pit.[11:13] Who is this voice that is not capable of making sense?[13:26] Notes on a textual problem in the passage: "ad ire" v. "ad ira."[17:05] The narrative engine has slowed down dramatically.[19:38] Dante makes clear he has to be an eyewitness to whatever is happening in the seventh of the malebolge.[20:45] Virgil speaks in aphorisms (if perhaps ironic ones). Doing so is part of the structure of COMEDY.

Dante the pilgrim has gotten up to the top of the crag and out of the sixth of the malebolge, the evil pouches that make up the giant eighth circle of hell, the landscape of fraud. The poor pilgrim is out of breath, but Virgil has got no sympathy for him!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we find perhaps a new role for Virgil in COMEDY and discover that the poet is playing more games with our minds than we ever imagined.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:27] My English translation of this passage: Inferno, Canto XXIV, lines 46 - 60. If you'd like to read along, you can find these lines on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:15] Virgil's reprimand of the pilgrim: Don't be lazy if you want to be famous. A reminder from the poet to himself?[10:57] Virgil introduces the mind/body split into the passage--and anticipates the games ahead.[13:00] Virgil begins his soon-to-be incessant command of "hurry up." Is there a change here in Virgil's role in the poem.[17:41] There's a long ladder that must be climbed. What it is?[22:34] Dante, the hypocrite? Maybe. But more than than, the poet is playing a very smart metatextual game with his readers.

Dante and Virgil have to get out of the sixth evil pouch, the pocket of the hypocrites. And the only way out is up!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we set out on this epic climb from the sixth of the malebolge in the giant landscape of fraud, the eighth circle of INFERNO. Virgil is a sure guide. But it's all Dante's effort. And that might say more about COMEDY than we first imagine.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:48] My English translation of this passage: Inferno, Canto XXIV, lines 22 - 45. If you'd like to read along, you can find my translation on my website, <a href="markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:39] A couple of translation issues: an aphorism and an image.[07:33] The climb out of the sixth evil pouch is because of a "felix culpa," a fortunate fall: the ruins of hell are the way of the sixth of the malebolge.[09:58] Virgil may exhibit the four cardinal virtues in this passage. What can we make of that?[12:48] More corporeal problems with Virgil.[17:28] Compare this climb out of the sixth of the malebolge with the climb out of the third evil pouch in Canto XIX.[22:36] The passage is full of enjambment, a moment of poetic freedom.