Walking With Dante

Our pilgrim stands on the brink of the flames. Virgil has to use every rhetorical trick in his bag to get Dante to move . . . and the only thing that works in Beatrice.In so doing, our poet Dante attempts his first run at defining this desire that is driving him up into the heavens. But he does so in a most curious way: by bringing up Geryon, the monster of fraud.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we stand with our pilgrim before the very real chance that the poem may catch on fire around us!If you'd like to help with the many fees for this podcast, please do so <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">at this PayPal link</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:26] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 19 - 48. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment so we can continue the conversation, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:07] Virgil's tight rhetorical argument for getting in the flames.[11:35] The beast of fraud and the problem of credence.[15:47] The final push: Beatrice.[18:12] Dante's first attempt to solve the problem of desire in his theological context.[23:19] Our pilgrim, infantilized--and ready for the flames with an apple.[26:02] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 19 - 48.

Our pilgrim has come to an impasse: the flames of lust. There's no way forward except to step into them. He must finally feel the sufferings that he has witnessed over the course of COMEDY to this point.This suffering comes after a discussion of the craft of poetry, after a unifying vision of the world, and after Dante's own memories of both seeing people be burned alive as capital punishment and being sentenced to the same fate if he returns from exile.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin the first lines of the most important canto in PURGATORIO.Consider supporting this podcast by offering a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">using this PayPal link</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:53] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 1 - 18. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:52] The unifying, globalizing view to begin this transitional canto.[08:36] The global, totalizing perspective v. the confusion of personal references in the passage.[11:52] The difficulties of handling multiple perspectives in narratives.[16:29] The global perspective v. Dante's personal memories and experience.[24:00] The beatitude in the passage: "Blessed are the pure in heart."[25:42] The beatitudes in all of PURGATORIO . . . and the missing one of the seven from the Gospel of Matthew.[28:26] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 1 - 18.

As we pass Arnaut Daniel, the last penitent soul of Mount Purgatory, let's look back over the discussions of poetry and lust in the seventh (and even sixth) terrace of the mountain.Dante has laid out a fairly straightforward theory of poetry through his encounters with three poets. Are these in a logical progression? Are they causally linked, not just sequentially?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for some final thoughts (at least for now) about poetry, lust, and how we humans make meaning.If you'd like to support this work, please consider donating <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">through this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:50] A progression of poets: Forese Donati, Bonagiunta Orbicciani, and Guido Guinizzelli.[07:20] Francesca was indeed an ambivalent figure in INFERNO--but not now, when we read through the gravitational lensing of COMEDY.[12:56] Simone Weil claims that the hope of religion (or for her, Christianity) is to turn violence into suffering, which can then be interpreted.

Guido Guinizzelli has pointed to another figure in the purifying flames of Purgatory's seventh terrace. And now he steps forward, one of the greatest troubadour poets, a model of high-brow poetry and a writer of the sort of lusty verses that led to Francesca's downfall.Arnaut Daniel breaks COMEDY in some ways. He speaks in (a version of) medieval Provençal. But he also gives the final triplicate rhyme by any penitent on the mountain--and these words sum up the action of poetry.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the final words from any penitent in PURGATORIO.Support this work <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">by using this PayPal link</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:32] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 136 - 148. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by dropping a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[02:56] Lines in Provençal--that is, French poetry, the very thing that was a catalyst for Francesca's fatal choice.[04:51] Ornate rhetoric that leads to one of the most renowned troubadour poets of the Middle Ages.[09:02] The possibility of complex irony in Arnaut's speech.[11:07] The final triplicate rhyme from any penitent in PURGATORIO: folly, power, sorrow.[14:42] Refining: the action of penance.[16:46] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 136 - 148.

Dante has found his poetic father, Guido Guinizzelli, burning in the fires of lust on the final terrace of Mount Purgatory. Our pilgrim-poet has praised his poetic father for the sweet art that will last.Then Guinizzelli takes the discussion further, morphing that sweetness into truth, offering a metaphysical meaning to a physical sensation. He then proceeds to speak exactly in this sort of poetry, which our poet Dante picks up and uses to conclude this fascinating conversation.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this second and final conversation about the nature of the new poetry and Dante's synthesis of traditions into COMEDY.Please support this work with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">using this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:28] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 115 - 135. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[05:00] Corporeal and airy manifestations of the body.[07:55] Girard de Borneil, having been praised, now dismissed.[10:25] High and low poetry v. Dante's synthesis.[12:29] Unpacking too-tight lines about poetry.[15:00] The sweet morphed into the truth.[19:44] Dante's possible hesitation over his own poetic fame and his wild invocation to the truth of it.[23:53] Guinizzelli's validation and expansion into metaphoric space.[28:01] The ending of the conversation: a great example of the sweet new style.[29:50] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 115 - 135.

Guido Guinizzelli has named himself and our pilgrim, Dante, is aghast.He gets lost in a classical simile that almost loses its sense, only to finally find his love for this poetic father and express himself in the straightfoward, new style from which his own poetry was born.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through another complicated but ultimately satisfying passage on the seventh terrace of Mount Purgatory among the lustful penitents.Support this podcast by offering a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend through <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:22] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 94 - 114. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please find this episode's entry on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:21] Guido Guinizzelli substituted a philosophical ideal for feudal love.[07:06] A ridiculously complex simile in the midst of a discussion of the sweet new style.[11:18] Dante finds a father, perhaps one of the goals of COMEDY.[13:06] The pilgrim backs off from homoeroticism with feudal pledges.[15:50] Guinizzelli gets Dante's footprint that even Lethe won't wash away.[17:24] Poetry may ironically offer a hint of its immortality in its materiality.[21:47] Rereading PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 94 - 114.

We finally come to know who has been our spokesperson for the lustful penitents: Guido Guinizzelli, perhaps the most important Italian poet working before Dante.Guinizzelli explains who the penitents are by using two classical allusions and even making up words to describe their sin, in the ways that poets always manipulate and even invent language.This passage is a shocking example of Dante's changing notion of homosexuality. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through its rather high, ornate rhetoric to discover that in fact there's more fusion that just marriage, than two become one. In fact, our poet is fusing his poetry with Guinizzelli's.Consider underwriting the many fees for this podcast with a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend by using <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:52] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 67 - 93. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the comment section for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:10] Why are the mountaineer penitents gawking? What makes them feel rough and rugged?[07:28] The pilgrim Dante receives a beatitude from another poet in the borderland that is Purgatory itself.[09:14] Julius Caesar is slurred as "Queen."[13:20] Heterosexuality is the fusion of male and female: "And the two shall become one."[17:04] Guido Guinizzelli identifies himself, although he's been in the words of this passage all along.[21:26] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 67 - 93.

We've seen the two crowds of the lustful on the seventh terrace of Mount Purgatory and we clearly identified them in the last passage (and on the last episode of this podcast).But Dante the pilgrim didn't know who they were. He's stuck, confused. He then seeks to break out his manuscript and rule his paper to find his way into the shocking revelation that love in the body can exist in more than one form.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this small passage on the seventh terrace, sandwiched between the two big revelations and before the last major discussion of poetry on Mount Purgatory.Please help underwrite the many fees of this podcast with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend <a href="https://amzn.to/42nBEXj">using this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:51] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 49 - 66. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by dropping a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:34] Reading and interpreting through the passage for its metaphoric, rhetorical, and thematic knots.[14:58] One question from the passage: Why is the body so crucial to this discussion?[17:03] A second question: What about this passage brings up the mechanics of writing?[19:29] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 49 - 66.

Our pilgrim, Dante, may have opened his mouth to answer how he got to where he is in his corporeal body, but he's interrupted by something completely unexpected: a group of people, moving the opposite direction of everyone else on Mount Purgatory. He's witnessing the moment when love moves the fence. These are the homosexuals on the doorstep of heaven.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I work through the passage that was the inception of this entire podcast and is the best illustration of my thesis that love remakes the world.To support this podcast and underwrite its many fees, please consider a one-time donation or small monthly stipend <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">using this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:38] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 25 - 48. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:32] The passage is an interruption of people (à la Cavalcante with Farinata) and of tenses: It moves consistently into the narrative present tense.[05:22] The passage begins with an emphasis on identification and novelty.[06:34] Moving to the left, rather than the right, the new penitents reenact a moment of Christian fellowship and of Francesca's downfall. [09:48] The first revolutionary simile: ants who nuzzle each other.[12:25] The penitents cry out to explain who they are.[15:34] The second revolutionary simile: cranes who migrate in opposite directions.[18:08] Dante may rewrite Jeremiah's prophecy.[20:04] Dante definitely reclassifies homosexuality--which may offer even more explosive implications than he intends.[25:28] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 25 - 48.

The pilgrim, Dante, Virgil, and Statius walk on the narrow ledge between the flames of lust and the drop into the abyss. The penitents in the flames notice that the pilgrim's body makes the flames of lust more colorful . . . the work of any medieval poet in the troubadour tradition when it comes to love!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we encounter the first penitents in the flames of lust.To support this podcast with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend, please use <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:26] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 1 - 24. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment on this passage to continue the conversation with me, please find its entry on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:17] Three comments on PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI as a whole: It provides the poet open space for much discussion, it is part of a larger mirroring with the three upper circles of INFERNO, and it is in direct conversation with both INFERNO, Canto XXVI, and INFERNO, Canto V.[07:34] Virgil's offers only one line in this canto just before a bit of time-telling in the passage.[11:50] The pilgrim doesn't have a "sham" or "fictitious" body on the terrace of lust.[16:46] Near the flames of lust, we get a hint of the poet's expansive geographical knowledge.[22:30] The passage may already be about the craft of poetry.[25:24] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 1 - 24.

Dante, Statius, and Virgil arrive on the seventh terrace of Mount Purgatory filled with the flames of lust.The pilgrim must make his precarious way between those burning fires and the abyss just to his right, a narrow path that may give us a clue to the poet's own fears of lust.This passage is a grab-bag of ideas, hymns, references, and emotions. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore it more fully.Please support this podcast with a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">using this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:23] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 109 - 139. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by dropping a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:55] Three curiosities: a double meaning at line 109, the flaming geography, and the parallels in INFERNO, Canto XXV.[08:13] Three surprising moments in the passage: a bit of humor, a glancing reference to an Aristotelean mean, and a direction connection with our poet.[12:21] A hymn for chastity and a reference to Shadrach, Mishach, and Abednego from Daniel 3.[16:56] Three examples of chastity . . . except the third seems smudged or inaccurate.[23:08] Penance as a medieval medical remedy.[24:19] PURGATORIO, the most human canto, about human development and art, all connected to nature.[26:21] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 109 - 139.

Statius concludes his discourse on embryology by finally answering the pilgrim Dante's question about how souls can take on material attributes in the afterlife . . . and by gently correcting both Virgil's incomplete answer to the question in this canto and Virgil's larger explanation of the soul's journey after death in THE AENEID.This passage is justifiably complicated. Dante's imaginative and intellectual powers are on full display. It's easy to be lost in the details but there are wonders afoot, including the idea that there may be an allegorical reading of the passage that concerns the afterlife of a work of art.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we finish up Statius's discourse on the soul's material attributes in the afterlife before we ascend to the seventh and final terrace of Mount Purgatory.To support this podcast: <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">use this PayPal link</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:49] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 79 - 108. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by dropping a comment on this episode, please find it on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:25] Statius fuses classical imagery (the fates) and Augustinian thought.[10:02] The soul miraculously but of its own accord falls into the afterlife. Wait, what? And only now knows its path in the underworld?[13:03] The formative power of the soul is intact after death.[14:57] The afterlife soul is a fabrication of the air.[16:52] Statius gently refines Virgil's unsatisfactory answers to the pilgrim Dante's question.[18:28] The souls in the afterlife can enact their desires, just as they do in the world of the living.[20:51] Statius also gently refines Virgil's discussion of souls in the afterlife in THE AENEID.[24:24] Is this passage about the afterlife of poetry (or art), too?[27:12] Rereading all of Statius's discourse: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 34 - 108.

Statius goes on to the second part of his discussion of human embryology by following the fetus through its developmental phases until it finally has a brain. At this point, the prime mover knows it's capable of reason and so breathes a new spirit into it . . . to make it capable of self-reflection.This passage is astounding discourse on developmental embryology as understood by medievals via Aristotle but may also be a complex allegory for the creation of poetry.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work our way through the middle bits of Statius's discourse.If you'd like to help support this podcast, please consider a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend. You can donate <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">via this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:35] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 52 - 78. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me about this passage, please find the entry for this episode on my website: <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:37] Following the logic of Statius's discourse on embryology.[19:46] Three conclusions about reproduction and human development via Statius (and the poet Dante).[23:15] Embryology as an allegory for the craft of poetry.[25:53] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 52 - 78.

Dante the pilgrim has asked the pressing question of how immaterial souls can take on material attributes like leanness.To answer that, Virgil has offered a couple of unsatisfying answers, then turned the lecture over to the redeemed Statius . . . who begins by discussing human digestion. As understood via Aristotle, Aquinas, and more, food is purified into blood which then coagulates into a fetus.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the opening stanzas of Statius's remarkable and poetic description of human embryology. Dante is nothing if not surprising at every turn.If you'd like to help support this podcast by underwriting its many fees, please consider a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend, <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">using this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:04] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 34 - 51. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:13] Statius begins with two important words that signal the poetics of his lecture: "lume" ("light") at line 36 and "bello" ("beautiful") at line 43.[07:48] Dante the poet cribs his understanding of digestion from several sources and sees digestion itself as the foundation of human reproduction.[16:51] Reproduction begins as the mingling of female blood with purified, male blood.[19:26] It then continues through coagulation and vivification.[22:43] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 34 - 51.

Our pilgrim, Dante, has asked a very pressing question: How can shades grow thin? How does the immaterial act like the material in the afterlife?Virgil has given the pilgrim the confidence to ask this question. So Virgil takes the first crack at an answer. Problem is, he offers a whole unsatisfying answer and then turns the discussion over to Statius.This passage is a curious introduction to Statius's coming discourse on embryology. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the emotional vibe established before we get to the intellectual and doctrinal answer ahead.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:42] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 22 - 33. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:19] Curiosities in the medieval Florentine in lines 22 - 27.[06:33] Virgil's two inadequate answers to the pilgrim's question.[13:11] The wound of the intellect and their relation to poetry.[17:35] Statius and the limitations of Virgil.[20:04] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 22 - 33.

Dante the pilgrim, Virgil, and Statius begin the ever-quickening ascent to the final terrace of Mount Purgatory. As he climbs, the pilgrim has a question about the gluttons on the previous terrace . . . but it's really a question that's been brewing since almost the opening of COMEDY itself.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the opening lines of PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, a canto that was often treated as a scientific treatise in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance but that is now too often dismissed as a medieval curiosity: Statius's wild discussion of embryology.If you'd like to support this work, please consider a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend to underwrite the many hosting, licensing, editing, streaming, and royalty fees <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">by using this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:29] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 1 - 21. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:33] PURGATORIO's Canto XXV is a bridge between gluttony and lust, as well as a bridge between two important discussions of poetry.[07:04] We get a brief glimpse of Jerusalem as we hurry up the stairs.[09:42] Is there symbolism or even allegory in the notion that the narrow stairs "unpairs" the travelers?[11:48] The pilgrim is a baby stork--he wants to fly but still needs parental protection.[15:30] The pilgrim Dante finally asks the central problem of corporeality that has troubled COMEDY almost since its beginning.[18:43] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 1 - 21.

Virgil, Statius, and our pilgrim, Dante, head up to the seventh and final terrace of Mount Purgatory.During the climb, Statius engages in a complicated and fascinating discourse on embryology (at least as understood in Dante's medieval learning).Then we find ourselves standing before a wall of flames with the lustful penitents walking, singing, and shouting as they burn. We discover there are two types of lustful penitents, before our pilgrim and his two guides have to step into the fire.It's the first time our pilgrim has felt bodily pain over any of the terrors of hell or the penances of the mountain. He comes out on the other side and Virgil declares that our pilgrim is now his own guide, no longer in need of Virgil at all.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this surprising read of the final terrace of PURGATORIO.If you'd like to help defray the many costs of this podcast, please consider a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">using this PayPal link right here</a>.[01:35] My rough English translation of the three cantos: PURGATORIO, Cantos XXV - XXVII.

Virgil, Statius, and our pilgrim, Dante, walk along in contemplation, together but also alone with their thoughts.They're interrupted by the angel at the stairs who shows them the way up to the final terrace of Mount Purgatory.Our pilgrim loses his sight but gains precision in his other sense. And our poet gains the daring to rewrite one of Jesus's beatitudes.If you'd like to help underwrite the many costs of this podcast, including, hosting, licensing, streaming, and research fees, please consider a one-time donation or even a very small monthly stipend <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">at this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:31] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 130 - 154. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation about this passage, please find its entry on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:48] The growing importance of the contemplative life.[07:46] The color in the holy glare (red) and the point of this journey (peace).[11:07] The "blind" simile of the May breeze at dawn.[16:11] The rewritten and tricky beatitude that ends Canto XXIV.[21:22] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 130 - 154.

Forese Donati has passed on ahead of our pilgrim Dante and his two guides, Virgil and Statius. They now need to walk on along the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory to find the stairs up to the last level.They soon come across the second tree on the terrace (or perhaps just the second tree that they’ve seen!). This tree proclaims itself a seedling from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden.Dante and his companions appear a bit shook up as the tree offers them a classical and a Biblical example of gluttony.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our exit from the sixth terrace of Purgatory and talk about the solace of ceremonial repetition.If you’d like to donate to help support the many hosting, licensing, streaming, and editing fees associated with this podcast, please consider giving a one-time contribution or a small monthly stipend <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">using this PayPal link right here</a>. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:34] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 100 - 129. If you’d like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please find the entry for it on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:47] Unpacking the first four tercets (ll. 100 - 111) and asking five questions about the second tree on Purgatory’s sixth terrace of gluttony.[12:30] The possible regression to childish desire as a form of penance on this terrace.[16:05] The second tree on the terrace, a seedling from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden.[24:29] The classical and Biblical examples of gluttony: centaurs and Gideon’s army.[28:53] Ceremonial repetition as solace.[33:38] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 100 - 129

We've finished the giant conversation between the pilgrim Dante and Forese Donati, complete with its interruption by the shade of the poet Bonagiunta of Lucca.Let's look back over the entire scope of the conversation to discover its construction, its architecture, and the way meaning is made and moves through the words.We'll start by reading the entire thing in my English language translation. Then we'll move on to a couple of small points, followed by some much larger implications of the construction and imaginative landscape of this interchange.If you'd like to help support this podcast, please consider giving a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">using this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:06] Reading the entire conversation between Forese Donati and the pilgrim Dante in PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, line 40, to Canto XXIV, line 99.[13:27] The conversation starts and ends with references to shores.[14:51] The pilgrim Dante is not cleansing his sins in this walk up Mount Purgatory.[17:08] There are three balanced prophecies in this conversation.[20:54] The conversation is constructed from friendship to poetic craft to chivalric exaltation.[24:55] This conversation may represent Dante's attempt at political and personal reconciliation.

We've come to the end of the long conversation between Forese Donati and Dante (as well as others) on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory among the penance of the gluttons.Dante the pilgrim hedges the question of when he will die, then Forese leaps into an apocalyptic vision of the ruin of someone closely connected to Florence--that is, his own brother, Corso Donati.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this apocalyptic prophecy about Corso's ruin, fit it into its historical context, and finally are left with the pilgrim, Virgil, and Statius on the terrace, all caught in a host of military images.If you'd like to help defray the many fees associated with this podcast, including hosting, editing, domain registrations, and my subscriptions to a host of academic journals, please consider offering a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">using this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:29] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 76 - 99. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode of the podcast on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:43] A couple of problems with what the pilgrim Dante could know and the beginning of the military images in the passage.[08:53] Forese Donati's apocalyptic prophecy of the very near future.[13:28] The story of Corso Donati, Forese's brother and a key leader of the Black Guelphs in Florence.[19:25] The military imagery for Forese's triumph (which reminds us of Brunetto's exit in INFERNO XV), as well as that imagery for Virgil and Statius, standing near the pilgrim on the terrace.[23:56] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 76 - 99.

Dante the pilgrim has claimed that indeed he is the one who is inspired by love, who writes what love breathes into him and then makes meaning from that.Bongiunta is not finished with that discussion. Instead, he goes on to name this inspiration the "sweet new style" (or the "dolce stil novo"), thereby igniting over seven hundred years of commentary and controversy.And Bonagiunta himself seems to throw some fuel on that fire, given his apparent satisfaction with himself. And Dante the poet may add some fuel, too, given his citation of classical sources, hardly breathed-in inspiration.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this most daunting passage in all of PURGATORIO, striking near the heart of what Dante the poet believes he's doing . . . and what generations of critics and thinkers believe he's doing.If you'd like to help support this podcast, please consider a very small monthly stipend or a one-time donation <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">through this PayPal link right here</a>. Your contribution helps me pay the many fees associated with keeping this podcast going.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:48] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 55 - 75. If you'd like to read along or to continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:02] Bonagiunta's imaginative landscape: brothers and knots.[07:17] Bonagiunta's peers (or perhaps his school?): Giacomo da Lentini and Giuttone d'Arezzo.[11:41] The "sweet new style" and the taproot of Italian literature.[16:27] Problems with the "sweet new style": its membership, its final relationship to Bonagiunta, and its meaning sewn into the text over generations.[24:55] Two similes that comment on or even challenge this "sweet new style."[30:00] Forese's poignant question and its link to INFERNO X.[31:56] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 55 - 75.

After Forese Donati has pointed out five of the gluttons on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory, one of them, the first mentioned and a poet of the previous generation, keeps muttering something almost unintelligible under his breath.Our pilgrim asks him for more information. He then offers the pilgrim an oblique prophecy that has troubled Dante scholars for hundreds of years. He also asks if this pilgrim is the same guy who wrote a poem found in the VITA NUOVA.Dante replies that he is indeed that poet . . . and goes on to claim that his poetry is inspired by love itself.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we take on the first half of the single most annotated passage in all of Dante's COMEDY. We are getting to the heart of what Dante thinks he's doing with his poetry . . . but what exactly that is remains something of a mystery, or at least a scholarly debate.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:00] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, Lines 34 - 54. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[05:08] The value of paying attention: the pilgrim to Bonagiunta and Bonagiunta to Dante's poetry.[08:54] Bonagiunta's shifty murmurs of "gentucca."[11:51] An opaque prophecy about Lucca from an older poet who should know how to be clear.[17:13] Bonagiunta's refernce to a canzone (or long poetic song) from Dante's VITA NUOVA.[20:37] The pilgrim's wild claims for direct inspiration from . . . love (or maybe God).[27:02] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 34 - 54.

Forese Donati continues to answer Dante the pilgrim's questions by naming five penitent gluttons surrounding them on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory.As he points them out, Forese (and Dante the poet behind him) use culinary and gastronomical imagery to reinforce the themes of the terrace and perhaps to further fuel that long-standing feud between French and Italian cuisine.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we pick through the historical and cultural details in the second part of Forese's answer to the pilgrim.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:52] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 16 - 33. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this podcast episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:17] The deft use of culinary and gastronomic imagery in this passage.[06:40] Five penitent gluttons: Bonagiunta of Lucca, Pope Martin IV, Ubaldino della Pila, Boniface, and Master Marchese degli Orgogliosi.[17:12] A curiosity: It's not forbidden to name them?[19:16] Is this passage a false lead?[22:54] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 16 - 33.

PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, is set as a direct continuation from Canto XXIII. The poet Dante cues us to the continuation but there nevertheless are a couple of subtle disruptions.For one thing, Virgil has been silence for most of Canto XXIII and will indeed remain silent throughout Canto XXIV, his longest silence yet in COMEDY. We won’t hear anything from him until well into Canto XXV.And in this on-going conversation with Forese Donati, we get our first glimpse of Paradise, after curiously understanding that the human will is strong enough to slow down its progress even to that place, its ultimate goal.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the opening lines of our on-going time among the gluttons on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:49] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 1 - 15. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:12] Canto XXIV is a continuation of Canto XXIII--and Virgil remains silent.[06:33] The "redead" is a reference to Jude 12 in the New Testament.[10:49] Does Ulysses enter into this passage?[11:50] The human will can even slow down its ultimate desire, the central motivation of the universe.[14:15] Mentioning Piccarda Donati gives us a fuller glimpse of Paradise ahead . . . and a classical glimpse.[16:48] Pain and solace are the core of the prophetic voice.[21:39] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 1 - 15.