Walking With Dante

Forese Donati has finished his diatribe about Florentine women and is now ready to hear Dante the pilgrim's story. Who did the pilgrim get here in the flesh?The pilgrim retells the journey, renegotiating its opening and reconfiguring its theology, even this high up on the mountain, as we near the apocalyptic climax of PURGATORIO.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we walk slowly through this last passage in Canto XXIII.If you'd like to help support this podcast and underwrite its many fees, please consider a small stipend or a one-time donation <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:[01:27] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 112 - 133. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with a comment, please find this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:09] A V-shaped structure reinforced for Canto XXIII.[06:17] A question of what Forese should remember and how the opening of COMEDY should be understood.[10:20] Further negotiations about the plot of COMEDY.[14:22] The first time the pilgrim Dante names Beatrice and the first time he acknowledges the loss of Virgil.[16:09] A curious moment: Virgil named and Statius unnamed.[18:29] Two larger questions. One, COMEDY is a poem in process.[20:03] Two, PURGATORIO replicates the structure of the New Testament.[23:16] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 112 - 133.

Having praised his wife, Nella, Forese Donati launches into the prophetic voice, the new "high style" that Dante has developed, a screed with a lyrical undertow.This complicated poetic act can only be accomplished with the vernacular, with medieval Florentine (in Dante's case).And although it fuses with misogyny and xenophobia, it nonetheless demonstrates the Dante's new style beyond love sonnets: the lyrical, prophetic voice.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Forese Donati's condemnation of Florentine women and his wild launch into Isaiah's prophetic vision.If you'd like to help support this podcast, consider 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:[01:40] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 91 - 111. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation via a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website: markscarbrough.com.[03:50] As Forese launches into his misogynistic condemnation of Florentine women, he reaffirms his love for his wife, Nella, the "little widow."[08:42] Forese's prophetic discourse takes flight from a misogynistic and xenophobic platform.[11:29] Rising sumptuary laws indicate an increasingly fluid social structure, particularly for women.[15:02] Forese ends his screed at a high-style moment infused with Isaiah's prophecy (from Isaiah 7).[18:03] The prophetic discourse ends at a lyrical moment somehow still in this high style.[20:03] The vernacular is able to handle a greater emotional range than Latin in Dante's day.[23:40] Forese's prophecy never comes true--and incorporates a curious shadow of doubt.[26:23] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 91 - 111.

Dante the pilgrim and his rival/friend/fellow poet Forese Donati continue to talk about their concerns: suffering, placement on the mountain, and the role of the living in the service of the dead.Along the way, they seem to be coming closer and closer to the Christian idea of redemptive suffering, a complex stance in the face of the nihilism that almost overwhelms the suffering in INFERNO behind us.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore these problems, plus talk about Forese's wife, Nella, and the role of the vernacular in exploring and explaining the deepest truths.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:37] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, Lines 76 - 90. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for the episode of the podcast on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:17] The changing notion of suffering--yes, in COMEDY, but even in this small passage.[07:20] Accounting for time, souls, and their ascents on Mount Purgatory.[13:32] Nella Donati and two interpretive stances toward her place in the poem: 1) correcting the record or 2) hoping for a full record of a poet's works.[17:36] Vernacular language and its uncomfortable relationship with "higher" truths.[24:03] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 76 - 90.

Having met his poetic rival, Forese Donati, Dante the pilgrim must make sense of the clear and present pain he sees in friend's face.This passage is a curious example of felix culpa, the fortunate fall, in which suffering must be reinterpreted for the greater good. Except the pain doesn't stop being the pain. Suffering remains the central metaphysical question of the human condition, the experiential crux underneath our high-minded notions of ontology.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this conversation between two poetic rivals on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory among the emaciated gluttons.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:42] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 49 - 75. 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>.[04:08] Best friends, still perhaps vain, still perhaps rivals.[10:39] A power in the water and the tree--and an intense interpretive knot.[14:56] The problem of hunger and thirst among disembodied souls.[18:50] The interpretation of suffering as the crux of being human.[26:15] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 49 - 75.

Dante now walks with the skeletal gluttons who have God's writing on their faces.Along the way, there are increasingly complex and almost gaming literary references that litter the text until Dante the pilgrim suddenly is recognized by a fellow, contemporary, vernacular poet who is not known for any high style but is instead a champion of a low, vulgar poetry in this hip, new form of the sonnet.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look into the mirror of an increasingly complex meta reality in COMEDY as Dante the pilgrim meets his friend and rival Forese Donati on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:22] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 28 - 48. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me in the comment section at the bottom of the page, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:23] Internal thoughts--less revelatory than just rehearsed--about the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.[09:27] The potential blasphemy of the pelican in her piety.[12:50] Three references to other texts in increasing opacity: from Dante's VITA NUOVA, from Ovid's METAMORPHOSES, and from Josephus' history (sort of).[15:30] Starved enough to see God's writing in the human face: a felix culpa?[21:31] A misplaced tercet in COMEDY?[22:52] Forese Donati and Dante v. Statius and Virgil.[31:18] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 28 - 48.

Our pilgrim must move beyond the mystical tree on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory. So he sets off behind Virgil and Statius, only to overtaken by a group of cadaverous, skeletal penitents, whose hollow eyes watch the pilgrim's slower journey.This passage is an interesting set of problems: low stylists which end up with Ovidian references, all tied up in the very real medieval problem of starvation.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this passage of camaraderie, mentorship, and growing affection on the terrace of gluttony.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:13] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 1 - 27. If you'd like to read along or start a conversation with me and others about this passage, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:19] Camaraderie and mentorship in a lower style with a final salvo at avarice.[11:34] A psalm fragment in Latin and a possible quibble about Virgil's character.[16:26] Pensive pilgrims, right out of the VITA NUOVA, Dante's earlier work.[20:05] Ovid's METAMORPHOSES as a source for hunger: cited thoroughly and then overwritten beyond its ending.[25:04] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 1 - 27.

Did Dante think that the characters in Virgil's and Statius's poems were real? Did he believe that the characters who changed shape, being, and even substance in Ovid's METAMORPHOSES were actual and historical?This complicated questioning has no final answer . . . which means it can drive most of us modern, post-scientific-revolution people nuts?But it all goes back to Dante's relationship with his own primary text, the Bible? He didn't doubt its stories. Perhaps he didn't doubt other texts as quickly as we might.But he also didn't assign meaning quite as quickly as we do.Let's explore some answers to this thorny question: Did Dante think Aeneas, Dido, and other classical characters were real?

Virgil and Statius begin to trek around the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory but are stopped by an upside-down tree . . . that causes more questions than it provides answers.A voice in the tree warns them off and offers examples of temperance, of moderate appetites, all of which are strange interpretations of Biblical stories that don't necessarily have to do with gluttony.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at some of the final misreadings and misinterpretations in PURGATORIO, Canto XXII. It's a wild end to one of the most profound cantos of the second canticle of COMEDY.If you'd like to help underwrite this podcast, either with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend, you can do so <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 XXII, lines 130 - 145. If you'd like to read along or if you'd like to talk more about this passage or this episode, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:02] The first temptation among the penances: ripe, tasty fruit.[05:41] Questions about this upside-down tree: how does it grow, what does the dripping liquid do for it, and what does it all mean?[11:47] This tree and the two trees in the Garden of Eden.[14:25] Three examplars against gluttony: the Virgin Mary, Roman women, and the prophet Daniel.[19:00] The classical age in the Christian age, with its precursor, John the Baptist (or perhaps Virgil).[25:03] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 130 - 145.

Our pilgrim, Virgil, and Statius arrive on the otherwise empty sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory. Virgil seems more hesitant. And our pilgrim, Dante, more passive, as he listens to the two older, wiser poets discuss the craft of poetry.This passage represents the paradox of circularity and linearity, of stasis and advancement, that is the major structural (and thematic!) tension in COMEDY.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through a seemingy easy passage while the pilgrim learns the craft of poetry.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:01] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 115 - 129. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, find this episode on my website and drop down the page to see the translation and a place to start a conversation with a comment: <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:23] Circularity and linearity: the crux paradox of COMEDY.[08:37] Marking the temporal as a reality claim in COMEDY.[13:25] A possible change in Virgil's characterization.[16:25] Learning the craft of poetry (to engage the play of quotation and interpretation).[21:12] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 115 - 129.

At the end of their first conversation, Virgil and Statius reconstruct limbo. They transform it into a neighborhood where all the lost, classical writers live.They also transfer limbo's sighs from the damned to the poet Dante and potentially to his reader. Where have these great authors gone?And if their texts are one way to God, how many ways to redemption have then been lost with them?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the ironic and complex conclusion to Virgil and Statius' conversation in PURGATORIO, Canto XXII. We end at a place of the final misreading and misquotation: that of COMEDY itself.If you'd like to help underwrite the many fees and costs of this podcast, please consider making a one-time contribution or setting up a very small monthly stipend <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">with this PayPal link right here</a>.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:25] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 94 - 114. 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>.[04:31] The reconception of limbo over the course of COMEDY.[09:56] The Roman authors in the list of those lost.[17:48] The Greek authors in the list of those lost;.[21:02] The characters from Statius' poems who are apparently in limbo.[24:55] The displacement of Manto in COMEDY: the final misreading and misquotation in a canto full of them.[27:57] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 94 - 114.

Statius finally tells Virgil what we all want to know: the story of his conversion. How did this Latin poet who dedicated his great epic to a Roman emperor become a Christian.Through a long process and by subterfuge. Statius was a closeted or hidden (or to use the medieval Florentine term, "closed") Christian.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look through this passage in which Dante the poet attempts to justify putting this pagan Roman poet in Purgatory and on his way to Paradise.If you'd like to help out with the costs of this podcast, please consider 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:[01:20] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 76 - 93. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:27] Two minor issues: Who converted Statius? And was Dante the poet rethinking his position toward the neutrals in INFERNO?[08:08] Statius' journey in the afterlife to the fourth circle of Mount Purgatory . . . and where else?[08:40] Statius' improvised backstory and the inclusion of a historical figure: Emperor Domitian.[13:13] Dante's concept of conversion (v. modern conceptions).[16:36] Statius' words and the problem of the "above" text.[20:01] Texts in texts and the inevitable overlay of irony.[24:50] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 76 - 93.

Given that Statius claims a passage from The Aeneid made him see the error of his ways, Virgil wants to know how this poet of the Thebes could have ever become a Christian, particularly since his poetry shows little evidence of the faith.Statius replies with some of the most shocking lines in COMEDY: He became a Christian AND a poet because of the damned, pagan Virgil. Virgil's own poetry led Statius to his profession and his confession.To put it another way, Statius was redeemed, not by divine light, but a small human candle.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work our way through one of the most revelatory passages in all of PURGATORIO, lines that help us understand the framework of COMEDY.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:53] My English translation of the text: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 55 - 75. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to start a conversation, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:39] Virgil's questions about Thebes, history, and faith.[15:02] Virgil's inspiration toward both poetry and God.[19:07] Statius' misquoting from Virgil's ECLOGUES.[27:31] Poetry and conversion founded in inspiration from a text.[30:01] Statius and Christianity in COMEDY.[32:00] Rereading the text: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 55 - 75.

Since we’ve come to a moment of (perhaps!) profound irony as Statius misquotes and even misinterprets Virgil’s AENEID to find his way to salvation, we should perhaps pause and talk a bit about irony, both as an artistic concept and specifically as tool our poet, Dante, uses to make meaning in his text.In this interpolated (or interstitial?) episode of WALKING WITH Dante, we’ll talk about the two basic forms of irony: simple (or verbal) and situational. Then we’ll talk about three types of situational irony: dramatic, cosmic, and what I like to call “creative” irony.

Statius and Virgil continue their conversation as they climb to the sixth terrace with the pilgrim Dante.Statius explains that he discovered his error when he read two lines from Virgil's AENEID. The problem is that Statius misquotes these lines and misinterprets them, making them fit his personal situation while pushing them through Aristotle's ethics.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this wild passage that has inspired over seven hundred years of commentary. What if the way you can get saved is by misinterpreting a classical text?Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:57] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 25 - 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 binary relationship becomes a triangulation, thereby elevating the pilgrim Dante.[08:30] Statius' changing status in Purgatory colors (or darkens) Aristotle's notions of accidents and substances.[16:06] Statius seems to have read Dante's INFERNO![21:19] Statius misquotes and misinterprets a passage from THE AENEID, which then leads to his salvation (or at least to the recognition of his errors).[29:16] Avarice and prodigality are apparently mostly connected to the clergy.[30:18] The whole discussion falls back to Aristotle's ethics, (mis)interpreted for the Christian reader.[32:58] To sum, a misquoted, misinterpreted passage from classical literature begins the journey toward redemption.[35:46] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 25 - 54.

Blinded by the angel, Dante the pilgrim begins his climb to the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory. But his plight is overshadowed by Virgil’s desire to know more about Statius . . . in this strange passage of misquotings and misreadings.The angel cuts short a beatitude from the gospels. Virgil seems to misquote Francesca from INFERNO, Canto V. And Virgil himself seems to toss out Aristotle’s Golden Mean to get what he wants from Statius.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the start of many misquotations and misreadings that make up PURGATORIO, Canto XXII.If you'd like to help out with the many fees associated with this podcast, you can offer a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend of a couple of dollars, pounds, or Euros, <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:[01:59] My English translation of the medieval Florentine. If you'd like to read along or add a comment to continue the discussion with me, please find the entry for this episode of the podcast on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:02] My opening remarks on PURGATORIO, Canto XXII.[06:57] The climb and the truncated beatitude.[12:23] Action off-stage . . . because of haste or because of blindness?[15:47] Virgil's quotation (or misquotation) of Francesca from INFERNO, Canto V.[20:55] Virgil's tragedy and Dante's hope.[25:43] The question on all of our minds (with a passing reference to Aristotle's Ethics).[29:29] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 1 - 24.

We have been a long time on the terrace of the avaricious (without knowing there's another sin punished there as well). We're ready to climb on up to the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory with Virgil and Statius as the pilgrim Dante's guide.On this episode, sit back for a read-through of these three cantos.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I read a rough translation of PURGATORIO, Cantos XXII, XXIII, and XXIV, exploring the climb up from the fifth terrace, the discussions between Virgil and Statius, and the poetic-prophetic space that makes up the arboretum of the sixth terrace, the one with the gluttons.If you'd like to help underwrite the many costs of this podcast, you can make a one-time contribution or set up a very small monthly stipend <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">by visiting this PayPal link right here</a>.[01:33] A read-through of Cantos XXII, XXIII, and XXIV of PURGATORIO. No translation available--just sit back and listen. A closer, better translation lies ahead when we break down these cantos into their respective parts.

Statius has sung his (first!) hymn of praise to Virgil without knowing that the old poet is right in front of him. Dante the pilgrim is caught between them in this most human episode with his master, Virgil, demanding silence and his new friend, Statius, wanting to know why the pilgrim is smiling.Which means Dante is also caught on his emotions which seem to be overriding his will . . . in a canto about the will's primacy.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the very human ending to his surprising and comedic canto in PURGATORIO.If you'd like to help out with the many fees associated with this podcast, for streaming, hosting, editing, and more, 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:[02:25] My English translation of the passage. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[05:33] The curious inelegance of the poetry in this passage.[08:31] The welling up of emotions into the eyes.[11:50] Virgil's curious reticence.[13:21] The will v. the emotions--ever the human dilemma.[17:43] The dramatization of the anxiety of influence--and of the divided will.[19:56] The revelation of Virgil on this road to Emmaus.[22:46] Polytheism in this monotheistic poem?[24:10] Statius' error and apology.[29:12] The imperfections of the perfected.[31:03] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 103 - 136.

We finally get to know our unknown shade on the fifth terrace of Purgatory: Statius, the epic Roman poet.His salvation is one of the most audacious moves in all of COMEDY. Dante has to work every fiction-making muscle he has to assert that this pagan poet has spend so long in Purgatory on his way to heaven . . . and finds himself face to face with Virgil, his poetic inspiration and apparently the carrier of God's revelation.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we discover another way that love moves the fence.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:52] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 76 - 102. 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>.[04:49] Introducing Publius Papinius Statius (45 - 96 CE), the author of THE THEBIAD and THE ACHILLEID . . . and a soul who should never be here in Purgatory.[10:36] Virgil's continued insistence on the "why?"[13:38] The lamentable if inevitable bloom of antisemitism in COMEDY.[17:30] Statius, always without faith in the historical record but always vocalized in COMEDY.[20:36] The shocking conjunction of THE AENEID and babytalk.[24:06] A bit of heresy from Statius . . . unless the redeemed don't have to be perfect.[27:19] Why Statius in Canto XXI of PURGATORIO?[31:35] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 76 - 102.

The still-unknown shade on the fifth terrace of Mount Purgatory rounds out his answer to Virgil's questions with some shocking revelations: The souls in Purgatory seem to declare the moment they're cleansed. The will is the only proof that their penance is complete. They stand up. They choose to move on.Or do they? Is it that simple? Or theologically explosive? This passage is easy to overstate, particularly in the modern world. But there are actually at least two safeguards on this notion of free will in the soul's answer.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the theological second half of the soul's answer to Virgil's questions.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:02] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 58 - 75. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with a comment, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[05:13] The supremacy of the will (and of interiority).[10:10] The supremacy of divine justice (and a counterweight in the argument).[14:28] The turn to the speaker's autobiography.[17:06] The pilgrim as a third in an otherwise simple dialogue between two.[19:31] Rereading the entire answer to Virgil's questions: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 40 - 75.

Virgil has asked two questions: Why'd the mountain shake and why'd the shades all cry out with one voice?The unknown shade on the fifth terrace of Mount Purgatory begins his answer by referring to Aristotle's notions of change . . . and offers the surprising conclusion that some change is impossible about the three steps to the gate of Purgatory proper.And then he does something wilder: He begins to wrap the poetic imagery of Cantos XX and XXI back onto itself.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this difficult passage, the first part of the unknown shade's answer.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:20] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 40 - 57. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me via a comment, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:08] The mountain's meteorology and Aristotelian accidental change.[09:09] Two translation issues early in the passage.[12:45] Classical learning: Thaumus's daughter, Iris.[15:41] Stable feet v. wet feet . . . and the search for a contemplative space.[19:28] The refusal to answer "why?"[21:16] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 40 - 57.

The unknown shade has been gobsmacked by the fact that escapees from hell may be climbing Mount Purgatory.Virgil explains that the pilgrim is still very much alive. To do so, Virgil uses classical, not Christian, imagery. And Virgil presses for an answer as to "why" the mountain just shook and "why" all the souls sang out with one voice.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Virgil's curious answer to the unknown shades questions on the fifth terrace of Purgatory, among the avaricious.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:43] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 22 - 39. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry and comment section for this particular episode on my website: <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:49] Doctor Virgil explains the symbols on the pilgrim Dante's forehead . . . or does he?[08:15] Virgil offers the firm assurance of the pilgrim Dante's redemption.[10:37] Virgil uses classical imagery to explain life and death.[14:32] Was Virgil fished out of all of hell or just Limbo?[17:23] Virgil focuses on the "why?"[20:42] The thread and the thirst wrap the poetry in the canto.[22:40] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 22 - 39.

Dante is left wondering why the mountain has shaken when an even deeper mystery occurs: a shade appears seemingly out of nowhere and behind our pilgrim and Virgil.This shade offers a Christian greeting, Virgil returns it in a darker way, and then this shade assume he's looking at two damned shades, escaped from hell.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this most curious passage that begins one of the most fascinating cantos in all of Dante's COMEDY.If you'd like to help underwrite this podcast, please consider a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend 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:[01:54] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 1 - 21. If you'd like to read along or offer more commentary, please find the entry for this podcast episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com.">markscarbrough.com.</a>[04:43] Introductory material for Canto XXI.[07:26] Hesitation, the desire to know, and Aristotle.[10:46] The Samaritan woman and a shift in the nature of thirst.[13:35] Haste and liminal spaces.[15:15] Vendetta, justice, and human compassion.[17:33] The road to Emmaus and the resurrection.[21:26] The sudden appearance of a shade.[25:14] Christian greetings, darkened by Virgil.[28:40] A transfer of "what?" from Dante the pilgrim to this shade.[30:27] This shade, Virgil, and Dante together.[31:54] A rereading of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 1 - 21.

Dante the pilgrim and Virgil have seemingly moved off even as Hugh Capet was still speaking. They're picking their way among the avaricious when they're stopped by an earthquake that rattles Mount Purgatory.Dante is afraid. Virgil may even be afraid. But he tells the pilgrim to "fear not," much as those angels tell the shepherds at the birth of Jesus.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work our way through the end of PURGATORIO, Canto XX: a return to the plot with lots of portents for what's ahead.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:33] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, lines 124 - 151. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please find the entry for this episode on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:13] A return to the plot--or to the "now" (which may be what avarice cannot understand).[09:49] The third earthquake of COMEDY.[12:11] Two references to birth with this earthquake.[15:44] Virgil's "fear not" when he doesn't seem fearless.[16:56] The pilgrim's possibly faulty memory.[20:29] INFERNO XX vs. PURGATORIO XX.[24:27] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, lines 124 - 151.

Hugh Capet has spent a long time answering the pilgrim Dante's first question: who were you? He now turns to the pilgrim's second question: why did I only hear your voice on this terrace?In doing so, Hugh begins to sing antiphonally . . . or at least, he begins to list off those who have been done in by avarice, the quickest and tightest list of figures in PURGATORIO.Why is this list so full of figures yet so curt in its style? And why does Hugh seem to come to the end of his speech so abruptly?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we try to answer these and other questions at the conclusions of Hugh Capet's monumental monologue.If you'd like to make a contribution to underwrite the many fees for this podcast, you can do so as either a one-time donation or through a small monthly stipend. To do either, please go <a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36M8739SMC896">to 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 XX, lines 97 - 123. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find this episode among those for WALKING WITH DANTE on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[04:01] Hugh's abrupt transition from one answer to his second.[08:46] Our questions about glossing and polyphony.[12:29] Hugh Capet's brief list of the tragic figures of avarice.[22:18] Spurred to what? Your own choice?[26:26] Two rationales for the shortness of these lines about the greedy figures.[30:11] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, lines 97 - 123.

As Hugh Capet winds up to the heights of his monologue, he comes to a most shocking climax: that moment when the French monarchy is so bad that it makes even the corrupt papacy look good.We've come to the very center of Dante's beef with the French crown, voiced by this legendary monarch about his own descendants, particularly Philip IV (or Philip the Fair). It's a tale so dire that even papal corruption is forgotten!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the narrative climax of Hugh Capet's monologue on the fifth terrace of avarice in PURGATORIO.If you'd like to help underwrite the fees of this podcast, whether with a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend, please consider doing so with <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:[01:14] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, lines 82 - 96. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me about this episode, please find its slot on my website, <a href="https://markscarbrough.com">markscarbrough.com</a>.[03:06] Identifying the players in the passage: Philip IV (or the Fair) of France and Pope Boniface VIII.[07:48] Tracing the political history behind this passage.[15:41] Admitting the shock of Dante's defending Pope Boniface VIII.[18:42] Talking in code as a survival strategy.[22:54] Querying whether evil actions can be inherited (since virtuous ones can't be).[25:11] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, lines 82 - 96.