Walking With Dante

Mark Scarbrough

Ever wanted to read Dante's Divine Comedy? Come along with us! We're not lost in the scholarly weeds. (Mostly.) We're strolling through the greatest work (to date) of Western literature. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I take on this masterpiece passage by passage. I'll give you my rough English translation, show you some of the interpretive knots in the lines, let you in on the 700 years of commentary, and connect Dante's work to our modern world. The pilgrim comes awake in a dark wood, then walks across the known universe. New episodes every Sunday and Wednesday. read less
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The Many Textures Of Envy: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, Lines 22 - 42
Yesterday
The Many Textures Of Envy: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, Lines 22 - 42
Dante has started a conversation with two envious penitents . . . a conversation he might not be ready for. They prove more than his rhetorical match. They also muddy the theology of Purgatory itself. Is that intentional? Or are we expected to understand their still-fallen state?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore more about the two envious souls who interrupt Dante's journey around the second terrace of Purgatory proper.Please consider helping this podcast stay sponsor-free. You can help me with its many fees by donating at this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:23] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, lines 22 - 42. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation, please find the entry for this episode of the podcast on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:23] Dante's cagey periphrasis about the Arno may not have paid off.[07:00] The first envious penitent is bestialized as he fastens his teeth into the meat of Dante's intentions.[09:49] These penitent shades have lots of debt, even though one soul launches into a typical Dantean diatribe against Tuscany.[14:43] How can good things happen in a fallen world? Only by moving the fence.[16:55] Two inset tercets show the changing nature (or fence?) of COMEDY from a theological poem to an encyclopedic one.[21:59] This passage contains the third and final use in COMEDY of a word for "snake."[25:55] The problem with the diatribe is that is seems to remove culpability from humans . . . or at least, Tuscans.[28:55] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, lines 22 - 42.
Be Careful Of The Company You Keep: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, Lines 1 - 21
5d ago
Be Careful Of The Company You Keep: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, Lines 1 - 21
Sapía has finished her amazingly complex speech with the pilgrim Dante . . . or has she? At the opening of Canto XIV, we're not sure who is speaking? Still Sapía? No, two envious souls, leaning against each other, almost gossiping about our pilgrim. And nothing satisfies envy quite like gossip.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this new thing: the opening of a canto in COMEDY in which unnamed (and unknowable!) souls just starting talking out of the blue. Be on guard. They may not be all they seem at first blush.Please consider supporting this podcast through your contribution. There are many fees associated with this work . . . and I'd like to keep it sponsor-free. You can help you with a donation at this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:34] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, lines 1 - 21. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation about this passage, please find this individual episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:31] Two penitent souls interrupt the action of PURGATORIO.[06:00] The opening of canto XIV is a new thing in COMEDY, much as Sapía has identified Dante the pilgrim as a new thing in her world.[08:19] There are two curious words in this opening dialogue: "our" and "sweetly."[11:45] These two spirits are apparently quite intimate with each other. Will that intimacy pay off?[12:50] One of the envious penitents divides Dante's soul from his body . . . and uses Dante's own words to address him.[15:41] Dante is quite cagey when he answers their question, all the while putting his soul and body back together.[20:16] Dante replies with one of his own favorite rhetorical techniques: periphrasis. Elsewhere in COMEDY, Dante is pretty forthcoming about his origins.[22:53] Is Dante modest? Or cagey? Or "just" truthful?[28:41] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIV, lines 1 - 21.
Sapía, Part Three—Rhetorical Games Reveal Both The Penitent And The Pilgrim: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 133 - 154
Jun 5 2024
Sapía, Part Three—Rhetorical Games Reveal Both The Penitent And The Pilgrim: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 133 - 154
In the concluding moments of Sapía's speech, we find her in dialogue with Dante the pilgrim . . . who is both forthcoming in his confessional stance and also cagey with his hiding his guide, Virgil.She, too, is caught in her own rhetoric: getting what she wants but ultimately revealing herself as a soul who still has a lot more purgation ahead.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the final words of one of the most intriguing characters in PURGATORIO, if not in all of COMEDY.Please consider donating to support this podcast and cover its hosting, editing, licensing, streaming, domain, and royalty fees. You can do so at this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[00:58] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, lines 133 - 154. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation, please find the comment section for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:18] Dante's reply to Sapía is both cagey and confessional. Did she manipulate him into this ambiguous spot?[09:27] Does Sapía misunderstand his place in the afterlife? But how can she, since she's already figured out that he's breathing?[13:03] She turns his confession of pride into . . . comedy or flattery?[14:12] Her changing notions of prayer exemplify the theological problems of prayer as a Christian act. Meanwhile, she lets the pilgrim know that she's figured him out even more.[19:36] Sapía is going to spend a lot more time on the terrace of the envious, given her joy over Siena's misfortunes.[24:59] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, lines 133 - 154.
Sapía, Part One—The Pilgrim Gets More (And Less!) Than He Bargained For: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 94 - 111
May 29 2024
Sapía, Part One—The Pilgrim Gets More (And Less!) Than He Bargained For: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 94 - 111
Dante the pilgrim worked up the courage (or the flattery) to get one of the envious to speak up on the second terrace of Purgatory proper. She does . . . and gives him both more and exactly what (or perhaps a bit less) than he asked for.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I work our first sight of one of the most intricate souls in COMEDY: Sapía. She's a lot more than Dante bargained for.Donate what you can or a small monthly contribution to help me cover the many fees associated with this podcast. You can do so by clicking this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:18] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, lines 94 - 111. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation, please go to the page about this podcast on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:02] The penitent envious soul schools Dante the pilgrim by reassessing their relationship, both by family and by politics.[05:53] Pilgrims choose to be other, to be strangers in a foreign land.[09:19] Dante the poet focuses on the naturalistic details in an otherwise hyper-moral passage.[11:35] Dante the pilgrim is apparently not teachable at the moment . . . . except he does understand the work of the will in Purgatory.[14:30] The penitent soul identifies herself reticently . . . only by name and city.[19:38] Her reticence is found in a generous canto full of explanations.[20:55] One generosity: Sapía offers a succinct definition of envy.[24:49] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, lines 94 - 111.
Eyes Stitched Shut: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 46 - 72
May 19 2024
Eyes Stitched Shut: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 46 - 72
The second terrace of PURGATORIO proves a wild ride into interiority, into the complicated sin of envy, and back into INFERNO.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the first moments in which Dante sees the penitents ahead . . . and delays until the last moment revealing their fate: eyelids stitched shut with wires.Thank you for supporting this podcast through your donations. If you'd like to help our (or continue to help out) with all the fees associated with websites, hosting, streaming, editing, and sound effects, please visit this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[00:55] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, lines 46 - 72. If you'd like to read along or continue the discussion with me, please go to my website: markscarbrough.com.[03:28] Dante the pilgrim, the livid shades of the envious, and fragmentary prayers in the vernacular.[05:52] Compassion: apparently a virtue of enforced scarcity.[07:51] Envy, interiority, and externality.[09:42] The tried-and-true answers to envy: love, yes; but also uniformity.[13:25] The long wind-up to the revelation of the penitents' pain.[17:30] Dante's (false) etymology of envy and a folkloric explanation of the sin.[21:51] Two callbacks: 1) Provenzan Salvani and 2) the allegorical and/or naturalistic sun.[23:51] The biggest callback of all: to Pier della Vigna and Frederick II in INFERNO XIII.[25:21] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, lines 46 - 72.
The Easy Climb Into Complex Meaning: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 1 - 21
May 12 2024
The Easy Climb Into Complex Meaning: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, Lines 1 - 21
Dante the pilgrim and his guide, Virgil, have arrived at the second terrace of Purgatory proper. As readers, we're not even sure what this terrace is about, although we can infer there must be more penitents ahead.Instead, Dante the poet offers us rather straightforward, naturalistic details, a complex neologism (a new word he coined), a crazy line that has many interpretations possible, and then a pagan prayer in the afterlife of the redeemed.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we walk into the second terrace and immediately stumble over what at first glance looks like a fairly simple passage. That's why we're slow-walking across Dante's known universe!If you'd like to help support this podcast by donating to cover hosting, streaming, website, licensing, and royalty fees, please consider visiting this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:09] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, lines 1- 21. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:22] The naturalistic, straightforward details complete with a surprising neologism (or newly coined word).[08:12] A deeply ambiguous line smack in the middle of rather simple details.[12:02] Virgil's haste and his internalization of Cato's ethic, as well as Dante's increasingly complicated relationship with the old poet.[15:29] Virgil's pagan prayer to the sun.[23:40] My take: Virgil, the pagan, makes a full appearance here on the second terrace of Purgatory.[29:02] Virgil, blinded.[31:42] A rereading of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XIII, lines 1 - 21.
Erasing God's Writing Even If Virgil Smiles: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 118 - 139
Apr 24 2024
Erasing God's Writing Even If Virgil Smiles: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 118 - 139
Dante the pilgrim and Virgil have a little ways to go before they finally exit the terrace of pride. In fact, Dante has to come to a surprising revelation: It's getting easier. And Virgil has to explain why: Desire is being purified. How? By erasing what God has written.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the interpretive dilemmas and philosophical quagmires of the final moments on the terrace of pride, the first of the terraces of Purgatory proper in Dante's PURGATORIO.If you'd like to help support this podcast and help cover its stream, licensing, web-hosting, and royalty fees, please consider donating at this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:12] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 118 - 139. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:36] The climb in hell and in Purgatory both involve the notion of a throat.[06:44] Pride is the primary sin and delight is the primary motivation forward. But has it always been this way in COMEDY?[12:57] Canto XII ends on a light-hearted note . . . perhaps for poetic reasons.[16:32] First hard question: Is Dante the pilgrim truly expunged of pride?[19:51] Second hard question: Has Dante the poet moved the fence of his world to include himself in his own schematics?[24:56] Third hard question: Why does God's writing have to be erased?[30:53] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 118 - 139.
The Climb Out Of Pride: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 73 - 99
Apr 17 2024
The Climb Out Of Pride: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 73 - 99
Dante and Virgil begin their exit from the terrace of pride on Mount Purgtory. To do so, they must encounter and angel who implicitly calls back Lucifer (or Satan) into the text yet who welcomes them on their way up the less-steep ascent.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we watch Virgil reassert this role as the guide and see another of the epic angels in Purgatory.If you'd like to help out, please consider donating to keep this podcast afloat. You can do at this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:22] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 73 - 99. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:47] Virgil returns to being Virgil: a guide to the afterlife who quote himself.[08:08] Virgil and the angel both seem to set the plot in motion again.[11:19] Virgil seems more interested in what's ahead and less interested in the reliefs and carvings. In fact, he seems to mistake the lesson from those carvings: Some days, like Trajan's, happen again and again in an eternal art form.[14:08] The strength of COMEDY is that the complex always resolves into the simple.[16:17] Irony: Virgil's "simple" ethic contains a Dantean neologism.[17:20] The beautiful angel contains an implicit and perhaps redemptive reference to Lucifer (or Satan).[21:11] Who speaks the condemnation against humanity? The angel or Dante the poet?[25:54] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 73 - 99.
More Questions Than Answers About The Reliefs In The Road Bed Of Pride: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 22 - 63
Apr 10 2024
More Questions Than Answers About The Reliefs In The Road Bed Of Pride: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 22 - 63
We've spent three episodes going over the reliefs in the road bed of the terrace of pride on Mount Purgatory. Now let's step back and look at the whole passage. Yes, its sweet. But also its curiously crafted problems. And the way it leaves us with more questions than answers, even though we're supposed to take away a very distinct moral lesson.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we run through this entire complicated passage in PURGATORIO.If you'd like to help out with the many costs associated with this podcast, please consider donating through this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:12] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 22 - 63. If you'd like to read along, print it off, or continue the conversation with me, please go to my website: markscarbrough.com.[04:18] Biblical, classical, and historical figures flatten the interpretive landscape. Is Ovid of an equal weight to the Bible?[06:33] The passage is an acrostic poem: each tercet starts with a specific letter, here to spell out "man." But does that rhetorical technique actually work for this passage? Are these all "men"? Or even humans?[10:05] The tercets are thematically in sets of four: the judgment of God, of the self, and of others. Again, doesn't that flatten the moral landscape?[12:46] Do the penitents have to be this learned to glean the intended lesson? And is this the sum total of the reliefs on the terrace? Or are there more?[15:13] How can you be guilty of pride against or toward a God you don't know?[18:12] Where do these figures fit in hell? And while we're at it, where does pride fit in hell?[21:29] Why does this passage end with Troy, the noble city?[22:53] Why is this fake ekphrastic poetry?
Walking On Pride, Part Three: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 49 - 60
Apr 7 2024
Walking On Pride, Part Three: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 49 - 60
We've come to the last four reliefs in the paving stones of the terrace of pride. We're almost on our way to the next terrace of Purgatory . . . but not quite. Dante the pilgrim has to pay attention to these final moments, the final exemplars, some of whom are stated outright in the carvings and some of whom are strangely occluded.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look through this last passage on the reliefs in the road bed. There are still plenty of surprises under our feet!Please consider donating to help me cover licensing, streaming, hosting, web domain, and other fees associated with this unsponsored podcast. If you'd like to make a contribution, you can do so at this PayPal link.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:24] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 49 - 60. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please visit my website, markscarbrough.com.[02:42] The final figures in the hard pavement: Alcmeon (and Eriphyle), Sennacherib, Tomyris (and Cyrus), and Holofernes (and Judith).[11:16] The craft of the passage: children killing their parents v. women killing warlords, sacred spaces v. profane/political slaughter, occluded v. presented figures.[15:41] Curiosities in the passage: the unnamed figures, the allegory of the hard pavement, the connection between Sennacherib and Satan, and the odd notion of Holofernes' "relics."[21:24] Our final discussion on the virtue of humility: its possible evolutionary necessity for a communal animal.