Podcast
Walking With Dante
Hosted by Mark Scarbrough · EN
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.
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Walking With Dante is going on a short hiatus
Apr 3000:03:00Tap to summarizeHey there. We're going to pause our slow-walk for a couple of months as I get out from under chemotherapy. We've come to the end of PURGATORIO and it also seems natural that we rest a little before the big ascent ahead in PARADISO. Look for more announcements here, but let's plan on being back on our walk (or what will become our flight) in mid-summer. See you then!
Transcribe →Final Thoughts On PURGATORIO
Apr 2600:19:30Tap to summarizeWe've reached the end of our time on the great mountain of Purgatory . . . and in the great second canticle of COMEDY.Here are some final thoughts, an attempt to bring our time with this part of the poem to a close.Dante has worked hard to make PURGATORIO the hinge of his entire poem. Let's explore some ways it reflects back on INFERNO and looks ahead to PARADISO.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:01] PURGATORIO is an inversion of INFERNO.[02:54] PURGATORIO is most human part of COMEDY.[04:34] PURGATORIO is a rehearsal of the structure of the New Testament.[07:29] PURGATORIO is a meta-commentary on the writing of INFERNO.[09:45] PURGATORIO is the end of one sort of poem and the beginning of another.[10:35] PURGATORIO ends with two unique creations by Dante.[12:01] Where do the souls go when they are lifted out of Limbo?[13:46] Why does PURGATORIO end with the virtue of purity?[15:48] Is the will truly the necessary, sufficient, and final cause of a soul's purgation?
Transcribe →The Seven Addresses To The Reader In PURGATORIO
Apr 1900:25:11Tap to summarizeDante, the poet, steps out of the story seven times in PURGATORIO to address his reader directly--sometimes to spur the reader on to action, sometimes to put a bridle on the reader's intentions or thoughts.If we trace these seven addresses, can we find a developmental pattern? Or uncover Dante's changing attitude toward his work? Or toward his reader? Can we see a growing frustration or even fear about what lies ahead in COMEDY?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work our way through these seven call-outs to find ways to summarize the greater work and ingenuity of PURGATORIO.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:31] PURGATORIO, Canto VIII, Lines 19 - 21.[05:23] PURGATORIO, Canto IX, Lines 70 - 72.[08:00] PURGATORIO, Canto X, Lines 106 - 111.[11:55] PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 1 - 9.[15:39] PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, Lines 97 - 105.[19:20] PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 124 - 126.[22:22] PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 136 - 138.
Transcribe →Dante's Theories Of Writing Across INFERNO and PURGATORIO
Apr 1200:30:44Tap to summarizeAs one of three sum-up episode to conclude our time on Mount Purgatory, this one’s about Dante’s conception of what he’s doing when he’s writing, outlined in nine selected passages from INFERNO and PURGATORIO.We’ve moved far enough into the poem that we can see the ways the poet has changed, hedged, and developed his theories of how and why he’s writing COMEDY. Given that one of my theses is that COMEDY is a poem in process, we can then trace some sort of developmental curve in Dante’s thinking about what he’s doing as a poet.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through Dante's possible theories on his own craft.If you'd like to help underwrite this work, consider a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.Here are the nine selected passages for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:21] INFERNO, Canto III, lines 1 - 12[05:02] INFERNO, Canto XV, lines 88 - 96a.[09:42] PURGATORIO, Canto II, lines 106 - 114.[13:01] PURGATORIO, Canto VIII, lines 70 - 72.[15:36] PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 49 - 60.[19:24] PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 97 - 102.[22:05] PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, lines 52 - 57.[24:53] PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, lines 76 - 78.[27:33] PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, lines 139 - 141.
Transcribe →All The Hopeful Ambiguity Of The Second Canticle: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 124 - 145
Apr 800:19:58Tap to summarizeWe come to the end of the second canticle, of PURGATORIO . . . and it includes all the ambiguity and humanness we've come to expect, plus hopeful notes for the journey ahead into Paradise.Dante complicates his ending of PURGATORIO with notes about his own dark mind and the incomplete work of this second part of his masterpiece COMEDY.At the same time, we're ready for the stars.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the final passage of PURGATORIO.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:22] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 124 - 145. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:26] Dante, ever the medieval poet, no matter how modern we try to make him.[05:28] The final address to the reader in PURGATORIO and the tricky question of the "woven bridle."[10:58] Matelda, apparently doing what she's always done . . . which only makes her character more complex.[12:49] The threat to memory, the threat to COMEDY as a whole.[15:23] Four hopeful notes that conclude PURGATORIO.[17:55] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, lines 124 - 145.
Transcribe →At Long Last, Matelda: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 103 - 123
Apr 500:33:22Tap to summarizeThe procession continues away from Lethe and farther into the Garden of Eden until they come to a dark, frigid spot that stops them . . . a curious moment in this innocent landscape.And it gets more curious as we discover rivers named and then renamed before we come to the most difficult naming of them all: Matelda, the fair lady who has been with us since PURGATORIO, Canto XXVIII.We'll talk cosmology, geography, and even poetic rhyme sequences before we turn to the thorny question of exactly who Matelda is.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I offer you lots of answers without giving any final solution to this most enigmatic figure.Please consider underwriting this work with a one-time contribution or a small monthly stipend which you can set up at this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:26] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 103 - 123. If you'd like to read along or continue the discussion with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:25] Cosmological references that help set (and even bookend) PURGATORIO.[06:24] Stopping the procession at a dark, frigid spot (somehow in Eden!).[08:56] The Tigris and Euphrates rivers: how and why?[14:27] A beautiful rhyme sequence that encodes the fall into Eden.[17:10] Matelda: the difficult and long-standing interpretive questions about who this fair lady is.[31:06] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, lines 103 - 123.
Transcribe →Images, Schools, Obscurities, And The Promise Of Clarity: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 79 - 102
Apr 100:25:20Tap to summarizeAfter her final discourse in PURGATORIO, Beatrice and Dante enter into a brief conversation in which he admits he already has images stamped into his brain but he doesn't know what many of them mean, particularly those from her.She, on the other hand, launches into her final condemnation: the school he followed was too debased to capture the truths she has in hand.But she doesn't end there. She also promises greater clarity ahead. Thank goodness!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the conclusion of her discourse and discover the ways Dante may be signaling us that the rational mind is not enough to understand theological truths.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:18] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 79 - 102. 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, markscarbrough.com.[03:15] Questions about brain impressions, perhaps derived from the figurae of Joachim da Fiore.[09:22] Beatrice's condemnation of the school Dante followed . . . and the questions about which school does she mean.[17:38] The question of whether Dante fully experiences Purgatory.[21:02] The hope of greater clarity ahead.[22:57] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, lines 79 - 102.
Transcribe →In Which Pilgrimage Becomes Crusade: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 61 - 78
Mar 2900:29:16Tap to summarizeBeatrice concludes her monologue at the end of PURGATORIO with some dazzling metaphoric pyrotechnics, a slam on Dante's intellect, and a redefinition of this journey across the known universe. It's not just any old pilgrimage. It's a crusade.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the final images of her speech and discover its larger, structural details . . . which point us directly ahead to PARADISO.Consider defraying the many costs of this podcast with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend by using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:11] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 61 - 78. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation about this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:03] Fun calculations to discover how long Adam (and Eve) stayed in Limbo.[07:52] Beatrice's assertions about the writing and reading of texts.[13:33] References to the river Elsa and to Pyramus.[17:10] A badly mixed metaphor that leads into questions of interiority.[21:14] Rereading all of Beatrice's final monologue in PURGATORIO: XXXIII: 31 - 78.[23:49] Four structural notes on this monologue.
Transcribe →Take Notes, Dante: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 46 - 60
Mar 2500:23:42Tap to summarizeBeatrice continues her discourse at the end of PURGATORIO by offering Dante classical examples of her own obscurity, Christian resonances for the very hope of writing, and a challenge for him to become her scribe, to take notes on her lectures.This passage falls in the middle of her long monologue in the last canto of PURGATORIO and it forms the fulcrum that turns us from the apocalyptic vision to something much closer to Dante's own concerns: the craft of writing.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we tease out the difficulties in this notoriously challenging passage at the end of PURGATORIO.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:59] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 46 - 60. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:24] The obscurity as the point.[07:02] Themis and the Sphinx, early human riddles.[10:02] Dante's well-intended mistake about the Naiads.[13:41] Beatrice's theory of Dante's craft.[15:59] The classical to the Christian: the dominant move in INFERNO and PURGATORIO.[17:35] A twice-robbed tree--but how?[19:50] The tree for God's sole use.[21:58] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, lines 46 - 60.
Transcribe →Beatrice And Her Cryptic "Five Hundred Ten And Five": PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 25 - 45
Mar 2200:30:11Tap to summarizeAs Beatrice and Dante continue to walk through Eden, she begins the final discourse that will end PURGATORIO: a cryptic, apocalyptic vision of the world (or maybe just the church?) set right. But by whom? Or when? And is the church destroyed? Or is it going to be rehabilitated?Beatrice's vision is the capstone of PURGATORIO and prepares us for the elliptical and stylized poetry to come in PARADISO, just ahead of us. It's a test to see whether we can make it. Don't worry: We will!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our final walk across one of the most difficult passages in PURGATORIO. Seven hundred years of commentary hasn't come to any agreement on these lines. Why should we?To keep this podcast afloat, please consider a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend to underwrite its many fees. You can do so at this PayPal link.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:43] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 25 - 45. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by a comment on this episode, please find it on my website: markscarbrough.com.[04:18] A reminder: the rigid and highly stylized manner code in the Middle Ages.[08:46] Beatrice's redefinition of the terms: wakefulness rather than walking, the chariot as a vessel, the dragon as a serpent (from Eden?), and the chariot's possible, full destruction.[14:18] A translation problem: the possible sop of bread. And difficult interpretations: God's vendetta and a future heir.[18:30] Seven hundred years of commentary on the tough problem of "five hundred ten and five--God's messenger."[27:42] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, lines 25 - 45.
Transcribe →