In our last passage, Ciacco seemed to have come to a halt in his conversation with the pilgrim--who has clearly not had enough! So Dante-the-pilgrim prompts this damned shade for more. And more. Until he finds out the future of Florence. That is, the very near future, just weeks after his journey across the known universe and extending on for the next couple of years. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I walk slowly through Dante's masterwork, COMEDY. We're in canto VI of INFERNO, in the third circle ...
Jan 10, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 31
In the third circle of INFERNO, Dante-the-pilgrim finds an emblematic glutton, Ciacco. This strange soul offers us a few problems. He mixes gluttony with another sin, thereby complicating the structure of the rings of hell in Dante's poem (and maybe of theology itself). He is the first damned soul to recognize Dante-the-pilgrim by the dialect he speaks. And he himself remains to this day a mysterious figure, obscured in the mists of time (although the subject of so much commentary over the centu...
Jan 06, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Dante-the-pilgrim wakes up in the third circle of hell, a weather-dominated place, full of hail, rain, and snow, all making the rancid ground a mucky swamp. Wakes up? How'd he get there? Nonetheless, he and Virgil first encounter the elements, the foul rain and mud; then they come upon the guard dog Cerberus. Virgil doesn't try his little word spell this time. Instead, he does something wilder: he rewrites his own work, THE AENEID. This is the first time Virgil is forced to rewrite his own work....
Jan 03, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Francesca has been a subject of fierce debate in literary history. By the mid-nineteenth century, she's been turned into an almost Byronic hero. Maybe the truth of the matter is that she's bigger than her sin. Not in a "Romantic heroine" sort of way. Maybe she escapes the poet who gives her a voice. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I explore Francesca's speech in Canto V of Dante's INFERNO. Maybe Francesca does the ultimate that a character can do: she pulls the curtain back to reveal her creator, s...
Dec 20, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Dante-the-pilgrim calls the two who are light on the wind of lust to him. When they arrive, Francesca and Paolo prove the greatest danger to the pilgrim yet. Francesca's story of her damnation may well be a master class in manipulation. Or at least so I'll present it in this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I build a case against this most provocative figure who is a seducer, a flatterer, and a master manipulator. Francesca proves so oily, she escapes the pilgrim's gra...
Dec 16, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 27
When we left Virgil and Dante in the last passage from Canto 5 of INFERNO, the pilgrim had just asked who was being tossed in the winds of lust. Virgil answers with a surprising list of the "great" sinners out on the wind: figures from shadowy antiquity, through the Trojan War, and up to medieval romance. In so doing, Virgil redefines lust, away from a "simple" sin to something more earth-shattering and socially disruptive. Then both he and the pilgrim (and maybe the poet in the background) make...
Dec 13, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Dante-the-pilgrim turns from Minos to discover the hellish hurricane that is the punishment of the lustful, mercilessly blown around this second circle of INFERNO in Canto V. But beyond the plot, it's hard to miss the language. It's getting lush, verdant, almost overgrown. Let's discover the double simile this passage, a rhetorical device that sets up the problems to come. Who are the lustful? And what is the root nature of their sin? And more importantly, what is Dante up to with these grand si...
Dec 09, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Seven deadly sins. It almost seems like a cliché at this point: lust, gluttony, sloth, avarice, anger, pride, and envy. But it wasn't always so in Christian doctrine. Nor is it so for Dante. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, in this interpolated episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE as I begin to explore some of the history of the question of which sins got labeled deadly--and why there are seven of them. (Don't worry: we'll be back to Canto V and the lustful in the next episode of the podcast.) Her...
Dec 06, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 24
In Canto V of INFERNO, we've come to the second circle of hell, where the winds of lust howl. But not quite yet. First, we must meet a connoisseur of sin: Minos. He determines which circle of hell you belong in. With a couple of exceptions. Because it's Dante--who's always restless, never quite settled! As we walk slowly across the universe in THE DIVINE COMEDY, we should expect to find things that puzzle us. And here, as usual, part of the problem is Virgil. Is he the sure guide he pretends to ...
Dec 02, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 23
In this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I look back over the first four cantos of INFERNO, an overview of where we've been and a discussion of the structure of the poem, COMEDY. I'll talk about some of the architectural details of the work's creation, about the ways that the reading of COMEDY may be more complex than you might have imagined, and about the reasons Limbo is so very strange in Dante's masterwork. There's no specific passage from COMEDY in this episode. R...
Nov 29, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Dante-the-pilgrim gets to a vantage point where he can look across the "enameled" green to see the crowd gathered in and around Limbo's castle. Our pilgrim, Dante--with our poet, Dante, never quite behind the curtain of this story--lists off the greats: Trojans, Romans, Caesar, Aristotle, even great pre-Socratic thinkers. Problem is, our poet didn't know many of these thinkers and writers except by name. He only knew of Plato by an incomplete translation of one minor work. What's more, he includ...
Nov 25, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Support WALKING WITH DANTE to keep it sponsor-free by going to a PayPal account here . In this passage for the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE, we're still following Dante-the-pilgrim through Limbo. He's at a place where he sees four great shades coming toward him (and Virgil). They are Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan. They welcome Virgil back and do something more shocking: admit Dante to their company. Then it gets weirder still as they walk on to a beautiful castle, with green grass and fresh water...
Nov 22, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Dante-the-pilgrim and Virgil walk across Limbo, surely the largest surface in hell, seemingly a plain or a large "campo." The pilgrim's got so many questions. And Virgil's got answers. Sometimes, the two match. And sometimes, an answer raises more questions than it answers. Mostly because Virgil has no clue about Christian theology. Such a strange guide in this most Christian of poems. What's more, maybe we can hear a bit of elegy in Virgil's voice here in Limbo. Is he the allegory of human reas...
Nov 18, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Limbo is the first circle of INFERNO, the first ring of hell--but that's already a problem. How can limbo be in hell? Isn't it a state somewhere between the redeemed and the damned? Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I talk through the developing theological notions of Limbo before and up to Dante's day--and the ways our poet has chosen to change church doctrine to suit his purposes. Here are the segments of this episode: [00:46] The basic definition of Limbo. [01:30] My interpretive framework: everyb...
Nov 15, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 18
In this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE, we take the first steps into the first circle of hell, the "real deal" of INFERNO, the first canticle of THE DIVINE COMEDY. And as you might imagine, we encounter some difficulties--mostly theological, although maybe also related to Virgil and even Dante-the-poet behind it all. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we come to a place that exists as an "out" in Christian theology--and that fully expresses Dante-the-poet's ambivalence toward his own accept...
Nov 14, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 17
In this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE, we finish canto III of INFERNO, standing on the shores of Acheronte, the river that forms the outer border of hell. Charon is busy with this job, Virgil is suddenly more parental toward the pilgrim than he's been so far, and Dante? When the earthquake hits, he's apparently beyond help. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we take a slow walk across THE DIVINE COMEDY and discover the sheer complexity of this masterwork of Western culture. Here are the se...
Nov 08, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 16
On this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, we start the second major scene in Canto III of INFERNO: Charon, his boat, Acheronte (the river he crosses), and the souls waiting to be ferried into deep hell. But first, a spat. Between Virgil and our pilgrim. Something's amiss. It's always amiss when you're walking across the universe with your mentor. When the universe is a hierarchy, those on top have to maintain their position. And those below have to try to climb up over them to get heard. As with th...
Nov 04, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Our pilgrim, Dante, and his guide, Virgil, walk just beyond the gate of hell to encounter, well, the sort of hell we thought we were going to get all along. More specifically, we're come to the place of the angels and humans who refused to make a choice in this life, all of whom are stung by wasps and flies, all of whom are steeped in maggots. A cliché of images, this passage is also the wild west of Christian theology. Dante-the-poet is making it up fast and loose! Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as ...
Nov 01, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Dante the pilgrim and his guide, Virgil, are taking their first steps into hell in INFERNO, Canto III. Let's pause with these two at the gate of hell with its famous inscription ("Abandon hope!"). And let's note something strange: You enter hell through an act of reading. The words on the gate, yes. But also perhaps these words in the poet's text. And if we read the words right, we can get a most unusual thing: a cheerful look from Virgil. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I walk with Dante the pilgr...
Oct 28, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Beatrice has bested Virgil. Virgil has bested Dante, our pilgrim. Virgil not only told the pilgrim about Beatrice, but he also diagnosed his main problem (cowardice). And he's offered him hope. So Dante can do nothing else except set off across the universe. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we finish Canto II of Inferno on the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE and get ready to descend into the mouth of hell (or at least Canto III of Inferno, the first true descent in COMEDY). Here are the segments to this ...
Oct 25, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Where's Dante, our pilgrim? Not in this passage! He's fallen out of his own poem as Virgil and Beatrice engage in the salvos of their rhetorical battle. And where's hell, the promised inferno, the tortured sinners? Well, sort of here. I mean, Virgil's standing right there. Except we're headed to the very heights of heaven with Beatrice. And what ultimately wins the day? A story. Beatrice's story of her journey to hell to save Dante. To set him on the road to heaven? Maybe. But more importantly, ...
Oct 21, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 11
After Dante confesses his unworthiness in the opening of Canto II of INFERNO, Virgil clarifies the matter. "You're not hesitant for modesty's sake. You're a coward." Then Virgil does what humans do. He tells a story. One that's almost too good to be true: the first time Virgil met Beatrice. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for more steps on the journey across the known universe on the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE. Here are the segments of this episode: [02:13] My English translation of this passage from ...
Oct 18, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 10
We were almost underway, but important things must happen before we can go any farther. On this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we start the Canto II of INFERNO and discover that the Dante-the-pilgrim is almost undone by his doubts. How does he get rid of them? He decides to play a rhetorical game with his poetic master, Virgil. As they say, if you want to get famous, punch up! And Virgil is definitely up from this poet who has written a book, a few lyric poems, and s...
Oct 14, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Help support WALKING WITH DANTE to keep it sponsor-free by donating to cover hosting, streaming, licensing, and sound effect royalties through a PayPal account here . In this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, we'll look back over Inferno, Canto I, the one we've just finished. I'll start by reading it again. I want you to see its scope, its arc. Then we'll explore this giant piece of architecture that is Dante's COMEDY. I'll go on for a bit about what makes Dante-the-poet so very unusual among us hu...
Oct 11, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In a previous episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE, I talked a lot about how Dante defines Virgil as a poet, not a philosopher, and why that was important in Dante's medieval context. But there's more to Virgil than just poetry. There's prophecy. Because the most important part of being a poet is being a prophet, too. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we now find out why and how being a prophet is so crucial to a poet's role in this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE. We'll hear Virgil pr...
Oct 07, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, we meet Dante-the-pilgrim's first and great guide, the Roman poet Virgil. (Bonus stuff not in the episode: long down the poem, we'll discover that Virgil may well be Dante-the-PILGRIM's guide but may not be Dante-the-POET's guide. But that's a complicated bit and far ahead of us at this point.) For now, Virgil is Dante's master, his "author." Except he's also Virgil, a guy who has a limited understanding of the universe. What happens when you meet your hero...
Oct 04, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Dante's journey across the universe is underway--except it's not. It stops almost the moment it begins in COMEDY. What happens when you set off in a new direction but have no clue where you're going? Apparently, you get blocked by the beasts of your imagination. Or maybe by more than beasts. By symbols. Even allegories. Personal, political, and/or social. This is a tough passage that has eaten gallons of scholarly ink over the centuries. I'll give you different ideas for these animals "mean." Bu...
Sep 30, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 5
In INFERNO, Canto I, Dante comes awake in a dark wood. So now what? He knows he has to walk out. But where? And how? This fourth episode of WALKING WITH DANTE is actually is the second passage we cover from INFERNO itself. Intriguingly, this is one of the few moments in the poem in which our pilgrim, Dante, is all by himself. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I start the first steps of the journey with the pilgrim. In this passage, we'll discover some of the lush poetry that has made COMEDY endure fo...
Sep 26, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Who was Dante? Actually, that's two questions in one. First, how did this hard-working if not formerly brilliant poet and would-be politician from a rather lackluster family end up writing COMEDY, arguably the greatest work of Western literature? Second, when was Dante? What was his historical moment like? Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I tell you a bit about the the poet's upbringing, his troubles, and the times he lived in, reaching back to the early 1200s to bring his story up to and just beyon...
Sep 26, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 3
In this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, we take the first steps with our pilgrim, Dante, as he wakes up in a dark wood and starts his walk . . . through hell? No way! Across the known universe. But before the stars, he first finds himself in a dark wood. He's in a mid-life crisis. Not his. Ours. He doesn't know how he got there. He just knows it's a bad place. So bad that it makes him quake even as he tries to write about it years later. Which means there are two Dantes in the poem: the pilgrim w...
Sep 26, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 2
