A second figure speaks up--this time, a leper named Capocchio who wants to gossip about the fools of Siena and find a personal connection with our pilgrim, Dante. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this final passage in Inferno, Canto XXIX. We're in the tenth of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") of fraud, among the invalids in a medieval hospital of the damned. And we're hanging onto our humanity in the only ways we can. Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DAN...
Aug 10, 2022•30 min•Season 1Ep. 181
The first falsifier in the tenth of the evil pouches of fraud (those famed "malebolge") steps up to tell his tale: a funny joke about grifting, the stupidity of his mark, and the unexpected whims of damnation in Dante's INFERNO. Dante is clearly having a good time. And we should, too. Because one of the ways you save your humanity, even in hell, is to laugh at human foibles. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for an explication of this short passage toward the end of canto XXIX in INFERNO. We've got a st...
Aug 07, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 180
We've come to the final evil pouch (or "malebolge") in the giant, hellish circle of fraud, Dante's largest piece of real estate in all of COMEDY. This last pit is also one of the more disgusting spots in Inferno: a medieval medical ward, full of contagion, the nightmare for anyone in the 1300s. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we hear from the first of many of the damned in this foul pit--and as we watch Dante the pilgrim hold onto his humanity, even in the face of the sorts of diseases that could k...
Aug 03, 2022•36 min•Season 1Ep. 179
The pilgrim, Dante, and his guide, Virgil, finally come to the last of the ten evil pouches of fraud (those famed "malebolge")--and wow, it's a doozy! They walk above a medieval malarial ward, full of festering bodies, rank sickness, and disgusting smells. This pit may well be the foulest yet. But if Dante and Virgil can walk it, so can we. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin to explore the farthest reaches of fraud in Dante's INFERNO. Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKI...
Jul 31, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 178
You thought we were done with the ninth pit of fraud and the schismatics? No way! We're still there, no matter if Bertran de Born's appearance felt like an ending. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this coda to the terrifying evil pouch (or malebolge) of fraud in Dante's INFERNO. In this passage, Dante sees a family member for the first time in the afterlife. And he may come to the first resolution of the vendetta theme that has run through INFERNO all along. Here are the segments of this ...
Jul 27, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 177
We end the crowded ninth evil pouch of the schismatics with . . . a poet: Bertran de Born. A poet Dante had previously praised. A poet who wrote poetry that is a direct influence on Dante's earlier works. And a poet who has actually been with us throughout Inferno, Canto XXVIII, even if we didn't realize it. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the historical and meta-literary details in his complicated passage--and then turn to an exploration of Bertran's use of a word that has come to domin...
Jul 24, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 176
We've seen so many figures down in the ninth of the evil pouches of fraud, the ninth of the "malebolge" in Dante's INFERNO. And we're about to see more, including the guy who (maybe?) started the entire Florentine civil war that has torn Dante and his family apart. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look through a short passage to discover a figure who is at the root of Dante's own troubles. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:41] My English translation of the passage: ...
Jul 20, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 175
We're down in the crowded pit of the schismatics, the ninth of the evil pouches (or "malebolge") that make up the giant eighth circle of fraud in Dante's INFERNO. We've already seen two figures, heard about at least four others, and are about to meet yet another guy. Except he can't speak. His tongue's been cut out. Because he fomented the Roman civil war--and helps us see Dante the poet's ambivalence as an idealist. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this short passage from INFERNO about C...
Jul 17, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 174
Muhammad has walked on, but we're not finished with the schismatics and those who make scandal for the faithful. The ninth of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") of fraud is a crowded pit! Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we descend to some historical obscurity, part of the on-going difficulty of what may well be the most occluded and murky pit among all those in the giant, eighth circle of fraud in INFERNO. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:24] My English translation ...
Jul 13, 2022•24 min•Season 1Ep. 173
We're down among the scandal makers and the schismatics in the ninth of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") that make up the great circle of fraud in Dante's INFERNO. We've heard Muhammad talk about his mutilation--and now we have the answer to his question as to who the pilgrim is. But Dante doesn't answer. Virgil does. And his answer provokes the most shocking line in all of INFERNO. You might miss it. But join me, Mark Scarbrough, to catch this miraculous utterance in all its truth. Here are t...
Jul 10, 2022•24 min•Season 1Ep. 172
We've come to the ninth pouch of fraud--and perhaps the most shocking malebolge of them all. Here stands Muhammad mangled in a pit full of those who create scandals and those who make schisms. But which is Muhammad for Dante? Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore one of the most vulgar and shocking passages in all of INFERNO. Dante may be overcompensating for his Crusading ethic, or trying to overcome it, or simply stumbling over it in this passage far down toward the center of hell. Here are ...
Jul 06, 2022•36 min•Season 1Ep. 171
We have come to the ninth pit of the sins of fraud, way down in the eighth circle of Dante's INFERNO. We're about to meet a set of souls--well, bodies, more like--who endure unbelievable agony, exactly as bodies have always endured agony under the sword of empire. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this complicated opening passage for canto XXVIII. It's chock full of historical references. But more importantly, our poet seems to be changing his mind. And changing the rules of the crusading ...
Jul 03, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 170
We've spent a long time in the eighth of the malebolge, the evil pouches that make up the big circle of fraud in Dante's INFERNO. Before we take our leave, let's look at the way the two speakers, Ulysses and Guido da Montefeltro, can be compared and contrasted with each other. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this review episode of two of the most rewarding cantos in all of INFERNO. I've got lots of ideas. I hope you have more. Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE...
Jun 29, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 169
Down in the eighth of the evil pouches (the malebolge) that make up the giant circle of fraud in INFERNO, Guido da Montefeltro has told the (self-justifying) tale of his life. And now comes the struggle at his death, a fight between Saint Francis and a black Cherub from hell. Join me, Mark Scarbough, as we slow-walk through INFERNO, finishing up Guido's incredible monologue about his life and death. This passage has a few problems in it, not the least of which is the off-handed way Dante (or is ...
Jun 26, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 168
Let's pull apart the first chunk of the speech from Guida da Montefeltro in the eighth of the evil pouches (the malebolge) that make up the giant, eighth circle of INFERNO--that is, the sins of fraud. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I give you my English translation of Inferno, Canto XXVII, lines 58 - 111. I'll walk you through Guido's attempt at self-justification, the ironies inherent in his speech, and the history lying behind it. I'll also give you three implications we can draw from Guido's sp...
Jun 22, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 167
Guido da Montefeltro speaks! And he speaks with the voice of J. Simon Harris, whose new translation of INFERNO has just been published. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for an interview with Harris about his new translation and then his own reading of Guido's unforgettable, self-serving, and (ultimately) self-damning monologue from this eighth evil pouch in the lower parts of fraud. Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:57] My interview with J. Simon Harris on his...
Jun 19, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 166
Guido da Montefeltro is trapped in a tongue of fire in the eighth of the malebolge (evil pouches) that make up the eighth circle of hell, the landscape of fraud. But rather than bemoan his fate, he wants to know the fate of his beloved Romagna, where he was a mercenary for years. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look over this elliptical and opaque passage, which is the pilgrim's response to Guido's question of whether his home is at war or peace these days. Here are the segments of this episode ...
Jun 15, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 165
Ulysses leaves and a second flame shows up in the eighth of the malebolge, the evil pouches of fraud in Dante's INFERNO. Ulysses may be the great tragic figure, but this one is muttering, sputtering. He's a whining politician (and a local Romagna warlord). In other words, we're leaving epic and moving to comedy--as always with Dante. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slow-walk through Dante's incomparable COMEDY. We're down in lower hell, toward the bottom of the eighth (or next-to-the-last) circl...
Jun 12, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 164
In the last episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, I built a case against Ulysses without using anything but his own words against him. How do we know Ulysses is damned (other than Dante's placing him in the Inferno)? Where does his culpability lie? Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this episode in which I build the case FOR Ulysses. Why does he so stand out among the sinners in hell (and even among the saints above us)? Why has his speech provoked more commentary than any other passage in Dante's COMEDY? H...
Jun 08, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 163
In the last episode of this podcast, we took apart Ulysses' speech to discover its poetics and uncover some of its historical roots. Now it's time to turn to the interpretation of his words. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I build a case against Ulysses. Yes, he's in hell. But that's not enough for us readers to condemn him, given his rousing rhetoric and gorgeous poetics. What can we learn from his speech that will help us put him far down in hell, as Dante does? Here are the segments of this epis...
Jun 05, 2022•24 min•Season 1Ep. 162
Finally, Ulysses. We've waited long enough. Here he is in all his glory: a figure out of classical literature, whom Dante couldn't know, whom Dante wants to know, whom Dante admires, whom Dante damns. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Ulysses' monologue in this first of three episodes on this most-written-about passage from INFERNO. In this episode, we'll discuss what Ulysses says, rather than what it means, untying some of the knots to better understand the gorgeous poetry at the root of ...
Jun 01, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 161
Virgil has introduced Dante the pilgrim to the twinned souls in the tongue of fire: Ulysses and Diomedes. But there's a problem. Who will talk to them? Who is worthy to discuss such illustrious Greeks? Not Dante--that's for sure. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this little back-and-forth between a very impatient pilgrim and his guide, who wins the battle and is willing to both abase and aggrandize himself to finally hear from the great Ulysses. Here are the segments of this episode of WA...
May 29, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 160
We're in the eighth circle of hell, INFERNO's vast landscape of fraud. And we're way down in the eight of the evil pouches (the malebolge) that make up this most mucky and disgusting place--which holds one of the most noble and revered figures from classical poetry: Ulysses. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we get our first glimpse of Ulysses, trapped inside a tongue of fire with his compatriot, Diomedes. Virgil offers us an explanation for their damnation. We'll explore that bit first before we fin...
May 25, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 159
Our first glimpse into the eighth of the evil pouches (the malebolge) that make up the giant circle of fraud in Dante's INFERNO. Except nothing's as clear as it should be. Two complex metaphors, a bumbling pilgrim, and a useless Virgil: it all adds up to the sort of interpretive fun we expect from Dante. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slow-walk with Dante across hell and beyond. We're gearing up for one of the best sinners of hell. And it's proving challenging from the start. Here are the segme...
May 15, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 158
Dante and his guide, Virgil, leave the seventh of the evil pouches (the malebolge) of fraud by means of a rocky scramble. Then the poet stops and drops into a short discussion of poetic theory. He's coming to understand how he has to write his own masterwork, COMEDY. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this short passage from INFERNO, sandwiched between two tour-de-force performances in the poem. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:52] My English translation of the passage...
May 11, 2022•22 min•Season 1Ep. 157
Hi, I'm Mark Scarbrough and we've been walking with Dante for a long time. We're doing it slowly, a passage at a time, and we've come through some of the roughest bits of INFERNO, passages that require a great deal of classical learning and poetic know-how. This episode is my attempt to step back and get our bearings again. Why are we taking this walk? Why should we wrestle with Dante's masterwork, COMEDY? And how does Dante make sure his work remains readable? Here are the segments of this epis...
May 08, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 156
We have spent a long time with the thieves in the seventh of the malebolge or the evil pouches of fraud's eighth circle of hell. It's time for a retrospective! Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I bring more questions than answers to this most curious pit of hell. What's going on with all these metamorphoses? Where's our pilgrim in all this? And our poet? And what's truth, what's made up, and what's the difference? Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE: [02:41] The en...
May 04, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 155
Dante the poet has finally wrapped up the pilgrim's time in the seventh of the evil pouches, the "malebolge" that make up the eighth circle of INFERNO, the great expanse of fraud. Our thieves have gone off stage and we're left with both an uncertain poet and a very certain prophet who sees Florence's destruction in the offing. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the final passage among the thieves, a passage that stretches over the canto break from INFERNO XXV to canto XXVI. Here are the seg...
May 01, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 154
We've already explored the source material behind the third metamorphosis in the pit of the thieves, the seventh of the malebolge in the great landscape of fraud. Now let's talk through the implications in this passage. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we run from the mundane to the meta-insane with this most complicated metamorphosis, in which Dante the poet finally busts up the camaraderie he's had with his forefather poets and, well, becomes his own literary father. Or is scared to become him. Or...
Apr 27, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 153
We've reached the third and final metamorphosis in the seventh of the evil pouches, the malebolge that make up the eighth circle of hell in INFERNO. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Lucan, Ovid, and Dante's own masterwork COMEDY to uncover the roots of this complicated yet clear passage among the thieves in hell. Identity theft is not just a modern problem. It's a medieval one, too. Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE: [02:23] My English translation of ...
Apr 24, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 152
