At the end of PURGATORIO, Canto I, l'd like to stop and start a larger discussion of what Purgatory is. It may surprise you to learn that it's fairly new doctrine in Dante's day--and that our poet is one of the people who actually sets the terms of its theology. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin a much larger discussion, one that will happen over the first nine cantos of PURGATORIO, about what exactly this place is and how it came to be such a crucial part of (some) Christian theology. Here ...
Apr 12, 2023•16 min•Season 2Ep. 10
We come to the end of PURGATORIO, Canto I. Cato has disappeared. Virgil and Dante wander around (despite being told exactly what to do). And Dante the pilgrim discovers that he himself can still change in a world where everything else is fixed or permanent. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the final passage in the Canto I of Dante's PURGATORIO, the second third of his masterwork, COMEDY. The poem has so many surprises that it's hard to keep track! Here are the segments for this episode of...
Apr 09, 2023•27 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Virgil has replied to Cato--and now it's Cato's turn to answer back. This time, Cato doesn't seem so threatening. He seems more willing to help Virgil and Dante. Why could that be? Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Cato's second speech at the opening of PURGATORIO. We'll talk through its implications and see how it opens up the possibilities of redemption this early on in the second third of Dante's masterwork, COMEDY. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:13] My...
Apr 05, 2023•35 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Our second episode on this tough passage. Here, we focus on Cato and Marcia, two big problems in the text. Why and how is Cato redeemed? Or is he? And how does Marcia pray for him from Limbo? In the end, love moves the fence. But not without costs. Not without hairline fractures in Dante's COMEDY. Because moving the fence is always costly. But necessary. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:37] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 49 - 84. If you'd li...
Apr 02, 2023•34 min•Season 2Ep. 7
We have come to one of the strangest moments so far in COMEDY: the moment we recognize the lone old man is in fact the Roman pagan Stoic suicide Cato. This moment breaks COMEDY in so many ways that we're going to spend two episodes of the podcast looking at this passage from PURGATORIO. In this episode, we're going to focus on Virgil and (to a lesser extent) Dante in the passage (thereby saving Cato and his wife Marcia for the next episode). What does this long speech tell us about Virgil's poss...
Mar 29, 2023•33 min•Season 2Ep. 6
As Dante the pilgrim gazes at the gorgeous sky, he finds an old man standing next to him, a figure who will startle us (if not the pilgrim) and who will eventually cue us that all is not what it seems in the second third of Dante's COMEDY. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we turn with the pilgrim to PURGATORIO's first great surprise. Let's talk about this old man without identifying him yet--because that's exactly what our text does. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:1...
Mar 26, 2023•27 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Dante the poet leads us in a slow turn toward Dante the pilgrim, his "fictional" alter ego, who is looking up at the heavens--that is, at Venus, at four new-to-him stars, and at the gorgeous sapphire color of a predawn sky. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we come to see the emotional complexity Dante has learned to encode in this short passage after the craft developed in the writing of INFERNO. The turn to the pilgrim is a beautiful moment, with resonances of hope and loss throughout--perhaps, the...
Mar 22, 2023•35 min•Season 2Ep. 4
These are the opening lines of PURGATORIO, in whcih we start, not with the Dante the pilgrim (as we did in INFERNO), but with Dante the poet, who puts his hubris and his doubts on full display. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slow-walk through the opening lines of the second canticle, the second third, of Dante's masterwork COMEDY. We'll hear the poet state his intentions and hear him cite a bit of orthodox theology as well as some possibly heterodox bits. He'll also invoke the muses, not to gui...
Mar 19, 2023•33 min•Season 2Ep. 3
As I told you in the previous episode of this podcast, we're taking PURGATORIO in chunks, rather than small bits. Or more like, first chunks, then small bits. And here's our first chunk: cantos 1 - 2 in my English translation. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our exploration of the shores of Purgatory. I'll first read through the first two cantos of the middle canticle from Dante's masterwork, COMEDY. Then I'll raise some initial interpretive questions--although there will be lots more as w...
Mar 15, 2023•29 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Support WALKING WITH DANTE to keep it sponsor-free by donating what you can via this PayPal link here . Welcome back! We've been on hiatus for a bit, after we finished INFERNO. (If, that is, you're listening to this podcast IRT.) And now we're ready to start our climb up the next third of the poem: the mountain of purgation, the (perhaps) most human section of Dante's divine masterpiece. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I offer a little introduction to PURGATORIO--not so much to the poem but to our ...
Mar 12, 2023•26 min•Season 2Ep. 1
We have come to the end of our slow-walk across Dante's INFERNO, the first third (or so) of his masterpiece, COMEDY. But there are admittedly things we missed. Perhaps you'd like to deepen your understanding of INFERNO? Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for some hints about how to further your study of this first (and most famous) part of Dante's poem. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [00:55] Consider using the medieval Florentine, particularly the rhyme and the rhythm of the...
Feb 01, 2023•12 min•Season 1Ep. 231
We've come to the end of our slow-walk through INFERNO, the first third of Dante's masterpiece, COMEDY. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for some final thoughts on this overwhelming poem. No conclusions, really. Just some access points to help you think more about this incredible journey. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:28] One negative assessment: There are some awkward transition points in the poem. [03:34] One possible explanation for those awkward points: Gothic jux...
Jan 29, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 230
We finish off INFERNO in my English translation, which you can find on my website: markscarbrough.com. But I hope you don't go there. I hope you sit back and listen to the conclusion of the first piece of Dante's journey across the known universe. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we finish reading INFERNO, one of the final steps before we're ready to move on to PURGATORIO. [01:33] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 32 - 34
Jan 25, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 229
Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we fast-walk (!) through Dante's INFERNO, the first third (or so) of his masterpiece, COMEDY (or "The Divine Comedy," as some insist on calling it--although he never did). We're completed our slow walk through the poem in over 200 episodes of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE. Now we're celebrating by reading straight through my English translation. You can find this translation on my website: markscarbrough.com . It's broken into smaller passages there. But I hope you ...
Jan 22, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 228
We're continuing to read through my English translation of INFERNO--which you can find on my website: markscarbough.com. But I hope you don't. I hope you sit back and enjoy the work for what it is at its core: a story. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we pass through the eighth and ninth evil pouches of fraud, the vast eighth circle of INFERNO. We'll see Ulysses, Guido da Montefeltro, Mohammed, the poet Bertran de Born, and a host of schismatics, all ripped to pieces by a demon in their pit. Doesn't...
Jan 18, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 227
We're continuing on our journey, which has become a read-through of INFERNO. Having walked the first third (or so) of Dante's COMEDY passage by passage, even line by line, we're now experiencing this masterwork for what it truly is: a story. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I read through my English translation of INFERNO. You can find these passages on my website: markscarbrough.com . But I wish you wouldn't. I wish you'd just sit back and revel in the plot. Which in this case is the evil pouch of ...
Jan 15, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 226
Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we celebrate the conclusion of our slow-walk through INFERNO, the first third of Dante's masterpiece, COMEDY, by reading straight through INFERNO. In this episode, we'll read cantos 21 - 23. This translation is my own. You can find it on my website: markscarbrough.com. But I wish you wouldn't. Especially if you've been on this long walk with us, I wish you'd just sit back and enjoy the plot. [01:58] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 21 - 23
Jan 11, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 225
We're continuing to read INFERNO for what it truly is: a glorious plot, the story of a guy who wakes up lost and walks across the known universe. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we walk with him through the first of the evil pouches of fraud: the panderers/seducers, the flatterers, the simoniacs, and the diviners. This translation is my own. You can find it on my website: markscarbrough.com . But I wish you wouldn't. I wish you'd just sit back and revel in the plot. It's a marvel of the imagination...
Jan 08, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 224
We've finished our slow-walk through INFERNO, passage by passage, bit by bit, allusion by allusion, across over two hundred episodes of WALKING WITH DANTE. Now, we're "simply" taking the canticle of pain for its plot--which may well be the heart of the work's genius. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we read through my English translation of INFERNO, Cantos 14 - 17. I'm reading my own English translation, which you can find on my website: markscarbrough.com . But honestly, I wish you wouldn't. I hope...
Jan 04, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 223
We have finished our slow-walk through the first canticle of Dante's masterwork, COMEDY. And we're celebrating by reading the cantos straight through in my English translation--because we must remember, above all else, that Dante's work is a story, a narrative, the journey of one human across the known universe. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I read through INFERNO, Cantos 11 - 13. Sit back and enjoy the story. It's worth every step. [02:05] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 11 - 13
Jan 01, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 222
We're continuing our read-through of Dante's INFERNO, the first canticle of COMEDY, as we conclude our long study of this first third (or so) of Dante's medieval poem and contemporary masterpiece. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I read through INFERNO, Cantos 8 - 10: across Styx, before the walls of Dis, into the city of Dis, and to the heretics in their tombs. [01:24] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 8 - 10
Dec 28, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 221
We've finished our walk across INFERNO, passage by passage, interpretive knot by interpretive knot. It's now time to see Dante's INFERNO for what it is: a story of one person's walk across the known universe. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I read through INFERNO, Cantos 4 - 7. Sit back and enjoy the story. Because at the end of it all, that's what it is: a story. [02:05] Reading INFERNO, Cantos 4 - 7.
Dec 25, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 220
We're not ready to finish our walk across hell. Instead, there's one more thing to do: hear the walk for what it is. A story. A narrative through-line. An adventure. A journey. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore INFERNO, not as a series of interpretive points, but as a whole, as a story, as an incredible product of the human imagination. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [00:55] The point of reading INFERNO through. [03:07] The way each read-through will work for...
Dec 21, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 219
Can you believe we got here? The final lines of the first canticle of Dante's masterwork, COMEDY. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we climb out of hell to see the most gorgeous things we know: the stars in the heavens above. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [00:58] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXXIV, lines 127 - 139. If you'd like to read long, drop a comment, or print it off, go to my website: markscarbrough.com . [02:35] Dante the poet enters Vi...
Dec 18, 2022•15 min•Season 1Ep. 218
We've come beyond Satan and are standing in a giant, empty, baronial hall, waiting to get out of hell. But not before our pilgrim, Dante, gets some answers. And from whom would he get those answers if not from Virgil--who remains true to himself to the end of INFERNO, despite all the ribbing and drubbing he's been through. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the next to the last passage of INFERNO: Virgil's explanation time and the very formation of the universe. Here are the segments of thi...
Dec 14, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 217
There's much more to be said about this problem of up, down, and spin after Dante the pilgim and Virgil pass the center of the earth. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I explore this problem: the world upside-down and the enforced rereading of INFERNO to turn it into COMEDY, the dominant form of Western civilization. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:28] Once more, a reading of my English translation of INFERNO, Canto XXXIV, lines 70 - 93. If you'd like to print it off,...
Dec 11, 2022•21 min•Season 1Ep. 216
We've seen it all. Now we just have to get out. And to do that, we have to make a big turnaround on Virgil's shoulders. Right at Satan's butt. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we pass the center point in the universe, a place where the action of grace suddenly comes into focus. Satan is the way out of hell. Satan is the pivot for the entire universe. The way down has been the way up all along. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:38] My English translation of the passage...
Dec 07, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 215
We've come to our last moments in hell. Here, our pilgrim Dante sees the three worst sinners in human history: Judas Iscariot, Brutus, and Cassius. Wait . . . what? Brutus and Cassius. Indeed, being gnashed by Satan at the center of the earth. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we walk through this difficult passage and try to figure out its many tricky implications . . . and its little bit of bawdy humor. This is Dante, after all. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:23] M...
Dec 04, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 214
Dante the pilgrim has seen the final vision of INFERNO: Satan, looked in the ice sheet of Cocytus. Perhaps it's wise to step back and think about where this figure of Satan comes from--and how it exists as a concept in Dante's day. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I try to clear away modern notions of Satan to see what's so unusual about Dante's portrayal. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:20] The origins of Satan from Hebraic traditions. [05:26] Two spots where Christ...
Nov 30, 2022•18 min•Season 1Ep. 213
We're about to get a good look at Satan, closer and closer, until we can see the color of his faces. Yes, faces. Three of them. Some trinitarian perversion lies at the center of the universe. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we walk up to Satan with Dante, our pilgrim, and Virgil, his guide. We're nearing the end of the infernal landscape. And we're finding out what will replace it: awe. Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:25] My English translation of the passage: INFER...
Nov 27, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 212
