Our pilgrim has found himself in the dark of night, a time where he loses all effort on Mount Purgatory. But don't get too sleepy, Dante. You can get run over by the slothful, all at a full gallop in a Bacchic frenzy. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we return to the plot after Virgil's discourses on love, here on the fourth terrace of Mount Purgatory. If you'd like to help underwrite the many fees associated with this podcast, please consider donating a small monthly stipend or a one-time gift at this PayPal link right here. These are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:42] My ..read more

Virgil offers his third discourse on love at the middle of PURGATORIO to 1) show his work about ethics derived from Aristotle's notions of substance and cause and 2) to make sure the pilgrim understands that his actions are his own fault. This is a complicated passage with lots of historical resonances, particularly from Aristotle and Plato (as understood through Aquinas). It'll take us some work to unpack it, but we'll get very close to our modern understanding of ethics. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the last of Virgil's major discourses. If you'd like to help underwrite the m ..read more

Virgil has finished his second, clarifying discourse on love, but it hasn't done the trick. The pilgrim Dante is even more full of doubts . . . pregnant with them, in fact. Let's look at the pilgrim's second question to Virgil's discourse on love and talk about the complex ways Beatrice and even physical desire operate in the poem. I'm Mark Scarbrough. Thanks for coming on the journey with me. If you'd like to help underwrite the many fees associated with this podcast, you can do so at this PayPal link right here. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [02:19] My English ..read more

As Dante the pilgrim gets ready to leave the third terrace of Purgatory, the terrace of the angry, he has three ecstatic visions that warn about the dangers of excessive wrath. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at these visions and try to come to terms with the problem that Dante's rage may sit at the very center of COMEDY. If you'd like to help underwrite the many fees for this podcast, please consider donating a very small monthly stipend or a one-time gift using this PayPal link right here. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:11] My English translation of th ..read more

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. Tha ..read more

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 fo ..read more

We're still walking on top of the reliefs of the prideful in the road bed of the first terrace of Mount Purgatory after the gate: the terrace of pride. Here, Dante the pilgrim sees four more figures: two from the classical age and two from the Biblical age. And the classical figures seem distinctly connected to art. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore another short passage on the reliefs in the road bed of the terrace of pride. Would you like to help support this podcast? I have many fees--domain, licensing, streaming, hosting, and more--and I could use a little help covering them, since I ..read more

In answer to the pilgrim's request that Virgil show his work on the nature of love, Virgil (and the poet Dante behind him) condense and recast the very bases of the thinking in Western culture: Aristotle's notion that the objective world creates a mental picture that forms the basis of any action. This passage is one of the most complex in PURGATORIO. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we take apart its claims and some of the translation problems both from the poetry's concision and the seismic change in thought after the Enlightenment. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE ..read more

Virgil seemed to have come to a resting place in his monumental discourse on love: "Here's all I know . . . and all I don't know." But the pilgrim is less than satisfied. He wants Virgil to continue on, to show his work for these complex syllogisms. And Dante the poet is not done with Virgil either, given the mirrored structure of cantos XVII and XVIII. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we move beyond the mid-point of COMEDY and our pilgrim asks for more about how love is the seed of all human actions. If you'd like to help underwrite the many costs and fees associated with this podcast, please con ..read more

We've come to the middle of PURGATORIO . . . and indeed the middle of COMEDY as a whole. Let's take a breather and review where we've been in Purgatory since our very slow approach sometimes (or often?) causes us to privilege the trees over the forest. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I walk you through the first half of PURGATORIO one more time, mostly to remind you where we've been, but also to make sure we all understand the majestic, imaginative sweep of this canticle so far (and this poem so far). If you'd like to help underwrite this podcast, with a one-time donation or even a small monthly ..read more