Walking With Dante

Virgil has promised Dante the pilgrim clarity if they press on toward the ring of towers ahead. But then maybe they don't need to, since Virgil explains it all anyway. And even after he explains it, Dante the poet insists on the illusion of towers.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the further journey in Canto XXXI, the liminal spot between the eighth and ninth circles of INFERNO. This is a canto of reversals, one in which the poet Dante is determined to remind us continually of his poetic art.Here are the segments for this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:35] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXXI, lines 28 - 45. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:18] Virgil's affection: another reversal in Canto XXXI.[06:39] A commonplace simile after two very learned similes or classical references.[09:38] Promised clarity, delivered fear, and the insistence on illusion.[13:26] Monteriggioni, its towers, and treachery against the Holy Roman Empire.[16:28] INFERNO itself as a liminal space--that is, the threshold between the classical and Christian worlds.[24:50] Rereading the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXXI, lines 28 - 45.

We've come through the ten malebolge or evil pouches of fraud, but we're not to the ninth circle of INFERNO yet. Instead, we're walking with Dante the pilgrim and his guide Virgil in one of the strangest spots in all of INFERNO: a liminal space between two circles, a spot where revelation, creativity, and even transgressive behaviors are free to roam.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as take our first steps into this canto of misperceptions and muddled historical references, a canto in which Dante the poet becomes as creative as he can be within the confines of INFERNO.Here are the segments for this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:19] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXXI, lines 7 - 27. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:16] Inferno's Canto XXXI involves a series of reversals--with three examples in this short passage.[08:37] Virgil becomes a natural philosopher in the model of Vitello from his work PERSPECTIVA.[12:37] Roland's horn and Charlemagne's defeat are the historical nodes in Canto XXXI.[17:02] Misperception is the repeated motif as Dante the pilgrim approaches the final revelation in each of the three canticles of COMEDY.[21:14] Inferno's Canto XXXI is a liminal space between two circles of hell.[26:28] What are the hallmarks of a liminal space?[30:55] A rereading of this passage: INFERNO, Canto XXXI, lines 7 - 27.

Here's our last episode on the giant eighth circle of INFERNO, the largest piece of real estate Dante creates in COMEDY.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I raise some interpretive questions, talk about why we read works of literature in the first place, and try to figure out what Dante is up to among the fraudulent. I've got more questions than answers. I hope to spur on a few in you.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:53] What in the end does fraud mean to Dante? How and why does he rank these sins in the way he does?[13:28] The eighth circle of INFERNO is perhaps the most human part of hell. What does that mean for us modern readers? (And my thoughts about reading works of literature "humanistically.")[24:40] The eighth circle of hell seems to invite us to interpretation without offering us validation for our interpretations.[31:11] From Virgil's irritations to structural orderings, the eighth circle of hell is packed with complex ironies. It may well be the most ironic section of the canticle of irony: INFERNO.[34:05] The eighth circle of INFERNO has more women than any other circle of hell, even the second (lust). But the number's still not high. Why is hell so masculine?[37:58] The eighth circle of INFERNO has more outright references to God than any other circle of hell. What can we make of that?[40:15] The vast circle of fraud contains the most self-assured poetry so far in COMEDY.

We have been at fraud, in the eighth circle of hell, among the malebolge (or evil pouches) and with Dante the pilgrim and Virgil, for almost eighty-seven episodes of this podcast!How is that possible? Well, partly because this circle is the largest single piece of real estate in all of COMEDY. From INFERNO, Canto XXVIII, line 1, all the way to Canto XXXI, line 6.So here's the first of two sum-up episodes. This one's a retelling of the plot of INFERNO's fraud: who'd we see, how'd we react, how'd we make out?Sit back and take in the plot of so much of INFERNO, and even COMEDY as a whole. It's worth the walk.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:56] The geography of fraud.[05:37] The first evil pouch: the panderers and seducers.[07:48] The second evil pouch: the flatterers.[10:27] The third evil pouch: the simoniacs.[15:24] The fourth evil pouch: the fortune tellers.[19:38] The fifth evil pouch: the barrators.[24:58] The sixth evil pouch: the hypocrites.[28:49] The seventh evil pouch: the thieves.[31:47] The eighth evil pouch: the false counselors.[34:33] The ninth evil pouch: the schismatics.[37:51] The tenth and last evil pouch: the falsifiers.

Eleven episodes! That's how long it took us to get through the tenth and last of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") of fraud, Hell's vast eighth circle.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look back over this last pouch. I'll reread the entire pouch from my English translation. Then I'll pose six issues for more discussion: five discussion questions we would bat around if we were in a literary seminar together, and a sixth point that may help bring the last pouch into better focus.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:47] A reading of my English translation for INFERNO, Canto XXIX, Line 1, through and including Canto XXXI, Line 6. If you'd like to see this translation or read along, you can find it broken up into the various episodes on my website, markscarbrough.com.[18:13] An overview of the discussion points ahead.[18:49] Discussion point #1: Why is the tenth of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") bracketed with Virgil's rebukes?[22:55] Discussion point #2: How does the material from Ovid work inside the last of the pouches of fraud?[27:32] Discussion point #3: Why does Master Adam alone lack a double?[29:52] Discussion point #4: How exactly does Master Adam's dropsy illustrate his contrapasso? And what does that say of the punishments of other counterfeiters?[32:48] Discussion point #5: Why is Dante writing beyond the ending of Bible stories?[38:53] Discussion point #6: At the end of fraud, why does Dante the poet focus so intently on the humanity of the damned?

We've come to the bottom of the circle of fraud and to one of the most complicated, self-aware, and modern similes in all of INFERNO. Is it connected to fraud? Or to art? Or both?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Virgil's stern rebuke of the pilgrim, which brings out the poet Dante, who offers us a gorgeous simile about the divided, modern self, a self in contradiction with itself, narcissistic, if not Narcissus. Here are the bottom of fraud, we find the authentic self exposing itself as a fraud--which is about as fabulous as Dante can get.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:38] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto XXX, line 130, through Canto XXXI, line 6. If you'd like to read along or offer a comment, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:11] Why does Virgil rebuke Dante the pilgrim so aggressively? Three possible reasons.[07:50] Dante the poet appears in the passage. Why?[09:07] The poet gives us one of the most fascinating similes in INFERNO: the divided, dreaming, even "subconscious" self--which forces the pilgrim Dante into silence.[14:12] Canto XXX ends with the best passage to justify the notion of Virgil as an allegory of reason.[16:15] The progression in the passage: Virgil - the pilgrim - the poet - Virgil.[18:55] Dante is playing a dangerous game: I am the great poet who went on the pilgrim's journey to become the great poet that I am.[21:05] The tenth of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") ends with a full-on carnival of twinning.[23:47] The difficult interpretive problem of Achilles, his father, and their spear.

We're nearing the bottom of the eighth circle of hell, the fundamentals of fraud--where we're treated to an insult contest between Master Adam and Sinon, the Greek who lied to the Trojans and got them to let in the wooden horse.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we walk with the (silent!) pilgrim Dante and his mentor, (the even more silent!) Virgil, through the circles of hell and the "malebolge" of fraud. We're nearing the end of our infernal journey. And we're about to get some very low-class comedy in COMEDY.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:48] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXX, lines 104 - 129. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:21] Where is the pilgrim Dante?[06:28] How is this passage funny?[12:41] The insults are a "progression" of degradation.[15:06] What's so important about Narcissus?[16:38] Why is twinning central to this concept of fraud?[21:14] Dante may be commenting on some of the poetry of his youth: the tenzone with Forese Donati.[25:48] Is Dante being nostalgic or critical of his tenzone? Or is it even more complicated than that?[28:07] Why should we complicate this passage so much?[29:38] Rereading the entire "second act" with Master Adam: INFERNO, Canto XXX, lines 91 - 129.

We are almost done with the tenth of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") that make up the giant eighth circle of INFERNO, the vast landscape of hell.We've met several falsifiers and have spent some time with the consummate narcissist, Master Adam--who has managed to stop talking about himself long enough to point out two more falsifiers when the pilgrim Dante asks who they are.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this episode about the very roots of Western civilization and the Christian redemption story, all found down here toward the bottom of hell and the center of Dante's universe.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:12] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto XXX, lines 91 - 103. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:57] The low comedy in this passage (and in the last evil pouch of fraud in INFERNO).[07:14] Potiphar's wife and Sinon, steaming with fever in this tenth pit.[10:42] A fourth disease in the tenth pit: a fever in the blood. And a fourth type of falsifier: those who tell lies in court.[13:10] Adam, Potiphar's wife, and Sinon = the beginnings of everything Dante values.[15:14] Potiphar's wife and Sinon = two liars who start the stories of two sets of chosen people.

First, leprosy. Then rabies. And now dropsy. The medieval hospital of horrors just gets worse in the tenth of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") of fraud.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we meet one of the great sinners of hell--who is actually something of an undiscovered character. Poor Master Adam. He doesn't get the love that Francesca, Farinata, and Ulysses get. But the counterfeiter Master Adam may be just as important, given the sheer amount of space Dante gives him in INFERNO.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:21] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXX, lines 46 - 90. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[06:33] The theological problem of "bad-born" people.[10:24] A man who looks like a lute, a very high-class instrument.[12:18] Falsifiers with various diseases and medieval notions of dropsy.[14:52] Master Adam, the sarcastic narcissist.[17:41] Home, sweet home--that is, Master Adam's contrapasso.[22:25] Only three lines on his sin--but more about water in this very watery canto.[25:29] Master Adam: the biggest source of hatred so far in INFERNO and a direct threat to the new economic order.[34:14] Master Adam versus Adam in the Garden of Eden (and the new Adam, Jesus).[36:23] References to Adam at the bottom of hell.[37:17] An obscure reference to Virgil's Eclogues (and by the way, where is Virgil in all this?)[40:23] Speculations about Master Adam's large space in INFERNO. 1) Master Adam: the bottom of the universe.[41:27] 2) Master Adam: the sum of the problems of the damned.[42:44] 3) Master Adam: the new Adam, not like Jesus, but a guy from the coming, modern world.

We've been to Thebes and Troy. We've seen two rabid souls arrive to tear up old Capocchio and maybe the other alchemist. But who are these rabid pigs?Impersonators. People who pretend to be who they're not. You know, most of the modern world.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look closely at the two impersonators in the last of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") of fraud in the giant eighth circle of Dante's INFERNO.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:27] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXX, lines 34 - 45. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:03] The first rabid soul: Myrrha, a figure of incestuous love from Ovid's METAMORPHOSES.[07:30] The second rabid soul: Gianni Schicchi, a connection to the Donati family (from whom Dante's wife, Gemma, comes).[11:50] Two structural points: 1) There's so much twinning in the tenth evil pouch (or the tenth of the malebolge) of the falsifiers in INFERNO.[14:04] 2) There's a reference to the Gospel of Matthew 8: 28 - 34 running under this passage.[16:57] Two speculative questions: 1) Why are there so few women in hell?[23:14] 2) Why is impersonating someone such a terrible sin?[25:41] Maybe modern narratives need non-fluid characters to work.

We've come to the most complex opening of any canto in INFERNO. Canto XXX opens with two, long allusions about the tragedy of Thebes and Troy, both of which morph into similes for the damned, a medieval literary tour de force.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we stick around the final of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") of fraud, the eighth circle of Dante's INFERNO. We're almost done with fraud, but Dante saves the best for last: a canto that's part funny, part horrific, part repulsive, and part elegant. In other words, the heights of the poet's art.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:39] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXX, lines 1 - 33. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment, head over to my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:53] The ornate, elaborate opening of Canto XXX: two classical allusions, one about Thebes and the other about Troy.[06:00] The first allusion: to Thebes, from Ovid's METAMORPHOSES.[11:55] The second allusion: to Troy, again from Ovid's METAMORPHOSES.[15:49] A summary of these two opening allusions.[17:00] Morphing the allusions into similes.[19:46] The wealth of animal imagery in the passage--and madness as the final metamorphosis.[22:22] The plot (finally!) at the end of this long passage: Capocchio dragged off.[23:58] A bit about this rabid soul: Gianni Schicchi.[25:38] The biggest disruption of human civilization: contagion.[29:34] Canto XXX as the heart of falsification--and Dante's art.[32:02] Rereading INFERNO, Canto XXX, lines 1 - 33.

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 DANTE:[01:49] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXIX, lines 124 - 139. If you'd like to read along or even drop a comment about this episode, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:43] Capocchio the leper names two Sienese squanderers of great wealth . . . maybe.[05:01] Capocchio mentions the historic Sienese spendthrift brigafe, as well as a historical figure and then a more difficult figure to identify.[12:59] Who is this Capocchio? And why is his name a nickname?[14:45] There's a distinct tie between the tenth pit of the eighth circle of fraud (and the end of Canto XXIX) and the end of the seventh circle of violence (in Canto XVII).[17:28] Dante the poet is also a great "ape of nature."[21:11] More about holding onto your humanity, even in hell.[25:09] Gossip about the fools of this world may be a way to hold onto your humanity in hell.[26:20] Rereading the passage all the way back to INFERNO, Canto XXIX, line 109, through the end of the canto at line 139.

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 storyteller on hand. And he wants to tell us his tale.Here are the segments of this episode of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:23] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXIX, lines 109 - 123. If you'd like to read along, please find this passage on my website, markscarbrough.com. You can even drop a comment about this episode.[02:56] The first falsifier gives the details of this life but not his name. In fact, he speaks about himself using Dante the poet's favorite technique: periphrasis.[04:33] Should we trust the commentary tradition on the identity of this character?[11:01] Why must we historically identify every figure in COMEDY?[12:53] The rage for (interpretive) order may obscure the low humor of this passage.[14:41] Your actions in "real" life may not determine your place in the afterlife.[16:54] Why is alchemy such a great sin in the Middle Ages?[20:37] Poetry is alchemy--and so this pit is the climax of the narrative of the fiction in the eighth circle of fraud.[24:41] How do you keep your humanity in hell? You laugh!

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 kill him and everyone he loves.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:31] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXIX, lines 73 - 108. If you'd like to read along or leave a comment about this episode, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:25] There are echoes and contrasts in this passage to previous bits in Canto XXIX and even before.[08:55] These opening images are not pastoral. Rather, these images are distinctly up-market. Don't think "hovel." Think "manor house." (I don't mention it in the episode, but they even tie directly to Virgil's reference to "chain mail" in the passage.)[13:03] A meta-literary point: There are two narratives (or stories) in COMEDY: the narrative of the journey and the narrative of the fiction.[16:06] What diseases do these guys have? Leprosy? Scabies? Rabies? And why does it matter?[22:00] Dante's genius is on full display in the character of Virgil: a fallible, changeable, but still great poet.[24:39] How do you avoid losing your humanity in hell?[28:53] How do you avoid losing your humanity when you write about the terrible truths of the human condition?[33:12] Rereading INFERNO, Canto XXIX, lines 73 - 108.

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 WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:54] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXIX, lines 37 - 72. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment on this episode, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[05:14] The opening of this passage echoes the opening lines of INFERNO, Canto XXI.[07:28] Potential callbacks to the ninth pit of fraud: cloisters, converts, and pity.[11:12] The first simile of the passage: a malarial hospital.[15:11] The walk continues with a familiar reference and a very unusual shout-out to the "Lord on high."[20:53] Is this shout-out an eruption of the poet Dante into the pilgrim's journey?[23:17] The second simile of the passage: out of a tale from Ovid's METAMORPHOSES.[26:05] Comparing the two similes in INFERNO, Canto XXIX, lines 37 - 72.[30:02] Our first real glimpse inside the pit.[31:15] The journey continues--it’s on-going nature is our comfort in the nightmare.

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 episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:00] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXIX, lines 1 - 36. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[05:06] Beware: Canto XXIX is a weirdly fractured poetic space.[09:41] Firsts in this passage: new spatial and temporal markers.[14:54] Echoes in this passage of other spots in INFERNO.[20:53] Who was Geri del Bello?[24:52] Echoes of Aeneas and (the dead) Dido in this passage.[28:47] Vendetta is the materiality of justice: blood.[31:34] The vendetta theme so far in INFERNO.[35:39] The first resolution of the vendetta theme: compassion.[36:23] Perhaps vendetta must be reserved for God.[37:32] Canto XXIX is about preserving your humanity even in hell.[39:02] A possible character development for the pilgrim in the ninth of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") of fraud.[40:48] INFERNO is a linear journey without modern linear narrative techniques.[43:29] Rereading the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXIX, lines 1 - 36.

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 dominate Dante criticism: "contrapasso."Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:40] My English translation of this passage: Inferno, Canto XXVIII, lines 112 - 142. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment on this episode, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[06:09] Who was Bertran de Born?[10:26] Who was "the young king" Bertran de Born speaks about?[14:02] What was Bertran de Born's place in the English/French civil wars?[15:55] The first Biblical citation in the passage: Ahitophel, Absalom, and David.[17:36] The second Biblical citation in the passage: See if there is any sorrow like my sorrow.[21:53] Dante has twice mentioned Bertran de Born in other works.[23:11] Why does this passage begin with a veracity problem?[25:43] Bertran de Born's poetry has been in Canto XXVIII all along.[28:04] Why is Bertran de Born here?[30:59] What is "contrapasso"? And what are the limits of its meaning?[36:11] There may be two types of "contrapasso": actual and metaphorical.[42:48] Muhammad may bookend Canto XXVIII.[46:19] Rereading Inferno, Canto XXVIII, lines 112 - 142.

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: INFERNO, Canto XXVIII, lines 103 - 111. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[02:52] Mosca has come up before in INFERNO.[05:42] Who is Mosca dei Lamberti?[09:25] The damned seemed to have become much more "physical."[11:50] Is there a parodic reference to Christ's spilled blood here?[14:59] Mosca offers an elliptical, murky bit of advice that leads to the Florentine civil war.[18:46] Dante the pilgrim continues the political strife in this passage.[20:19] Why is the ninth of the evil pouches (of the "malebolge") so crowded? A few speculative answers.

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 Curio, the one who (maybe?) goaded Julius to cross the Rubicon and destroy the Republic to found the Roman Empire.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:00] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXVIII, lines 91 - 102. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this passage, go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:24] Who is this Curio?[09:20] Dante fulfills his promises--in the most meta-literary way![11:53] Dante the pilgrim's lines are fractured, the way the other schismatics' lines are fractured. Is that intentional?[15:57] My long-standing interpretive error from this passage.[19:04] A important warning about the horizons of interpretation.[22:03] Dante has used the line about delay from Lucan's PHARSALIA before.[24:16] From fearless to forlorn: the narrative journey of most of the damned.[25:57] Three implications from this passage. 1) Is the distinction between schismatics and scandalmongers easy or complex?[28:21] 2) These figures seem to still delight in tribalism, even in hell.[32:04] 3) Dante is an idealist---which inevitably leads to ambivalence--which inevitably leads to rage.

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 of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXVIII, lines 64 - 90. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment, look for this passage on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:44] More about wonder. And questions about the symbolism of the hacking in the ninth of the evil pouches of fraud.[07:40] Questions about tone in Pier da Medicina's speech.[08:41] Unpacking (possibly?) the history in Pier da Medicina's speech.[14:51] The curious reference to Neptune in the passage.[16:48] A warning about the historical distance between us and Dante.[21:13] Reading the passage once again: Inferno, Canto XXVIII, lines 64 - 90.

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 the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:31] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto XXVIII, lines 46 - 63. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this passage, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:03] Virgil's reply to Muhammad, much like his replies to other great, up-market figures in hell.[04:49] Virgil's (new?) explanation for COMEDY: the encyclopedic vision.[06:49] Fra Dolcino and his heresy among The Apostolic Brethren.[10:31] The important backdating of COMEDY.[11:44] The fracturing of the lines of poetry among the schismatics.[13:42] Muhammad as a stumbling block, rather than a schismatic.[15:54] The most shocking lines in all of INFERNO.[19:53] A rereading of all of the Muhammad passages in INFERNO: Canto XXVIII, lines 22 - 63.

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 the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:47] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXVIII, lines 22 - 45. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment, please find this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:35] The simile of the gapped-open barrel pairs with the free space in discourse and memory needed to write this canto.[05:57] Dante the poet emphasizes commonality ("we" and "us") in this canto.[07:17] We are moving down the body as we descend to the bottom of hell.[08:20] Muhammad tears himself open, despite the demon in the pit who also tears him apart. And Muhammad is not alone in this pit. He's another twinned character in INFERNO.[09:48] There's an important difference between "scandal" and "schism."[11:24] Is Muhammad condemned by Dante for scandal or schism?[12:17] These members of the ninth pouch are on a healing journey that is not a healing journey.[15:47] Muhammad does not recognize that Dante the pilgrim is alive, thereby linking Muhammad with Pope Nicholas III and Guido da Montefeltro.[19:12] Before we get to Muhammad, let's look at a quick history of the West's perception of Islam.[24:25] Here are three possible reasons why Muhammad is in the ninth pit of fraud. 1) Muhammad was seen as a renegade Christian.[26:06] 2) Muhammad may be here linked with the heretic Arius.[27:35] 3) Muhammad may offer an alternate path to God, a stumbling block for Christians.[31:07] Muhammad and Alì are together, showing us Dante's understanding of Islamic politics (and its basic schism).[32:21] Dante the poet surprisingly uses an Arabic word in this passage, thereby increasing its Islamic valence.

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 ethic. Because the body in pain makes and unmakes the world itself.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:41] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto XXVIII, lines 1 - 21. If you'd like to read along or even drop a comment about this episode, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:59] The opening buried reference to THE AENEID, Book VI, lines 625 - 627.[07:06] References to Pulgia and Livy explored.[10:59] References to Robert Guiscard, Manfred, and Érard de Valéry explored.[14:20] The four historical dates (or battles) in this complicated passage.[19:58] Two implications from this passage. 1) We cannot determine who will end up where in the afterlife based on wins and losses in this world.[23:27] 2) The cost of empire is the body in pain.[24:54] Some of those bodies in pain are Muslims.[25:51] The body in pain makes and unmakes language.[29:39] Back to the opening of the canto: The body in pain confounds yet needs unbound words in a hollow space.[34:15] A second reading through the passage: Inferno, Canto XXVIII, lines 1 - 21.

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:[02:50] An opening denunciation v. the journey continues.[04:54] Both canto XXVI and canto XXVII start with unfinished business from the previous canto--but canto XXVII comes to a distinct end before we enter the ninth evil pouch.[06:38] The peasant and his fireflies v. the Sicilian bull: a contrast of the two opening similes.[08:47] Sight v. sound in the two similes.[09:58] Emotional movement in the cantos: from comfy pastoral to bitter regret.[11:37] Ulysses is a classical figure; Guido is a contemporary figure.[12:45] Virgil silences Dante the pilgrim because he's not erudite enough v. Dante the pilgrim offers an erudite chronicle of the troubles in Romagna.[14:20] Ulysses' monologue v. Guido's dialogue.[16:51] Shocking speakers in the two cantos: Ulysses and Pope Boniface VIII.[18:13] Both Ulysses and Guido come up later in COMEDY.[19:34] Ulysses shows us the journey ahead; Guido shows us the dead end of remorse.[20:29] Ulysses is a great storyteller; Guido is a terrible storyteller.[22:14] Ulysses forgets his family; Guido remembers his.[23:25] Ulysses is a literary figure; Guido is a historical person.[24:52] Both Ulysses and Guido engage in the foolishness of old age.[26:34] Neither nobility nor whining can save you in Dante's universe.[29:08] Ulysses' linear crescendo v. Guido's mishmash of styles.[31:45] Both Ulysses and Guido suffer an imagined death.[32:59] Neither Virgil nor Dante reacts after either speech.[35:36] One final contrast: the body v. the soul in the seventh through the nineth of the malebolge.

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 it Guido?) mention the great Saint Francis.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:23] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto XXVII, lines 112 - 136. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please see the page on my website, walkingwithdante.com.[03:34] The quick shift from Guido's life to his death.[04:38] Two small problems at the front of this passage: a black Cherub and the name of the sin for this evil pouch.[06:19] What is fraudulent counsel?[08:03] The problem of the off-handed reference to Saint Francis.[11:28] Conversion demands a "before" and an "after"--that is, a linear story, which Guido's is not.[13:07] The demonic/Scholastic joke in the passage.[13:45] One last link between Dante the pilgrim and Guido da Montefeltro.[15:17] The journey to Minos (and maybe some meta-literary joking around, too).[16:55] Biting yourself in rage: repetition as one of Dante's key literary devices.[18:07] Guido's final words--and his humanity.[21:04] Guido's eternal mutterings.[22:37] A final textual difficulty to round out Inferno, Canto XXVII.[25:35] A final reading of Guido's entire monologue: Inferno, Canto XXVII, lines 58 - 136.

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 speech so far.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:20] My English translation of Inferno, Canto XXVII, Lines 58 - 111. If you'd like to read along or (better yet!) drop a comment about this episode, please look for it on my website, markscarbrough.com.[05:36] Guido's reaction to Dante's reply about war and peace in Romagna.[07:15] Some of the most famous lines in INFERNO.[08:28] A couple of problems with the opening lines of Guido's big monologue.[10:46] The transactional nature of fraud.[13:40] Some parallels between Dante the pilgrim and Guido.[15:44] Wishing others damned while absolving yourself (and maybe tweaking Virgil's nose, too).[16:59] Guido's residual humanity.[19:04] The irony of Guido's fame (including his fame with Dante the poet).[22:16] Dante quotes Dante--or Guido quotes Dante![23:07] The gaping hole in the theology of repentance.[24:10] Pope Boniface VIII's war in the Lateran.[26:02] A rare moment of anti-Semitism in INFERNO.[27:05] Pope Boniface VIII's "crusade" against other Christians.[29:14] Another parallel between Dante the pilgrim and Guido.[29:43] A little opacity in Guido's monologue.[30:25] The difficult reference to Constantine and Pope Sylvester I.[33:05] Guido's ultimate self-justification.[33:54] Pope Boniface VIII's offer: a preemptive pardon.[35:11] The pope's two keys.[36:19] Guido's false counsel.[37:15] Ultimate poetic justice and earthly misunderstandings.[38:33] Three implications from Guido's monologue so far. 1) He's a terrible storyteller (but also a bit like Dante).[40:57] 2) Guido's story is built on the "confessio topos."[43:18] 3) Did Dante the poet invent Guido's story?

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 new translation of INFERNO.[21:07] Harris reads his own translation of Guido's monumental monologue: INFERNO, Canto XXVII, lines 58 - 129.

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 of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:57] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXVII, lines 31 - 57. If you''d like to read along or drop a comment, please do so on my website, markscarbrough.com.[05:16] The pilgrim's eager desire is still intact toward the figures in the eighth evil pouch of fraud.[06:32] Two nice details in the opening tercet (or three-line stanza).[09:08] The big word for this passage: "tyrants."[11:03] Rationales for the opaque and elliptical complications in Dante the pilgrim's response.[14:34] The fate of seven cities in Romagna. The peace in 1) Ravenna and 2) Cervia, thanks to the Polenta family.[17:06] The bloodbath at 3) Forlí (and the victory for Guido da Montefeltro) in the late 1200s.[18:48] The defeat of the Ghibellines in 4) Rimini in the late 1200s.[21:58] The fates of 5) Faenza and 6) Imola in 1300.[24:23] The uneasy freedom in 7) Cesena in 1300.[25:46] Something intriguing: Dante is careful to give this history lesson as of 1300, the date of the action (but not the writing) of the poem.[28:08] After all this bloody political history, Dante appeals to Guido's personal vanity.[30:11] Reading the passage once again, all the way back to the start of Canto XXVII.

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) circle of hell. And we're about to meet someone right out of Dante's own world.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:32] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto XXVII, lines 1 - 30. If you'd like to follow along, you can find my translation and even drop a comment on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:40] Two clues about how to judge Ulysses: his upright flame and the "sweet poet" who is Virgil.[08:00] The introduction of a comic figure: Guido da Montefeltro.[12:09] The historical background of the simile about the Sicilian bull.[14:58] Possible interpretations for the simile of the Sicilian bull: infernal speech or meta-poetics?[19:05] The fabulous explanation for how a flame can speak.[21:24] The open acknowledgment that Virgil is speaking in the Lombard dialect.[25:38] Language cues in Guido's first speech.[28:55] Back to the local after the global--as always with Dante.

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?Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:42] Once more, my English translation of his speech: Inferno, Canto XXVI, lines 85 - 142. If you'd like to read along or start a discussion about this episode, go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[05:30] The seven parts of the case against Ulysses. 1. His monologue demands an interpretation because there are few external cues or clues to help us know how to react.[06:39] 2. Ulysses is a Greek--which means he's part of a world Dante cannot know and desperately wants to explore.[08:54] 3. Ulysses' story is the definition of talent held in check by (literary) virtue: fully original yet anchored by classical texts.[10:35] 4. Ulysses uses the loaded word "folle" (folly)--a word so associated with Dante the pilgrim's journey and Dante the poet's COMEDY.[22:27] 5. We are the children, not of Dante, but of Ulysses, who expresses our hopes and our fears.[24:20] 6. Ulysses exhorts his men to a higher calling, just as Dante exhorts his readers to a higher calling.[25:53] 7. Ulysses' speech is so overwhelming that Dante will need a second figure in this evil pouch (this eighth of the malebolge) to balance the poem.

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 episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:46] Once again, my English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXVI, lines 85 - 142. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment on this episode, go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[05:09] The eight pieces of our case against Ulysses: 1. Why even make a case against him if he's already in hell? Because he's been turned into a Byronic hero over the years.[06:33] 2. Ulysses is a Greek, enough in itself for Dante to condemn him.[07:46] 3. Ulysses is not forthright about his motivations.[11:04] 4. Ulysses rouses his companions with a speech that begins by quoting one by Julius Caesar in Lucan's PHARSALIA.[13:48] 5. What then are Ulysses' motivations? Perhaps to find immortality without death.[15:32] 6. Ulysses is a tempter toward destruction, like the snake in Eden.[18:20] 7. Ulysses repeatedly uses a word--"picciola"--that minimizes his guilt and the humanity of the men who die with him.[20:42] 8. Ulysses' entire speech is a masterpiece of false counsel toward Virgil, Dante the pilgrim, and, well, us, as we come to sympathize with him.

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 his speech.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:31] My English translation of this passage: INFERNO, Canto XXVI, lines 85 - 142–but really going all the way back to line 25. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, markscarbrough.com.[10:30] Some historical background: the Vivaldi brothers in 1291.[12:21] The structure of Ulysses' monologue: several nine-line segments with one three-line aside.[13:53] Ulysses begins his monologue in the middle of his story.[18:40] Ulysses' real motivation: discontent masquerading as exploration.[22:14] Ulysses' journey around the Mediterranean--in other words, geography as doom.[25:02] Ulysses' rousing speech to his companions.[29:19] Ulysses' three-line aside to Virgil and Dante the pilgrim.[30:28] Ulysses' voyage across the open Atlantic.[34:18] The utter strangeness of the tallest mountain on earth.[38:03] Ulysses' death is oddly the first death in a poem about the dead.

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 WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:34] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXVI, lines 64 - 84. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this podcast, you can do so at my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:35] More about the pilgrim Dante's eagerness--and perhaps a way to humanize his motivation: he wants to know a classical figure that he cannot know.[07:36] The curious use of the word "desire" in this passage--a loaded word in COMEDY, going all the way back to Francesca and Paolo, if not before (and certainly long after this passage).[10:42] Virgil cues us that language and its uses are central to this passage--and perhaps central to the sin of fraud.[13:29] Does Virgil speak Greek? It's a question that has bedeviled commentators for centuries. Probably not--although there may be an added reference to Pentecostal fire here. And Virgil does speak Ulysses' language: epic poetry.[16:14] Despite the pilgrim's eagerness, patience apparently was called for to talk to Ulysses and Diomedes.[17:53] Virgil's flattery and self-aggrandizement.[21:22] Virgil's last line in the canto: contorted syntax in a request for what can't be known.[25:52] György Lukács's claim that Dante wrote the last epic and the first novel, as played out in this passage.

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 find out the ways Virgil gets it wrong.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:21] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXVI, lines 49 - 63. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, visit my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:18] What do we make of the pilgrim Dante's eagerness in this passage?[07:04] What can we make of this divided flame and the classical reference to Eteocles?[11:33] Dante does not know Homer's works but he knows about Ulysses (or Odysseus) from many other sources.[13:22] What can we make of the reference to the vendetta theme in this passage?[14:47] What can we make of the reference to the Trojan horse and the insemination metaphor that follows this reference in Dante's poem?[20:41] What can we make of the reference to Daidamia and Achilles?[24:44] What is the Palladium that Ulysses and Diomedes stole?[27:19] Not every source Dante knew condemned Ulysses. Take Horace and Cicero, for examples.[29:19] Christian neo-Platonists used Ulysses as an allegory for the soul's journey, an interpretation Dante knew well.[32:13] Rereading the passage: Inferno, Canto XXVI, lines 49 - 63.

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 segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:13] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXVI, lines 25 - 48. If you'd like to read along or even comment on this episode, go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:41] The first metaphor: the rustic fellow, watching the fireflies at the summer solstice.[08:14] The second metaphor: Elijah's flaming chariot, leaving Elisha behind.[10:45] These metaphors are very curious. How exactly are the comparisons being made?[13:26] Two more Biblical references in this passage: from James 3 and its condemnation of the tongue, as well as Acts 2 and the tongues of fire at Pentecost.[15:48] Why does Dante the pilgrim almost fall into the 8th evil pouch? And what is Virgil's role here?[18:46] The peasant at the start of this passage is an echo of the one at the start of Inferno, Canto XXIV. Might this link be thematic?[21:48] Reading all of Canto XXVI so far to show the fractures in the text.

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: Inferno, Canto XXVI, lines 13 - 24. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode or passage, go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:11] The pilgrim has to climb the stairs up from the seventh pouch, which anticipates the greater climb ahead on Mount Purgatory.[06:20] The pilgrim and his guide are strolling along and scrambling, too. Is that disconnect an allegory for the passage ahead?[08:39] Dante the poet always comes back to geography as the "ground" of his story.[11:38] Dante's first notion of his poetics: pulling the reins on talent so it doesn't run in front of virtue.[15:17] Dante's second notion of his poetics: human suffering disciplines talent.[18:15] Is Dante's discussion of his poetics anticipating Ulysses just ahead of us? Or Mount Purgatory, far ahead of us?

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 episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[00:53] I've upgraded my website to offer you the ability to write comments on these episodes! We can start conversations among others listening![01:54] Dante always moves the fence--and he's doing it with this "sin" of fraud.[08:31] Dante returns to the story of the walk again and again.[10:49] Dante is struggling to figure out how the past fits with the present--as are we![16:44] Dante is always gaming the poem.[18:38] Here's a review of the plot of COMEDY so far.

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 entire passage in my English translation of the seventh of the fraud's malebolge in INFERNO: Canto XXIV, line 61 through Canto XXVI, line 12.[16:46] A confession: maybe no interpretation of this pouch can be satisfying.[18:00] The style here is prolix, almost wordy, not concise as the early cantos of INFERNO.[19:49] The pilgrim functions as not much more than an observer in this evil pouch.[21:26] The passage moves from inflicted sorrow to internalized sorrow.[22:07] The metaphor of burning paper involves white and black.[23:01] Cacus is the dividing mechanism in the passage. Is that important?[24:43] The passage moves from an inchoate cry to a secure prophetic cry.[25:19] The poet is always present in this pouch.[26:12] The poet's confession deflates his earlier bravado.[27:25] Throughout this evil pouch, there's a loss of self--even of the poet's.[28:30] The final metamorphosis is putting real people into your imagined landscape.

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 segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:36] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXV, Line 142 - Canto XXVI, Line 12. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:51] The final revelation of the metamorphosizing thieves--which raises more questions than it answers.[06:53] An overview of the identities of the six thieves we've met in the seventh of fraud's malebolge.[09:35] Four (or five) reasons Dante the poet may have been so cagey about the identities of the five Florentine thieves.[17:11] Dante the poet slips a confession about his own writing into the end of Canto XXV.[19:15] The denunciation of Florence: the final metamorphosis of the pilgrim into the poet-prophet.[20:44] The dream of Florence's destruction--and a question about what "Prato" means in the text.[25:05] The final metamorphosis is sorrow.[28:43} The opening of Canto XXV is actually setting us up for the arrival of one of the great sinners of hell just ahead of us.

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 wants to despite himself.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:52] My rough English translation of this passage: Inferno, Canto XXV, lines 79 - 141. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, markscarbrough.com.[05:19] Our ten implications from this passage. One, there's gay panic here, too, as in the second metamorphosis in this pit.[06:23] Two, the metaphors are fully integrated into the passage--which might indicate a developmental hypothesis among the three metamorphoses in this pit.[09:45] Three, this is the first punishment that would be turned into more stories for all of eternity.[12:48] Four, this metamorphosis has normative rules--as does modern, Western narrative.[14:34] Five, does the punishment fit the crime in this pit?[19:11] Six, Lucan has been in this pit from the start--and for good reason, given the thematics of his PHARSALIA.[21:16] Seven, the camaraderie of Limbo is busted.[22:28] Eight, can you finally swap places with your literary fathers (or forebearers)?[23:17] Nine, does this pit express the fear of losing your identity to your literary fathers (or forebearers)?[25:19] Ten, language finally breaks down into soliloquy, not dialogue, which sets us up for the next great sinner of hell, just ahead of us.[28:34] A coda: remember, it's still the early 1300s, not the postmodern moment.

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 this passage: Inferno, Canto XXV, lines 79 - 141. If you'd like to read along, you can find it on my website, markscarbrough.com.[06:51] The passage begins, not with narrative, but with metaphor.[11:40] The third metamorphosis among the thieves in the seventh of the malebolge is a blasphemous inversion of creation and procreation.[13:50] The passage is rife with references to Lucan's PHARSALIA. And rife with erotic implications, too.[17:23] The references to Lucan's PHARSALIA (Book IX, lines 761 - 804).[22:28] The references to Ovid's METAMORPHOSES: Arethusa (Book V, lines 572 - 641) and Cadmus (Book IV, lines 563 - 603).[29:04] A comparison of Ovid's Cadmus story with Dante's metamorphosis.[33:44] Language is destroyed and created as the last act of this metamorphosis.[34:50] The passage ends with a bit of dialogue--which doesn't tell us much.[37:36] Reading the passage (INFERNO, Canto XXV, lines 79 - 141) one more time.

In the last episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, I helped you understand the sources and textual problems in this second metamorphosis from the seventh of the evil pouches (the malebolge) in INFERNO's great ring of fraud. Two become one, two beasts become one, and both become nothing.Now let's talk through the implications of the passage and follow out some of its premises and conclusions. We're about to get very meta. But you knew that already.Here are the episodes of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:49] Once again, as in the last episode, my English translation of this passage: INFERNO, Canto XXV, lines 34 - 78. If you'd like to read along, you can find this translation on my website: markscarbrough.com[04:43] Six implications from this passage. First, gay panic.[06:58] Second, questions about the nature of the self as a created thing.[10:06] Third, questions about what exactly is fusing here.[11:50] Fourth, theological blasphemy.[14:37] Fifth, literary blasphemy.[17:30] Sixth, Dante the poet's fears exposed.

First, a guy burns up, turns to ashes, comes back to life, and prophesies the future. Then a centaur run by with snakes and dragons on his back. And if that wasn't enough, now one of the most daring metamorphoses of all.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we watch the second metamorphosis in the seventh evil pouch in the sub-circles of the thieves. This passage is so complex that this episode is the first of two on it. Poor Angello. He never knew what hit him.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:59] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXV, lines 34 - 78. If you'd like to read along, you can find this translation on my website: markscarbrough.com.[05:50] Questions about dialogue and discourse in Canto XXV (as opposed to the longer, fuller conversations and speeches of Canto XXIV).[10:53] The pilgrim Dante silences Virgil--and maybe the poet Dante, too. This is one of the many silencings in the seventh of the evil pouches (the "malebolge").[14:17] Dante the poet steps out to address the reader--thereby silencing me (!) to make a reality claim for these events.[19:20] Ovid's story from METAMORPHOSES that forms the basis for this metamorphosis in COMEDY. It's an erotic tale about the danger of the beast with two backs.[27:06] The metaphors Dante uses to explain the metamorphosis he lifts from Ovid.[30:09] Who are these guys in the seventh of the evil pouches? The early commentators know for sure--but maybe they miss the point.[34:46] A final hint of nihilism at the end of this most incredible metamorphosis.

Vanni Fucci has run off, wrapped up in snakes. But he's now just prey for Cacus, a centaur who arrives toting lots of snakes and even a dragon. Can it get any more dramatic?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this strange passage in which we get a centaur who doesn't look much like his classical representations in Virgel, Ovid, and Livy--passages in which he's not even a centaur! This passage may explain the insistence on poetics throughout the seventh evil pouch, the seventh of the malebolge that make up the eighth circle of fraud in hell.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:44] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXV, lines 17 - 33. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:45] Cacus is a centaur but not like any of the other centaurs we've seen.[05:51] What does Cacus look like? There's a distinct tie between him and Vanni Fucci.[08:13] Virgil steps up to play the guide and explain who Cacus is.[10:45] Too bad Virgil's explanation bears only a passing resemblance to his version of Cacus in THE AENEID![14:55] Dante the poet is often seen as "coming out of the closet" in the seventh of the malebolge and admitting himself a literary thief. But all medieval poetry is based on theft. It's how the authority structure gets built. We'd expect Dante to be nothing less than a literary thief.[17:35] Rather than an admission from the poet, this passage may provide us with a clue about his art: poetry = theft + metamorphosis.

Vanni Fucci has given his big speech, complete with a clear statement of his crime/sin and an opaque statement of the future of Dante's friends and family (and even the poet himself) in Florence.But we're not done with Fucci. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for his final moments in Dante's INFERNO. Fucci gives God a vulgar hand gesture, is wrapped up in snakes, and runs off, leaving our poet with the last laugh.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:21] My English translation of this passage: INFERNO, Canto XXV, lines 1 - 16. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, markscarbrough.com.[02:57] Vanni Fucci gives God the sign of the figs. What does that mean?[06:07] Dante reverses the Genesis curse as the snakes become his friends.[08:26] Dante the poet curses Pistoia. Why is the poet so present in the seventh of the evil pouches, the malebolge of fraud?[09:56] Dante continues his tour of Italian cities in Inferno's eighth circle of fraud.[12:50] Dante makes a reference to Capaneus--and thus, to his own text, Inferno.[14:50] Fucci flees--and we're left with a question: Is Comedy a revenge fantasy?[18:21] I read the entire Vanni Fucci episode: from Inferno, Canto XXIV, line 79 to Canto XXV, line 16.

We have watched a sinner burn up from a snakebite and reconstitute right in front of the pilgrim Dante's eyes. But who is this damned guy? The answer to that question is as complicated as it gets.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the revelation of the sinner (Vanni Fucci), the problems with the historical record, and his sin (theft, although maybe not). Vanni Fucci comes shrouded in historical ambiguities. And he comes into INFERNO comes hauling behind him a giant prophecy about Dante's fate in exile.Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:30] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXIV, lines 121 - 151. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:28] The revelation of who this is: Vanni Fucci.[09:40] What does Dante the pilgrim want to know? And did Dante the poet actually know Vanni Fucci?[14:09] The first part of Vanni Fucci's reply: shame.[17:31] The second part of Vanni Fucci's reply: the confession of his crime.[24:13] The third part of Vanni Fucci's reply: the (ostensible) "prophecy" of the Black/White Guelph war in Tuscany that will lead to the poet's exile.[28:15] Three points about this prophecy: its metamorphoses and metaphorics.[31:21] One final point about Fucci's prophecy: it's the last of four such prophecies given to Dante the pilgrim in INFERNO (Ciacco's in Canto VI, Farinata's in Canto X, Brunetto Latini's in Canto XV, and Fucci's here).[33:51] The final revelation of Fucci's motives: to make the pilgrim suffer. Nobody gets out of hell unscathed.

Our pilgrim, Dante, and his guide, Virgil, have come down to a place where they can see into the darkness of the seventh of the malebolge, the evil pouches that make up the eighth circle of fraud in hell.And what a sight they see! A pit of writhing snakes, one sinner bitten, then incinerated and reconstituted, right before their eyes.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slow-walk through Dante's masterwork COMEDY. Hell is about to get wild. The poet, too!Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:32] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXIV, lines 97 - 120. If you'd like to read along, you can find this translation on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:56] A little pep talk for reading on in Dante's COMEDY.[05:50] The first snake bite: right between the shoulder blades of an unknown sinner.[10:29] The soul burns up--and Dante the poet burns up texts in a conflagration of literary allusions.[15:31] What's with the "o" and the "i" bit? Four possible interpretations. (And there are of course probably many more.)[21:12] The phoenix as a symbol of the resurrection--but here?[25:03] A final metaphor to explain the sinner's incineration and rebirth: demonic possession or a medical condition?[29:37] The poet steps out from behind the curtain to speak--and only complicates matters further.

Dante the pilgrim has wanted a good, close look into the seventh of the evil pouches, the seventh of the malebolge that make up the great landscape of fraud in the eighth circle of hell. And boy, does he get what he wants!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as the pilgrim and his guide, Virgil, slip down the wall and catch a glimpse of a nightmare of snakes, a tangle of them--that almost rivals the tangle of literary allusions the poet makes in a mere twelve lines.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:08] My English translation of this passage: Inferno, Canto XXIV, lines 79 - 96. If you'd like to read along, you can find it on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:08] Delay, delay, delay--it's the growing tantric structure of COMEDY.[08:47] The seventh malebolge, evil pouch: the snake pit of the thieves.[10:31] But there's another theft afoot: Dante's. Literary theft. In a mere twelve lines, the poet steals as many bits from other works as he possibly can.

Dante is still out of breath because of the arduous climb out of the sixth of the malebolge of fraud. But he doesn't want Virgil to know it!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as the pilgrim Dante hears something he can't understand and wants to get a lot closer to this unintelligible voice. He and Virgil cross the bridge to climb down a bit on the wall and peer into the seventh pit of the eighth circle of hell.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:17] Virgil is the character in flux in COMEDY. Why and how?[05:24] The passage for this episode: Inferno, Canto XXIV, lines 61 - 78. If you'd like to see this passage, you can find it on my website, markscarbrough.com.[06:56] The landscape may be becoming more rugged although the bridges across the pits of fraud are becoming more architecturally sound.[09:11] Dante's words-even when he's pretending--make more sense than the words of some others in the pit.[11:13] Who is this voice that is not capable of making sense?[13:26] Notes on a textual problem in the passage: "ad ire" v. "ad ira."[17:05] The narrative engine has slowed down dramatically.[19:38] Dante makes clear he has to be an eyewitness to whatever is happening in the seventh of the malebolge.[20:45] Virgil speaks in aphorisms (if perhaps ironic ones). Doing so is part of the structure of COMEDY.

Dante the pilgrim has gotten up to the top of the crag and out of the sixth of the malebolge, the evil pouches that make up the giant eighth circle of hell, the landscape of fraud. The poor pilgrim is out of breath, but Virgil has got no sympathy for him!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we find perhaps a new role for Virgil in COMEDY and discover that the poet is playing more games with our minds than we ever imagined.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:27] My English translation of this passage: Inferno, Canto XXIV, lines 46 - 60. If you'd like to read along, you can find these lines on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:15] Virgil's reprimand of the pilgrim: Don't be lazy if you want to be famous. A reminder from the poet to himself?[10:57] Virgil introduces the mind/body split into the passage--and anticipates the games ahead.[13:00] Virgil begins his soon-to-be incessant command of "hurry up." Is there a change here in Virgil's role in the poem.[17:41] There's a long ladder that must be climbed. What it is?[22:34] Dante, the hypocrite? Maybe. But more than than, the poet is playing a very smart metatextual game with his readers.