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...

We come to the end of Virgil's (first) discourse on love, as well as the end of the central canto of PURGATORIO. But it's a strange end since Virgil admits to what he doesn't know. Having been so certain about how human behavior operates, he concludes by telling Dante the pilgrim he's on his own to find out further answers. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we conclude Virgil's astoundingly certain discourse on love with an ironic, ambiguous moment. Here are the segments for this episode of...

Virgil continues his discourse about love, the central discourse in all of COMEDY. It's a tour de force of scholastic reasoning . . . that may leave something to be desired after INFERNO. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Virgil's scholastic understanding of all human action and his vision of love as the seed of all that we do. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:42] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, lines 106 - 126. If you'd...

Love is the seed … of all you do. It's news to me, given the state of the world. But not to Virgil. And certainly not to Dante's COMEDY. Virgil's explosive claim about love lies at the center of the poem: We do right and we go wrong because of the seed of love. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the beginning of Virgil's central discourse in COMEDY, an overwhelming statement about human motivation and the nature of God. If you'd like to help underwrite the many costs of this podcast,...

Welcome to the fourth terrace of Purgatory proper! Dante and Virgil reach the top of the stairs just as night falls and the pilgim loses all possibility of forward momentum. He hesitates--from sloth?--and turns to Virgil--still damned!--to explain where they are. Virgil, the guide of Purgatory. It's still as shocking as it was sixteen cantos ago! Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we stop at the cusp of the fourth terrace of Purgatory proper. Would you like to help underwrite the many costs of this...

We're ready to get to the fourth terrace of Purgatory proper--that is, the terrace where sloth is purged. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for a read-through of this terrace, starting at Canto XVII, Line 73 (or back three lines perhaps for a running start) through the end of Canto XVIII (at Line 145). We'll hear Virgil's great discourse on love as well as Dante's encounter with the racing slothful. Would you like to help underwrite the costs of this podcast? You can do so at this PayPal link right...

We're stopping the walk across the known universe for a moment to catch our breath! The podcast WALKING WITH DANTE has reached the middle of PURGATORIO, has stepped just slightly beyond the middle of COMEDY as a whole, and the podcast is going on a brief, one-month hiatus to let us all rest up for what's ahead. Check back soon! We'll be back on the walk in PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, toward the end of October, 2024, or maybe the first of November.

Dante the poet is having great fun with light. He's playing with its various meanings: illumination, revelation, sunrise, sunset, concealment, power--all this as we approach the middle of PURGATORIO and even find ourselves in the middle of COMEDY as a whole. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore these last moments on Purgatory's terrace of the wrathful before we find ourselves again among the stars. If you'd like to help with the many fees associated with this podcast, you can offer a...

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...

Just a brief note to say that I've made a mistake in uploading sound files and I'm too remote a location to make any changes. I'll fix the last episode when I'm home on Sunday and we'll back on the walk. Sorry about that! But the seals and whales of far northeastern Quebec send you their best.

Dante the pilgrim leaves Marco of Lombardy behind, but Dante the poet is not yet done with fundamental questions for his poem--particularly, how does he know what he knows? The answer lies in the imagination, the shaky ground that Dante posits is the basis of revelation. If you'd like to help underwrite the fees for this podcast, please consider donating a small monthly stipend or a one-time gift using this PayPal link right here. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH...

We've finished Marco of Lombardy's central discourse about free will, the soul's maturation, and the systemic problems with the world. Now let's look back at the whole speech and talk through some of the larger issues it raises. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at Marco's speech in PURGATORIO in its entirety. If you'd like to donate to underwrite the many costs of this podcast, whether by a small monthly stipend or a one-time gift, please use this PayPal link right here. Here are the...

Marco of Lombardy's time in COMEDY comes to an end with a chatty back-and-forth between him and the pilgrim Dante. Dante wants to compliment Marco on creating such a great argument (the one, that is, that Dante the poet created!) but Marco's only answer seems to be irritation and an abrupt dismissal. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for a fascinating deep dive into the end of PURGATORIO, Canto XVI. If you'd like to help underwrite the many fees associated with this podcast, please consider donating...

Marco of Lombardy, the angry penitent, continues his diagnosis of the world's problems. It's got only one sun, not two, as Rome had. And that one sun, the papacy, is not kosher. In fact, perhaps cannot be kosher under any circumstances. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore a big chunk of Marco's reasoning about the world's ills. He said it was in us. But he seems to claim it's more systemic than personal. Consider donating a one-time gift or perhaps a small monthly stipend to cover the...

Marco of Lombardy continues his discourse on free will, deep in the pitch-black smoke of the third terrace of Purgatory where the angry penitents confront their sin. His discussion takes a wild turn: a developmental hypothesis of the soul as a little girl, a scheme that may or may not nix original sin from Christian theology. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this complicated passage at almost the very heart of COMEDY. If you'd like to help underwrite the many fees for this podcast,...

Dante the pilgrim has asked the angry Marco of Lombardy the cause of the world's ills. Marco responds with both exasperation and affection before turning to the root of the matter: The cause is in all of you. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this central passage in COMEDY, a grand statement of the Christian paradox of free will. If you'd like to help underwrite this podcast through a one-time donation or via a small monthly stipend, please consider doing so at this PayPal link right...

Dante's on the verge of exploding with doubt. Marco of Lombardy's snark about the loss of valor in the bows of this world has done little more than leave the pilgrim in a theological puzzle: How did the world get so bad? Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Dante's question to Marco before we turn to Marco's central discourse, the very middle of the great masterwork COMEDY. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:48] My English translation of the passage:...

Wrapped in the dark, acrid smoke, Dante encounters one of the angry penitents and one of the most seminal figures in COMEDY, here at almost the exact center of the entire poem. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the pilgrim's flatteries, the penitent's abrupt nature, and the questions of beauty that begin to dominate COMEDY itself. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [02:10] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVI, lines 25 - 51. If...

Dante finds himself in such dark, acrid smoke that he is reminded of the very inky desolations of Inferno. In fact, he has come to the darkest spot in all of COMEDY, the fiftieth canto of Dante's masterpiece. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin to explore the third terrace of Purgatory proper along with Dante and his guide, Virgil. If you'd like to help underwrite the many fees of this podcast, please consider donating either a one-time gift or a small monthly subscription through this...

In this interpolated episode among those on our slow-walk through Dante's masterpiece, COMEDY, let's discuss the specific sin of anger (or wrath), particularly as it relates to both PURGATORIO (the canticle we're in) and INFERNO (where we've come from). Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the definitions and inside-the-poem problems of anger. If you'd like to help underwrite the fees associated with this podcast, please consider donating a one-time gift or a small monthly stipend through...

We've now come to the third terrace of Purgatory proper, the ledge of wrath (or anger). Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we read through the passages that make up this terrace, starting back at PURGATORIO, Canto XV, line 85 (through parts of Canto XV we've already covered) and on to PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, line 72. If you'd like to help underwrite this podcast to cover its many fees, please consider donating at this PayPal link right here. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH...

Dante comes out of his ecstatic vision only to have Virgil question whether the pilgrim has drunk too much. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this rare moment of levity after such intense visions. The pacing slows down and Virgil offers kind advice about getting on their way, maybe two more answers to the problem of anger. If you'd like to help underwrite this podcast, please consider giving a one-time donation or a monthly stipend of just a little through this PayPal link right here. Here are...

Dante the pilgrim has already had one ecstatic vision as he stepped onto the third terrace of Purgatory proper. Now he has two more in quick succession. We're able then to identify the sin or human failing for this terrace: anger (or wrath). And we're able to glean some very human answers Dante proposes to this very human failing. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the second and third ecstatic vision at the start of the terrace of wrath. If you'd like to help underwrite the many...

Dante and Virgil have stepped onto the third terrace of Purgatory proper and our pilgrim is hit with an ecstatic vision. In fact, the first one in a poem that may itself seem like an ecstatic vision. And one of the few anywhere in COMEDY. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the first vision on the third terrace of Purgatory, the opening salvo to the true middle of the great poem COMEDY. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:49] My English translation of the...