Walking With Dante17 Tammi 2021

Jousting With Greedy Plutus: INFERNO, Canto VII, Lines 1 - 35

We descend a level of hell and 'come to the "il gran nemico," the great enemy: Plutus.

But why is he so great if he makes babbles nonsense and is easily vanquished? And by Virgil? Who also suddenly has a better grip on Christian theology.

INFERNO, Canto VI, begins with lots of fractures! Is our poet in over his head?

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as our pilgrim, Dante, and his guide encounter this blustery figure and get an overview of a bunch of guys who are pushing rocks.

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Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

[01:29] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto VII, lines 1 - 35. If you'd like to read along, find a deeper study guide, or drop a comment to continue the conversation with me about this passage, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:27] The guardian of the next (fourth) level: Plutus. Or maybe it's Pluto. Or both. Whichever, he speaks nonsense. And he clucks like a chicken. Or maybe is a wolf. Or both. In any event, Virgil mentions vendetta, setting in motion a major thematic of COMEDY.

[14:10] The first simile of this canto--masts and sails falling apart--and some thoughts on the patterning of references as a basic notion of narrative structure.

[19:58] Thoughts about neologisms (words the poet makes up). Also, thoughts on how every edition of THE COMEDY does it disservice by starting out with a map before the text. And finally, thoughts about the redefinition of sin into two poles: hoarding and wasting.

Mentioned in this episode:

A brief introduction to the walk ahead

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