Walking With Dante28 Joulu 2025

The Conclusion (For Now) Of The Timeless Parade Of Revelation: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, Lines 121 - 154

The pilgrim has found the perfect perch to see the full scope and length of the parade of allegories at the top of the Mount Purgatory in the garden of Eden.

After the griffin and its chariot come seven merry women and seven more somber men. They are complex allegories that have inspired much debate.

More than that, they are also an atemporal moment, something outside of chronological time, the way revelation most often happens.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look more closely at the end of the (first half of the) apocalyptic parade our pilgrim witnesses from across the river Lethe.

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

[01:13] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, Lines 121 - 154. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website: markscarbrough.com.

[04:34] The three theological virtues (or colors)--which cause a rereading of previous moments in the great parade.

[09:02] The four cardinal or philosophical virtues, clothed in purple, a deep, imperial red.

[12:00] The seven men who end the parade as seen through the now standard (or consensus) interpretation: the latter books of the New Testament.

[16:06] Alternate interpretations: the allegories as a parade of revelation, rather than strictly the books of the Bible.

[20:38] The metapoetics of living, walking books.

[21:24] The temporal anomaly of the grand parade.

[24:11] Rereading the entire parade: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIX, lines 43 - 154.

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The Expanding Community of Women in the Moon: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 109 - 130

Piccarda Donati doesn’t stop her monologue with the cryptic line about her life after the convent. She turns to another figure in the lunar landscape: Constance I of Sicily, the Holy Roman Empress and...

23 Syys 23min

The Violent yet Elliptical End to Piccarda Donati's Story: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 88 - 108

Piccarda Donati finally answers the question about who she is. She's given her name but not much else about her. In twelve lines (or four tercets) she brings her personal story to its violent yet elli...

20 Syys 27min

Piccarda Donati's Apotheosis of the Will: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 58 - 87

Piccarda has confessed to her more humble place in the heavens. Our pilgrim Dante then wants to know if she wants more.Her answer leads her to an apotheosis of the will. Everything in the universe is ...

16 Syys 30min

The First Soul in Paradise, Piccarda Donati: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 34 - 57

At long last, the first soul--or "shade"--steps forward in Paradise. She's Piccarda Donati, a figure we've already encountered once (maybe even twice) in COMEDY.Dante flatters her to speak and she beg...

13 Syys 29min

Catching Feelings in the Sensual Sphere of the Moon: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 1 - 33

Dante is about to meet the first souls in Paradise, emerging from the liquid light of the moon.The poetry is lush and sensuous. The metaphors are complex and compounded. And Beatrice is a bit chilly, ...

9 Syys 28min

The Souls of the Universe: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 127 - 148

Beatrice concludes her explanation for moon spots by veering away from them specifically to talk about the nature of the universe.Blessed movers turn the spheres. Or perhaps inhabit them. Or are bound...

6 Syys 27min

The Diversity of Being in a Universe of Light: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 106 - 126

Beatrice now launches into the true explanation for moon spots, found not in folklore, not in natural philosophy, but in metaphysics.Her explanation pushes her to disclose the parts of the universe we...

2 Syys 28min

Testing Theology With Optics: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 85 - 105

Beatrice continues in her scientific and Scholastic explanation for moon spots by taking apart a secondary argument . . . and proposing an optical experiment.She voices an objection Dante might have: ...

30 Elo 26min