Popes In Hell: Inferno, Canto XIX, Lines 46 - 63

Now we come to it: the daring part, the audacious part, and (dare we say it?) the funny part.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we stand with our pilgrim, Dante, and his guide, Virgil, on the floor of the third evil pouch, the third of the malebolge, in the eighth circle of Inferno with its many rings of fraud.

We know we're in for a condemnation of the church. But nothing could prepare the reader--or the pilgrim!--for the notion that a Holy Father can end up in hell.

What a passage this is, full of interiority and bravado, all woven in a fine tapestry with ever so many threads!

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

[01:14] My English translation of this passage: Inferno, Canto XIX, lines 46 - 63. If you'd like to read along, you can find this translation under the "Walking With Dante" header on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:09] The first address to the damned soul upside down in the hole. He's still an unknown figure--and it's important that we keep him that way.

[05:52] But he does mention Pope Boniface VIII. In fact, he's expecting his arrival. Who was Boniface VIII. A historical summary.

[12:59] Dante the pilgrim acts as the confessor--which indicates lay authority, the very thing Boniface VIII was so intent on stamping out.

[15:33] Don't miss the humor in this passage! And don't miss its audacity.

[21:22] Here's how tightly constructed this passage is: more Ovid, more metamorphoses, a reference to the opening allusion in Canto XIX, and a reference back to the sexual sins of Canto XVIII, all woven together in a few lines.

[23:21] A moment of the pilgrim's interiority.

[27:28] Virgil to the rescue! (Along with some savage irony tucked into the lines.) Why does Virgil need to rescue our pilgrim at this moment?