Guido da Montefeltro's Take On His Own Life ("I Didn't Do Anything Wrong"): Inferno, Canto XXVII, Lines 58 - 111

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?