When Hell Gets So Bad You Despair Of Your Own Craft: Inferno, Canto XXXII, Lines 1 - 15
We've come to the ninth circle of hell. But not quite yet. Dante opens Inferno, Canto XXXII with a metapoetic moment, a passage in which he talks about the limits of the very form he's using to craft ...
5 Okt 202235min
Welcome To The Foundations Of The Universe: Inferno, Canto XXXI, Lines 130 - 145
We've walked with Dante the pilgrim and his guide, Virgil, to the very foundations of the universe, the ninth circle of hell, the bottom of all that is.All that blather about Antaeus? He's not so bad....
2 Okt 202227min
Flattering Your Way To The Center Of The Earth: INFERNO, Canto XXXI, Lines 112 - 129
Dante the pilgrim and Virgil walk on to find Antaeus, the unbound giant who can set them down on the floor of hell--otherwise known as the center of the earth.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we watch Vir...
28 Sep 202234min
Three Big Bad Giants With Not Much At Stake Except The Nature Of Comedy Itself: Inferno, Canto XXXI, Lines 82 - 111
We've walked by one giant, Nimrod, a mighty hunter, with his horn (like Roland). But there are more. Three, at least. Ephialtes, Briareus, and Antaeus. Figures out of classical literature who sit at t...
25 Sep 202233min
Nimrod, A Mighty Hunter, A Mighty Problem: INFERNO, Canto XXXI, Lines 46 - 81
Dante the pilgrim thought he saw towers in the gap between the eighth and ninth circles of hell. But no, they were giants. Who were "entowered" in the pit.And now we come to the first one: Nimrod. Joi...
21 Sep 202240min
Towers? No, Giants! No, Towers! Inferno, Canto XXXI, Lines 28 - 45
Virgil has promised Dante the pilgrim clarity if they press on toward the ring of towers ahead. But then maybe they don't need to, since Virgil explains it all anyway. And even after he explains it, D...
18 Sep 202227min
The Liminal Space Between The Eighth And Ninth Circles Of Hell: Inferno, Canto XXXI, Lines 7 - 27
We've come through the ten malebolge or evil pouches of fraud, but we're not to the ninth circle of INFERNO yet. Instead, we're walking with Dante the pilgrim and his guide Virgil in one of the strang...
14 Sep 202233min
Our Farewell To Fraud With A Host Of (Maybe Unanswered) Questions: INFERNO, Cantos XVIII, Line 1, through XXXI, Line 6
Here's our last episode on the giant eighth circle of INFERNO, the largest piece of real estate Dante creates in COMEDY.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I raise some interpretive questions, talk about why...
11 Sep 202247min
