An Interpolated Episode: Did Dante Intend All These Interpretive Games In COMEDY?
We danced around with the witch Erichtho quite a bit in the last episode with seven interpretive stances toward and over her. (That is, seven possible ways she functions in the text, or seven ways to ...
28 Feb 202125min
The Witch Erichtho And The Complications In Virgil's Backstory: INFERNO, Canto IX, Lines 1 - 33
At the end of INFERNO, Canto VIII, we left our pilgrim and his guide standing outside the walls of Dis, the city of hell. Virgil appeared to be a bit afraid but putting a good face on it for Dante-the...
24 Feb 202135min
Being Human, Even In Hell: INFERNO, Canto VIII, Lines 97 - 130
Virgil goes off to confer with the demons who slam shut the gates of Dis, shutting our pilgrim out in the fifth circle of INFERNO with no way forward.But perhaps more importantly, our pilgrim, Dante, ...
21 Feb 202132min
The Walls Of Dis, Virgil's Limits, and Our Poet's Folly: INFERNO, Canto VIII, Lines 64 - 96
Our pilgrim, Dante and his guide, Virgil, have made it across Styx, leaving behind Filippo Argenti and the wrathful/sullen. Our main characters have now come to the iron walls of Dis, the city of hell...
17 Feb 202124min
An Angry Pilgrim Among The Angry Sinners: INFERNO, Canto VIII, Lines 31 - 63
We've been through some dramatic passages: dark woods, wild beasts, Francesca, and Cerberus. But nothing rivals the crossing of (river? swamp?) Styx in the fifth circle of INFERNO.Join me, Mark Scarbr...
14 Feb 202134min
Consider The Plot: An Overview Of INFERNO's Fifth Circle Of Wrath
In almost every episode of WALKING WITH DANTE, we take a passage from (so far) INFERNO and analyze it, talk through it, and look at some of the interpretive knots. But in this episode, I'd like for yo...
10 Feb 202120min
Dante, The Poet Between The Classical And Modern Worlds: INFERNO, Canto VIII, Lines 7 - 30
The fifth circle of INFERNO: wrath (and its counterpart to come).We may or may not be over a break in the poem. Boccaccio thought so. Many modern scholars do not. I'll give you some reasons why this p...
7 Feb 202126min
An Interpolated Episode: Nothing In Dante's Hand, Or A Brief History Of COMEDY's Manuscripts
In this interpolated episode, I want to give you a brief history of the manuscript of COMEDY. None exists in Dante's own hand. So how do we trust what we have?I'll talk you through some basic facts, a...
3 Feb 202121min
