Belacqua, The King Of Misdirection Through Centuries Of Reading Dante's COMEDY: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 115 - 139
Belacqua has been the subject of hundreds of commentaries over centuries as readers have grappled with who this figure is and what purpose he serves in Dante's poem.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I offe...
12 Jul 202329min
When The Going Gets Tough, Some People Just Sit Down: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 97 -114
After all that scholastic reasoning, all that discussion of medieval astronomy and geography, all that cogitation on the soul's unity and the sun's position, Dante the pilgrim and Virgil come across a...
9 Jul 202317min
Astronomy = Geography = Morality: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 76 - 96
Dante the pilgrim continues to rest on the first small ledge that runs around Mount Purgatory. Here, he and Virgil first discuss astronomy--or why the sun is in on his left (or "wrong") in this hemisp...
5 Jul 202319min
A Geocentric Rest Stop: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 52 - 75
Virgil and Dante the pilgrim have completed their first major, breath-taking climb on Mount Purgatory. They hang out for a bit on a ledge for a little rest. In truth, there's no rest with all these me...
2 Jul 202322min
The Way Up Is Always Hard: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 19 - 51
Virgil and Dante leave behind the sheeplike souls that include Manfred to begin their hard climb up Mount Purgatory.The initial ascent is rough on the pilgrim, climbing on his hands and knees, constan...
28 Jun 202329min
The First "Scientific" Disquisition Is A Grand Misdirection: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 1 - 18
Manfred's monologue has ended with some shocking conclusions: the excommunicated can indeed end up in heaven, a person can indeed repent at the last second, and the prayers of the living do have an ef...
25 Jun 202334min
The Sad (And Fictional) Story Of Manfred's Corpse: PURGATORIO, Canto III, Lines 121 - 145
Manfred continues his shocking speech, giving us the details of his body after his death--thereby continuing the theme of the body in PURGATORIO, Canto III; and thereby giving Dante the poet plenty of...
21 Jun 202328min
The First Great Penitent Of Purgatory, Manfred: PURGATORIO, Canto III, Lines 103 - 120
Dante our pilgrim and his guide, Virgil, have come across a flock of sheep-like souls at the very bottom rung of Mount Purgatory. They've fallen in with them, going in front, when one of these humbled...
18 Jun 202328min
