Lost And Found In Purgatory: PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 112 - 136
We come to the end of PURGATORIO, Canto I. Cato has disappeared. Virgil and Dante wander around (despite being told exactly what to do). And Dante the pilgrim discovers that he himself can still chang...
9 Apr 202326min
Just Tell Your Story And Stay Pliant: PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 85 - 111
Virgil has replied to Cato--and now it's Cato's turn to answer back. This time, Cato doesn't seem so threatening. He seems more willing to help Virgil and Dante. Why could that be?Join me, Mark Scarbr...
5 Apr 202335min
Cato, Marcia, And The Problems They Cause: PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 49 - 84 (Part Two)
Our second episode on this tough passage. Here, we focus on Cato and Marcia, two big problems in the text. Why and how is Cato redeemed? Or is he? And how does Marcia pray for him from Limbo?In the en...
2 Apr 202334min
Virgil Out Of His Depths--Or Maybe Out Of Dante's: PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 49 - 84 (Part One)
We have come to one of the strangest moments so far in COMEDY: the moment we recognize the lone old man is in fact the Roman pagan Stoic suicide Cato. This moment breaks COMEDY in so many ways that we...
29 Mar 202333min
A Lone Old Man Who Disrupts COMEDY And Changes The Rules Of The Afterlife: PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 28 - 48
As Dante the pilgrim gazes at the gorgeous sky, he finds an old man standing next to him, a figure who will startle us (if not the pilgrim) and who will eventually cue us that all is not what it seems...
26 Mar 202326min
Laughter And Loss, The Essence Of Being Human: PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 13 - 27
Dante the poet leads us in a slow turn toward Dante the pilgrim, his "fictional" alter ego, who is looking up at the heavens--that is, at Venus, at four new-to-him stars, and at the gorgeous sapphire ...
22 Mar 202335min
Of A Poet, His Hubris, And His Doubts: PURGATORIO, Canto I, Lines 1 - 12
These are the opening lines of PURGATORIO, in whcih we start, not with the Dante the pilgrim (as we did in INFERNO), but with Dante the poet, who puts his hubris and his doubts on full display.Join me...
19 Mar 202332min
The Shores Of Purgatory: PURGATORIO, Cantos 1 - 2
As I told you in the previous episode of this podcast, we're taking PURGATORIO in chunks, rather than small bits. Or more like, first chunks, then small bits. And here's our first chunk: cantos 1 - 2 ...
15 Mar 202329min
