The Second Great Sinner Of Hell, Farinata degli Uberti: INFERNO, Canto X, Lines 22 - 51
Rising out of the burning sarcophagus and pulling himself upright, Farinata confronts our pilgrim by interrupting Virgil.This is no ordinary encounter with the damned. This is an encounter with histor...
17 Mar 202133min
Cosmic Battles And Interpersonal Squabbles: INFERNO, Canto X, Lines 1 - 21
Well within the sixth circle of hell, we haven't yet seen any of the damned. Instead, Dante, our pilgrim, and Virgil, his guide, are picking their way along a secret path between the burning sarcophag...
14 Mar 202122min
Straight On, Then Right For The Burning Tombs Of The Heretics: INFERNO, Canto IX, Lines 107 - 133
Finally, we're done with the fifth circle of hell, with the wrathful (and the sullen) and all that happens before the gates of Dis.Curiously, we're also done with the seven deadly sins as a structurin...
10 Mar 202126min
Saved At Last . . . By Mercury, Jesus, The Archangel Michael, Someone: INFERNO, Canto IX, Lines 64 - 106
How long have we been standing with the pilgrim and his guide in front of the walls of Dis? For ten episodes of this podcast!Now comes salvation . . . in the form of a messenger . . . from heaven? And...
7 Mar 202127min
How Much Classical Imagery Can One Poem Take? INFERNO, Canto IX, Lines 34 - 63
This passage is surely the densest thicket of classical allegory we've yet encountered in INFERNO. The references are so heavy and quickly applied that the poet even steps out from behind the curtain ...
3 Mar 202135min
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
