Charon, The Pagan Ferryman Of The Christian Damned: INFERNO, Canto III, Lines 70 - 108

We step out of the foyer and enter the second part of Canto III of INFERNO: the part about the storied Charon, the ferryman on Acheronte (or Acheron), as well as the souls waiting to be ferried into hell itself.

But before that, a spat between Virgil and our pilgrim. Something is always amiss when you're walking across the universe with your mentor. When the universe is a hierarchy, those on top have to hold their post. And those below have to try to get heard.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this deeper look into the hellish landscape. Where else are you going to quarrel, if not on the shores of hell?

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Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

[01:28] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto III, Lines 70 - 108. If you'd like to read along, find a deeper study guide, or even continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:31] Where are we? We're in a plot . . . which breaks into distinct scenes.

[7:10] The opening of the passage: the spat between the pilgrim and his guide. Why is Virgil irritated at his pupil?

[11:13] Why do I insist on calling the river by its name in the medieval Florentine, "Acheronte"?

[12:31] Some thoughts on the structure of hell . . . and even COMEDY as a whole.

[15:15] Who is Charon? How'd he step out of classical mythology into this most Christian poem?

[19:23] The "cinematography" of this passage: its lurid details and engaged plotting.

[20:11] And then the theological question. Why don't the damned just run away when Charon presents himself?

[23:40] Rereading INFERNO, Canto III, lines 70 - 108.