Walking With Dante2 Dec 2020

Minos, The Connoisseur Of Sin: INFERNO, Canto V, Lines 1 - 24

We've walked to the second circle of hell, where the winds of lust howl. But not yet. First, we must meet a connoisseur of sin: Minos. He determines your circle of hell. Not Jesus. Not Satan. But a figure from classical mythology.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we push farther into hell but also further into irony, opacity, and puzzlement. Or to put it another way, is Virgil a sure guide for our pilgrim, Dante?

Consider supporting this work with a donation at this PayPal link right here.

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

[01:24] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto V, Lines 1 - 24. If you'd like to read along, find a study guide for a deeper understanding of the passage, or even start a conversation with me by dropping a comment to this episode, look for this passage on my website: markscarbrough.com.

[03:17] The descent from the first circle to the second--and thoughts on the increasingly clear geography of hell.

[04:18] Minos, a figure out mythology and into Virgil's AENEID.

[08:02] Minos is a sure judge but he's not a traditional demon from Christian tradition. He's our second mythic figure in INFERNO.

[11:56] Questions about determinism--but more importantly, answers about grace (or at least confession).

[16:49] The judgment itself, as Minos wraps his tail around himself--except this brings up further questions of Limbo and we're reminded again of its strangeness.

[21:18] Hell has a traveler's hostel in its geography! And lots about Virgil: Minos' warning, Virgil's spell that works again, and the strangeness of Virgil himself, the embodiment of the ambivalence of Limbo, leading the pilgrim across the universe.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(498)

Go Home: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 1 - 18

Our poet steps out of the shadows with an important message: "Go home."Because PARADISO is hard. Because we might get lost. Because we're not prepared.The stark address to all readers--or perhaps to a...

16 Aug 25min

Of Natural Instincts and Their Natural Ends: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 115 - 142

Beatrice continues in her discourse about our natural instincts, making the bold claim that they can lead us to our natural ends . . . which are the good, not the catastrophic bad.Her Scholastic theol...

12 Aug 23min

Sailing Across the Great Sea of "To Be": PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 94 - 114

Beatrice has answered Dante's first doubt, but he has another. He can't quite understand how he, maybe in his body, can make his way across the universe.She doesn't have a quick answer. Instead, she h...

9 Aug 25min

Returning Home Through the Music of the Spheres: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 61 - 93

Our pilgrim finds everything doubled in brightness . . . because he's begun to fly up to the heavens, although he doesn't know it at first.He's too busy figuring out all that light . . . and listening...

5 Aug 37min

Staring at the Sun: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 37 - 60

The plot gets underway in PARADISO.Our pilgrim Dante turns to Beatrice . . . who is paying him no attention. She's staring at the sun.So he does the same! He hasn't even left earth, yet the miraculous...

2 Aug 36min

A Polyvocal Passage With All Its Dissonances: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 13 - 36

Our poet moves from his scholastic and even (medieval) scientific opening of PARADISO into his invocation . . . to Apollo?This passage has often embarrassed Dante scholars who feel the need to excuse ...

29 Juli 41min

Welcome to a Renegotiated Poem: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 1 - 12

From its opening lines, it's clear that PARADISO is not like what has come before in COMEDY. Dante seems to be renegotiating the terms of his poem, establishing a new voice, a new model, and a new met...

26 Juli 37min

Final Thoughts On PURGATORIO

We've reached the end of our time on the great mountain of Purgatory . . . and in the great second canticle of COMEDY.Here are some final thoughts, an attempt to bring our time with this part of the p...

26 Apr 19min