The Audacity Of Statius: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, Lines 76 - 102
We finally get to know our unknown shade on the fifth terrace of Purgatory: Statius, the epic Roman poet.His salvation is one of the most audacious moves in all of COMEDY. Dante has to work every fict...
27 Apr 202534min
The (Maybe?) Supremacy Of The Will: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, Lines 58 - 75
The still-unknown shade on the fifth terrace of Mount Purgatory rounds out his answer to Virgil's questions with some shocking revelations: The souls in Purgatory seem to declare the moment they're cl...
23 Apr 202522min
The Place Beyond Accidental Change: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, Lines 40 - 57
Virgil has asked two questions: Why'd the mountain shake and why'd the shades all cry out with one voice?The unknown shade on the fifth terrace of Mount Purgatory begins his answer by referring to Ari...
20 Apr 202523min
Virgil's Classical Schooling And (Irreverent?) Insistence: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, Lines 22 - 39
The unknown shade has been gobsmacked by the fact that escapees from hell may be climbing Mount Purgatory.Virgil explains that the pilgrim is still very much alive. To do so, Virgil uses classical, no...
16 Apr 202524min
A Shade Appears: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, Lines 1 - 21
Dante is left wondering why the mountain has shaken when an even deeper mystery occurs: a shade appears seemingly out of nowhere and behind our pilgrim and Virgil.This shade offers a Christian greetin...
13 Apr 202534min
Fear And Trembling On The Mountain: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, Lines 124 - 151
Dante the pilgrim and Virgil have seemingly moved off even as Hugh Capet was still speaking. They're picking their way among the avaricious when they're stopped by an earthquake that rattles Mount Pur...
9 Apr 202527min
Hugh Capet's Antiphon: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, Lines 97 - 123
Hugh Capet has spent a long time answering the pilgrim Dante's first question: who were you? He now turns to the pilgrim's second question: why did I only hear your voice on this terrace?In doing so, ...
6 Apr 202532min
When The French Monarchy Makes Even The Papacy Look Good: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, Lines 82 - 96
As Hugh Capet winds up to the heights of his monologue, he comes to a most shocking climax: that moment when the French monarchy is so bad that it makes even the corrupt papacy look good.We've come to...
2 Apr 202527min
