The End Of Fraud—That Is, The Self In The Self Wishing The Self Were In The Self: INFERNO, Canto XXX, Line 130, through Canto XXXI, Line 6
We've come to the bottom of the circle of fraud and to one of the most complicated, self-aware, and modern similes in all of INFERNO. Is it connected to fraud? Or to art? Or both?Join me, Mark Scarbro...
31 Aug 202230min
The Many Pleasures Of Insults: INFERNO, Canto XXX, Lines 104 - 129
We're nearing the bottom of the eighth circle of hell, the fundamentals of fraud--where we're treated to an insult contest between Master Adam and Sinon, the Greek who lied to the Trojans and got them...
28 Aug 202233min
The Bottom Of Hell, The Beginnings Of Western Civilization: INFERNO, Canto XXX, Lines 91 - 103
We are almost done with the tenth of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") that make up the giant eighth circle of INFERNO, the vast landscape of hell.We've met several falsifiers and have spent some tim...
24 Aug 202217min
Behold The New Modern Man, Master Adam: INFERNO, Canto XXX, Lines 46 - 90
First, leprosy. Then rabies. And now dropsy. The medieval hospital of horrors just gets worse in the tenth of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") of fraud.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we meet one of th...
21 Aug 202246min
Watch Out For Those Impersonators: INFERNO, Canto XXX, Lines 34 - 45
We've been to Thebes and Troy. We've seen two rabid souls arrive to tear up old Capocchio and maybe the other alchemist. But who are these rabid pigs?Impersonators. People who pretend to be who they'r...
17 Aug 202228min
Contagion, Fraud, And The Fall Of Civilizations: INFERNO, Canto XXX, Lines 1 - 33
We've come to the most complex opening of any canto in INFERNO. Canto XXX opens with two, long allusions about the tragedy of Thebes and Troy, both of which morph into similes for the damned, a mediev...
14 Aug 202235min
Gossip About The Fools Of This World Is About As Human As It Gets: INFERNO, Canto XXIX, Lines 124 - 139
A second figure speaks up--this time, a leper named Capocchio who wants to gossip about the fools of Siena and find a personal connection with our pilgrim, Dante.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look a...
10 Aug 202229min
Laughter Is The Best Medicine, Even In Hell: INFERNO, Canto XXIX, Lines 109 - 123
The first falsifier in the tenth of the evil pouches of fraud (those famed "malebolge") steps up to tell his tale: a funny joke about grifting, the stupidity of his mark, and the unexpected whims of d...
7 Aug 202227min
