A Medieval Hospital Of Horrors: INFERNO, Canto XXIX, Lines 37 - 72

The pilgrim, Dante, and his guide, Virgil, finally come to the last of the ten evil pouches of fraud (those famed "malebolge")--and wow, it's a doozy!

They walk above a medieval malarial ward, full of festering bodies, rank sickness, and disgusting smells. This pit may well be the foulest yet.

But if Dante and Virgil can walk it, so can we. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin to explore the farthest reaches of fraud in Dante's INFERNO.

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

[01:54] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXIX, lines 37 - 72. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment on this episode, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.

[05:14] The opening of this passage echoes the opening lines of INFERNO, Canto XXI.

[07:28] Potential callbacks to the ninth pit of fraud: cloisters, converts, and pity.

[11:12] The first simile of the passage: a malarial hospital.

[15:11] The walk continues with a familiar reference and a very unusual shout-out to the "Lord on high."

[20:53] Is this shout-out an eruption of the poet Dante into the pilgrim's journey?

[23:17] The second simile of the passage: out of a tale from Ovid's METAMORPHOSES.

[26:05] Comparing the two similes in INFERNO, Canto XXIX, lines 37 - 72.

[30:02] Our first real glimpse inside the pit.

[31:15] The journey continues--it’s on-going nature is our comfort in the nightmare.