hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: All About Dante And Demons - Walking With Dante

Episode 126

All About Dante And Demons

Published on: 23rd January, 2022

Hi there. I'm Mark Scarbrough and this episode is one of the interpolated ones for the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE. I'd like to pause in Inferno, Canto XXI, before we move on to its end and into Canto XXII to talk about demons in Dante's INFERNO: who they are, why they are, and how they function.

No passage from COMEDY in this episode. Just a little to give you some background about Dante's demons because they're becoming more and more prominent in the plot.

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

[00:50] The medieval debates about demons. Tormentors or tempters? And corporeal or not?

[03:45] Two sorts of demons in Dante's day: theological and folkloric.

[06:29] More about folkloric demons.

[08:54] The origins of Satan. And while we're at it, where is he?

[10:54] The two Florentine words Dante uses: demonio and diavolo. Are they interchangeable? Maybe not.

[13:20] Were the pagan gods demons? Maybe not for Dante.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Listen for free

Show artwork for Walking With Dante

About the Podcast

Walking With Dante
A passage-by-passage stroll through Dante’s DIVINE COMEDY with Mark Scarbrough
Ever wanted to read Dante's Divine Comedy? Come along with us! We're not lost in the scholarly weeds. (Mostly.) We're strolling through the greatest work (to date) of Western literature. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I take on this masterpiece passage by passage. I'll give you my rough English translation, show you some of the interpretive knots in the lines, let you in on the 700 years of commentary, and connect Dante's work to our modern world. The pilgrim comes awake in a dark wood, then walks across the known universe. New episodes every Sunday and Wednesday.
Support This Show

About your host

Profile picture for Mark Scarbrough

Mark Scarbrough

Former lit professor, current cookbook writer, creator of two podcasts, writer of thirty-five (and counting) cookbooks, author of one memoir (coming soon!), married to a chef (my cookbook co-writer, Bruce Weinstein), and with him, the owner of two collies, all in a very rural spot in New England. My life's full and I'm up for more challenges!