hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: Art, Realism, And Dante's Sheer Audacity In PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 13 - 24 - Walking With Dante

Episode 88

Art, Realism, And Dante's Sheer Audacity: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 13 - 24

Published on: 27th March, 2024

The opening of PURGATORIO, Canto XII, becomes even stranger as the poet Dante claims that the art he’s about to see beneath his feet is even clearer than the actual events when they happened.

All well and good, until we remember this isn’t God’s art, as Dante wants us to believe. It’s Dante’s. And audacious.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the second half of the opening twenty-four lines of PURGATORIO, Canto XII.

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

[01:29] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 13 - 24. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please go to my website: markscarbrough.com.

[02:37] Virgil's call back to realism (or mimesis).

[04:30] Tombs and their signs (or symbolic language).

[09:56] Artifice as "realer" than real.

[21:00] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 13 - 24.

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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.
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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!