Beatrice And Her Cryptic "Five Hundred Ten And Five": PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 25 - 45

As Beatrice and Dante continue to walk through Eden, she begins the final discourse that will end PURGATORIO: a cryptic, apocalyptic vision of the world (or maybe just the church?) set right. But by whom? Or when? And is the church destroyed? Or is it going to be rehabilitated?

Beatrice's vision is the capstone of PURGATORIO and prepares us for the elliptical and stylized poetry to come in PARADISO, just ahead of us. It's a test to see whether we can make it. Don't worry: We will!

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our final walk across one of the most difficult passages in PURGATORIO. Seven hundred years of commentary hasn't come to any agreement on these lines. Why should we?

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

[01:43] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 25 - 45. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by a comment on this episode, please find it on my website: markscarbrough.com.

[04:18] A reminder: the rigid and highly stylized manner code in the Middle Ages.

[08:46] Beatrice's redefinition of the terms: wakefulness rather than walking, the chariot as a vessel, the dragon as a serpent (from Eden?), and the chariot's possible, full destruction.

[14:18] A translation problem: the possible sop of bread. And difficult interpretations: God's vendetta and a future heir.

[18:30] Seven hundred years of commentary on the tough problem of "five hundred ten and five--God's messenger."

[27:42] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, lines 25 - 45.