hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: Drowsy Yet Vigilant, Slothful Yet Expectant: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 73 - 90 - Walking With Dante

Episode 135

Drowsy Yet Vigilant, Slothful Yet Expectant: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 73 - 90

Published on: 6th November, 2024

Welcome to the fourth terrace of Purgatory proper!

Dante and Virgil reach the top of the stairs just as night falls and the pilgim loses all possibility of forward momentum. He hesitates--from sloth?--and turns to Virgil--still damned!--to explain where they are.

Virgil, the guide of Purgatory. It's still as shocking as it was sixteen cantos ago!

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we stop at the cusp of the fourth terrace of Purgatory proper.

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

[01:29] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, lines 73 - 90. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:12] What truce has been called when it comes to the pilgrim's legs? And why does this fourth terrace of Purgatory seem so very silent and empty?

[07:33] Is Dante the pilgrim hesitant? Or slothful?

[08:59] Why is Virgil's explanation of the terrace so opaque, so poetic?

[10:25] Is COMEDY beginning to value opacity?

[12:37] What is the medieval understanding of sloth? How would Dante define it?

[17:26] How does PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, match two cantos in INFERNO (XI and XVII)?

[21:02] Reading the passage again: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, lines 73 - 90.

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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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About your host

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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!