hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: Final Thoughts On PURGATORIO - Walking With Dante

Episode 260

Final Thoughts On PURGATORIO

Published on: 26th April, 2026

We've reached the end of our time on the great mountain of Purgatory . . . and in the great second canticle of COMEDY.

Here are some final thoughts, an attempt to bring our time with this part of the poem to a close.

Dante has worked hard to make PURGATORIO the hinge of his entire poem. Let's explore some ways it reflects back on INFERNO and looks ahead to PARADISO.

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

[01:01] PURGATORIO is an inversion of INFERNO.

[02:54] PURGATORIO is most human part of COMEDY.

[04:34] PURGATORIO is a rehearsal of the structure of the New Testament.

[07:29] PURGATORIO is a meta-commentary on the writing of INFERNO.

[09:45] PURGATORIO is the end of one sort of poem and the beginning of another.

[10:35] PURGATORIO ends with two unique creations by Dante.

[12:01] Where do the souls go when they are lifted out of Limbo?

[13:46] Why does PURGATORIO end with the virtue of purity?

[15:48] Is the will truly the necessary, sufficient, and final cause of a soul's purgation?

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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!