How Much Classical Imagery Can One Poem Take? Inferno, Canto IX, Lines 34 - 63

Without a doubt, this passage is one of the densest with classical allegory in INFERNO. The references are so thick and fast, in fact, that Dante-the-poet even steps out and asks us to notice it as a giant allegorical scheme in the poem.

But an allegorical scheme of what? Which part of all this time among the wrathful is allegorical? All of it? Even back to Phlegyas' boat? Or just this scene? Just the Furies? Or maybe just the threat of Medusa's arrival? Or even just the bit about Virgil's hands, which get placed over the pilgrim's eyes?

This passage starts with a problem--memory fails in a poem that promises memory won't--and moves through an intense sequence of classical references in front of the walls of Dis. It's surely one of the most complicated passage we've yet encountered in terms of literary traditions and classical literature.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I explore this passage from INFERNO and get a bit lost in the weeds of classical literature--because Dante-the-poet asks me to.

Here are the segments of this episode:

[01:06] My English translation of this passage from INFERNO: Canto IX, lines 34 - 63.

[03:17] Memory fails at the walls of Dis! Understandable, sure, because it's terrifying. Problem is, Dante-the-poet prayed for "unerring memory" back in Canto II. So what's going on?

[04:50] The Furies arrive in all their horror--and all their allegory, too. Here we strike at the heart of this complicated passage in which we're asked to Christianize classical literature and "classicize" a Christian poem.

[11:16] Dante-the-pilgrim presses close to Virgil. But maybe the poet does, too. Maybe the way out of too much classical imagery is to engage more deeply with . . . classical literature. Or maybe engage more humanly?

[14:11] The threat of the Medusa! She'll turn him to stone. But which him? Dante-the-pilgrim? Or Dante-the-poet? Maybe both.

[18:45] In the final tercet, the poet steps out and asks us to look behind the "veil" of his poetry. I've got four points about this complex stance. 1) What about this entire sequence in front of Dis makes the poet break the fourth wall of the narrative twice? 2) What does it mean to get behind the "veil" of his poetry? 3) If we do get behind it to see the allegory, which allegory are we supposed to see? And 4) what if in fact we have the first example of a bit of insecurity, not from the pilgrim, but from the Dante-the-poet?