Identity Theft In The Middle Ages: Inferno, Canto XXV, Lines 79 - 141 (Part One)

We've reached the third and final metamorphosis in the seventh of the evil pouches, the malebolge that make up the eighth circle of hell in INFERNO.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Lucan, Ovid, and Dante's own masterwork COMEDY to uncover the roots of this complicated yet clear passage among the thieves in hell. Identity theft is not just a modern problem. It's a medieval one, too.

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

[02:23] My English translation of this passage: Inferno, Canto XXV, lines 79 - 141. If you'd like to read along, you can find it on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[06:51] The passage begins, not with narrative, but with metaphor.

[11:40] The third metamorphosis among the thieves in the seventh of the malebolge is a blasphemous inversion of creation and procreation.

[13:50] The passage is rife with references to Lucan's PHARSALIA. And rife with erotic implications, too.

[17:23] The references to Lucan's PHARSALIA (Book IX, lines 761 - 804).

[22:28] The references to Ovid's METAMORPHOSES: Arethusa (Book V, lines 572 - 641) and Cadmus (Book IV, lines 563 - 603).

[29:04] A comparison of Ovid's Cadmus story with Dante's metamorphosis.

[33:44] Language is destroyed and created as the last act of this metamorphosis.

[34:50] The passage ends with a bit of dialogue--which doesn't tell us much.

[37:36] Reading the passage (INFERNO, Canto XXV, lines 79 - 141) one more time.