hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: Introducing The Last Great Sinner Of Hell, Count Ugolino In INFERNO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 1 - 78 - Walking With Dante

Episode 204

Introducing The Last Great Sinner Of Hell, Count Ugolino: INFERNO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 1 - 78

Published on: 30th October, 2022

We come upon the last great sinner of hell: Count Ugolino, frozen in the ice of Cocytus, munching on the brains of Archbishop Ruggieri.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the first of several episodes on Ugolino. His story won't allow us to forget him. And its place in COMEDY makes sure we'll keep talking about it over several episodes. And the last line he speaks will continue to bedevil Dante’s readers forever.

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

[02:38] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXXIII, lines 1 - 78. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.

[08:20] Count Ugolino as a historical figure.

[16:55] Close-reading Ugolino's monologue to fill in the details.

[33:34] The famed last line: "That's when fasting had more power than grief."

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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!