hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: Poverty As Reward And Compensation In PURGATORIO, Canto XX, Lines 16 - 39 - Walking With Dante

Episode 158

Poverty As Reward And Compensation: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, Lines 16 - 39

Published on: 23rd March, 2025

Dante has gone beyond Pope Adrian V but hasn't left the fifth terrace of Purgatory. He and Virgil pick their way among the many shades until the pilgrim hears one shade call out three examples that entice the pilgrim to find this penitent.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this passage on the terrace of the avaricious that will eventually lead us to our surprising second greedy soul ahead.

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

[01:15] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, lines 16 - 39. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me about this passage, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:15] Dante, the poor homeless man, stares at the greedy.

[05:25] The exemplars for the avaricious are told in very few words.

[07:04] The first exemplar for the avaricious: Mary and her poverty.

[10:03] The second exemplar for the avaricious: Fabricius and his poverty.

[12:26] The third exemplar for the avaricious: Saint Nicholas and his generosity.

[16:18] Does Dante have a death wish?

[22:10] Rereading the passge: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, lines 16 - 39.

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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!