hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: The Garbled Logic Of A Classical Poet In A Christian Poem In PURGATORIO, Canto VI, Lines 25 - 48 - Walking With Dante

Episode 47

The Garbled Logic Of A Classical Poet In A Christian Poem: PURGATORIO, Canto VI, Lines 25 - 48

Published on: 20th September, 2023

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The pilgrim Dante and Virgil pass on from the crowd. And now Virgil really becomes the loser.

Dante inquires about a passage in THE AENEID. And Virgil answers like a prof who is caught with a question he can't answer.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the second time in COMEDY that Virgil is forced to correct his masterpiece in front of Dante.

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

[01:19] My English translation of this passage: PURGATORIO, Canto VI, lines 25 - 48. If you'd like to read along or print it off to make notes, please go to my website: markscarbrough.com.

[03:36] Dante quizzes Virgil about the theology of the master's tragedy. What text is Dante the pilgrim referencing? THE AENEID, Book VI, around lines 373 - 376.

[05:44] Virgil replies with garbled logic, if not utter sophistry.

[11:21] The three most common medieval responses to classical texts like Virgil's.

[15:55] My personal theory: the poet Dante may still be in a bit of an infernal state of mind, seeing souls as "placed" rather than "in transit."

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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!