The Glorious Monologue Of The Damned Ulysses: Inferno, Canto XXVI, Lines 85 - 142

Finally, Ulysses. We've waited long enough. Here he is in all his glory: a figure out of classical literature, whom Dante couldn't know, whom Dante wants to know, whom Dante admires, whom Dante damns.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Ulysses' monologue in this first of three episodes on this most-written-about passage from INFERNO. In this episode, we'll discuss what Ulysses says, rather than what it means, untying some of the knots to better understand the gorgeous poetry at the root of his speech.

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

[02:31] My English translation of this passage: INFERNO, Canto XXVI, lines 85 - 142–but really going all the way back to line 25. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[10:30] Some historical background: the Vivaldi brothers in 1291.

[12:21] The structure of Ulysses' monologue: several nine-line segments with one three-line aside.

[13:53] Ulysses begins his monologue in the middle of his story.

[18:40] Ulysses' real motivation: discontent masquerading as exploration.

[22:14] Ulysses' journey around the Mediterranean--in other words, geography as doom.

[25:02] Ulysses' rousing speech to his companions.

[29:19] Ulysses' three-line aside to Virgil and Dante the pilgrim.

[30:28] Ulysses' voyage across the open Atlantic.

[34:18] The utter strangeness of the tallest mountain on earth.

[38:03] Ulysses' death is oddly the first death in a poem about the dead.