The Many Pleasures Of Insults: INFERNO, Canto XXX, Lines 104 - 129

We're nearing the bottom of the eighth circle of hell, the fundamentals of fraud--where we're treated to an insult contest between Master Adam and Sinon, the Greek who lied to the Trojans and got them to let in the wooden horse.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we walk with the (silent!) pilgrim Dante and his mentor, (the even more silent!) Virgil, through the circles of hell and the "malebolge" of fraud. We're nearing the end of our infernal journey. And we're about to get some very low-class comedy in COMEDY.

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

[01:48] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXX, lines 104 - 129. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:21] Where is the pilgrim Dante?

[06:28] How is this passage funny?

[12:41] The insults are a "progression" of degradation.

[15:06] What's so important about Narcissus?

[16:38] Why is twinning central to this concept of fraud?

[21:14] Dante may be commenting on some of the poetry of his youth: the tenzone with Forese Donati.

[25:48] Is Dante being nostalgic or critical of his tenzone? Or is it even more complicated than that?

[28:07] Why should we complicate this passage so much?

[29:38] Rereading the entire "second act" with Master Adam: INFERNO, Canto XXX, lines 91 - 129.