hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: The Top Of The Mount--A Read-through Of PURGATORIO, CANTOS XXVIII - XXIX - Walking With Dante

Episode 215

The Top Of The Mount (Part One): A Read-Through Of PURGATORIO, CANTOS XXVIII - XXIX

Published on: 12th November, 2025

We've come to the top of Mount Purgatory, on the other side of the globe from Jerusalem and the closest earth ever comes to the heavens above.

Our pilgrim, Dante, begins to wander around in this new place, almost unprecedented in the poem (except for perhaps that hill and those three beasts back in INFERNO, Canto I).

This episode of WALKING WITH DANTE is a read-through of the first two cantos (of six) that take place at the top of the mountain. Sit back and listen for the plot before we begin to dive into these complicated passages one by one.

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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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About your host

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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!