Virgil Gawks: Inferno, Canto XXIII, Lines 109 - 126

We finally arrive at a moment that even our guide Virgil cannot believe.

Why is he caught slack-jawed?

The answer is more complicated than you might think.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we find that the sixth pit of the subsets of fraud is not just about friars walking around in gilded, leaden cloaks. Rather, it's also about the punishment of figures from the New Testament. In other words, we've come to the Jews.

This one is a crazy passage with lots of knots. Let's undo them. Here are the segments of this episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE:

[01:11] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXIII, lines 109 - 126. If you'd like to read along, you can find this passage on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:38] Hypocrisy is a deadly sin, not a minor one.

[05:45] Dante's interrupted invective--that is, the misdirection of this passage (and maybe this whole canto).

[08:40] Who is crucified on the ground? Caiaphas, the high priest who spoke the truth in the Gospel of St. John without knowing he did.

[14:03] Structural concerns in the passage--that is, doubling, here and throughout Canto XXIII.

[16:41] A few words about antisemitism in COMEDY.

[19:58] Virgil gawks--but why? Three reasons without a definitive conclusion.