Welcome To The Synod Of The Hypocrites: Inferno, Canto XXIII, Lines 82 - 108

Dante, our pilgrim, has slowed down to talk to two of the hypocrites, who are walking along in their gilded lead capes. But he gets more than he bargained for. He meets some guys who caused much of the chaos in Florence that ruined our poet's life.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slow-walk with our pilgrim through the rings of hell. We've come to a new place, the "collegio" of the hypocrites, but with the on-going theme: the insane tribalism that destroyed Florence.

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

[01:30] My English translation of the passage: Inferno, Canto XXIII, lines 82 - 108. If you'd like to read along, you can find this translation on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:52] The characterization of the two hypocrites--that is, their double-sided nature on a straitened (or narrowed) path.

[11:39] Dante-the-pilgrim's cagey reply to their questions.

[13:55] The out-of-balance scales that represent hypocrisy.

[16:22] Catalano and Loderingo, two guys right out of Dante's own past and Florence's nightmarish violence.