hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: What The Pilgrim Can Do And What A Redeemer Must Do In PURGATORIO, Canto XX, Lines 1 - 15 - Walking With Dante

Episode 157

What The Pilgrim Can Do And What A Redeemer Must Do: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, Lines 1 - 15

Published on: 19th March, 2025

Pope Adrian V has pushed the pilgrim Dante to move on . . . even though the pilgrim doesn't want to.

He and Virgil pick their way through the crowded fifth terrace of Purgatory. The avaricious are so many that the poet has to step out and offer a prophetic denunciation among the wreckage.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we edge our way toward the second penitent on this crowded terrace of PURGATORIO.

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

[01:32] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, Lines 1 - 15. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me in the comments to this episode, please find it on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:16] The advantange or problem with structure in PURGATORIO, Canto XX.

[07:30] The pilgrim's weak will redirected.

[09:57] The pilgrim's and Virgil's movement v. the immobile smelting of the penitents.

[13:17] The poet-prophet's curse.

[16:32] The poet-prophet's hope.

[22:14] Rereading this passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XX, lines 1 - 15.

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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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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!