Settled under the tomb of a heretic pope, Dante-the-pilgrim hears Virgil's first take on the nature of lowest hell: malice, injury, the heart of evil itself, all bound up in force and fraud.
Mappamundi? No! Mappa-inferno! Virgil's geography of hell will take up most of the rest of this canto and provide us with an unparalleled glimpse into the poet's thinking about the nature of evil. Or is it a glimpse into Virgil's thinking?
Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I rest with the pilgrim and listen to Virgil explain the road ahead.
Here are the segments of this episode:
[00:55] My English translation of this passage from INFERNO: Canto XI, lines 16 - 27.
[01:49] How did we get here? A brief look back through the plot to this moment.
[03:10] What is the significance of Canto XI? Might there by a medieval numerology running under even the numbers of the cantos?
[05:06] An explication of the passage, line by line, with particularly emphasis on two words: "injustice" and "malice," apparently the keys to understanding the lowest parts of hell, the worst of human behavior.
[12:40] My first larger question based on this passage: How do you rediscover the texts that meant so much to you in an earlier part of your life?
[17:43] My second larger question: Why does Virgil feel the need to map hell for the pilgrim (and us)?