Our nameless barrator has a plan for escape. He's been maimed by the demons but he's not finished yet!
Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we settle into high-stakes gamesmanship in the fifth of the malebolge (or "evil pouches) in the huge landscape of the eighth circle of INFERNO, the hell of fraud. Things are getting tricky. For this political grifter. For Dante and Virgil. For the demons. And even for the reader.
Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:
[01:44] My English translation of Inferno, Canto XXII, lines 94 - 117. If you'd like to read along, you can find this translation on my website, markscarbrough.com.
[03:44] The vulgarity of demons.
[05:33] Clearly, Dante speaks a Tuscan dialect--and Virgil, a Lombardy dialect!
[08:54] Our nameless grifter tells the truth so he can tell a lie (or play a trick).
[11:22] "Vendetta"--a big word in the passage because a big word throughout INFERNO.
[12:32] The doubts and overconfidence of the demons--which are like the doubts and overconfidence of Dante-the-pilgrim and Virgil in Canto XXI. Inversions and parallels galore!
[17:48] Dante-the-poet uses dramatic irony--to good effect or poor effect?