You thought we were done with the ninth pit of fraud and the schismatics? No way! We're still there, no matter if Bertran de Born's appearance felt like an ending.
Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this coda to the terrifying evil pouch (or malebolge) of fraud in Dante's INFERNO. In this passage, Dante sees a family member for the first time in the afterlife. And he may come to the first resolution of the vendetta theme that has run through INFERNO all along.
Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:
[02:00] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXIX, lines 1 - 36. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.
[05:06] Beware: Canto XXIX is a weirdly fractured poetic space.
[09:41] Firsts in this passage: new spatial and temporal markers.
[14:54] Echoes in this passage of other spots in INFERNO.
[20:53] Who was Geri del Bello?
[24:52] Echoes of Aeneas and (the dead) Dido in this passage.
[28:47] Vendetta is the materiality of justice: blood.
[31:34] The vendetta theme so far in INFERNO.
[35:39] The first resolution of the vendetta theme: compassion.
[36:23] Perhaps vendetta must be reserved for God.
[37:32] Canto XXIX is about preserving your humanity even in hell.
[39:02] A possible character development for the pilgrim in the ninth of the evil pouches (the "malebolge") of fraud.
[40:48] INFERNO is a linear journey without modern linear narrative techniques.
[43:29] Rereading the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXIX, lines 1 - 36.