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Behold Satan: INFERNO, Canto XXXIV, Lines 1 - 27

Behold Satan: INFERNO, Canto XXXIV, Lines 1 - 27

FromWalking With Dante


Behold Satan: INFERNO, Canto XXXIV, Lines 1 - 27

FromWalking With Dante

ratings:
Length:
36 minutes
Released:
Nov 20, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

We've come to the final revelation of INFERNO, to its climax: the vision of Satan himself, called "Dis" by Virgil (after his own king of the underworld in THE AENEID).The emperor of the kingdom of woe scares the lights out of the pilgrim--and out of the poet. Our final revelation may well be that the poet has gone as far as he can with his infernal poetics. Now he must find new words to express what's ahead.Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:28] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXXIV, lines 1 - 27. If you'd like to read along, print it off, or drop a comment, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:31] Satan is at the center of the universe and at the farthest point from God.[07:39] You can never say, "The devil made me do it."[10:12] Virgil begins Canto XXXIV with an infernal twist on a Lenten Latin hymn.[12:33] Why hasn't Virgil been speaking in Latin all along?[13:34] What is Virgil doing with this Latin hymn? Is he praising his own king? Or is he making fun of Christ?[14:56] There are seven Latin words or phrases in INFERNO.[17:30] Satan is merely structure: an edifice.[19:19] The pilgrim and poet are starting to fuse in the face of the vision of Satan.[19:58] The damned are fully frozen in ice, a place of great silence.[20:49] Canto XXXIV has many resonances with the neutrals in Canto III.[22:12] The imagery of Satan is based on a Christian interpretation from a passage in the prophecies of Isaiah.[25:13] The pilgrim is frozen--thus in tune with the landscape and maybe with the damned as well.[26:48] What does "both dead and alive" mean? Four hypotheses.[32:21] Rereading the passage: INFERNO, Canto XXXIV, lines 1 - 27.
Released:
Nov 20, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

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.