This interpolated episode of WALKING WITH DANTE takes on a structural analysis of the first two cantos of PURGATORIO--as well as our first vertical reading of COMEDY, comparing INFERNO I and II with PURGATORIO I and II.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin to see the incredible architecture of Dante's masterwork COMEDY.

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

[01:47] PURGATORIO, Cantos I and II are bracketed by appearances of Cato.

[03:20] PURGATORIO, Canto I is Virgil's; Canto II is Dante's.

[04:26] The first two cantos of PURGATORIO open with astronomical/astrological references.

[06:02] PURGATORIO gets increasingly crowded over its first two cantos.

[08:25] PURGATORIO's first two cantos are full of hesitations.

[11:11] Let's turn to the question of a "vertical" interpretation of INFERNO I & II and PURGATORIO I & II.

[13:53] In INFERNO I, Virgil appears; in PURGATORIO I, Cato appears.

[16:55] Both INFERNO's and PURGATORIO's openings include a descent.

[19:19] The run rises in first parts of the two canticles.

[20:33] In INFERNO II and PURGATORIO II, we get glimpses of Paradise.

[21:35] For INFERNO I & II and PURGATORIO I & II, there's a chiasmus: Dante - Virgil in INFERNO; Virgil - Dante in PURGATORIO.

[22:40] In INFERNO I & II, the way is clear; in PURGATORIO I & II, it's not.