We take the first steps with our pilgrim, Dante, as he finds himself in a dark wood and starts his walk . . . through hell? No, across the known universe.

He's also in a mid-life crisis. Curiously, not his. Instead, ours.

It's a bad spot--so bad that he quakes even as he tries to write about it years later.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, to discover the opening lines of Dante's masterwork.

If you'd like to read my English translation or dip deeper into this passage, there's a full study guide on my website, markscarbrough.com or walkingwithdante.com. Look for the header link to INFERNO, Cantos I - IV at the top of the site, then scroll or page down to the episode.

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

[01:39]  Why would you want to walk with Dante?

[04:09]  Who am I? This podcast has been brewing for years.

[06:26]   At first glance, why are the opening lines so strange, even off-putting?

[14:42]  Does Dante's poem open "in medias res"? That is, "in the middle of things"?

[17:03]  Who's journey is this? Who is this "I"? And how can this "I" write this journey into the wilds of the universe?

[22:27]  What's the point of Dante's COMEDY? To walk across the known universe.