Virgil has replied to Cato--and now it's Cato's turn to answer back. This time, Cato doesn't seem so threatening. He seems more willing to help Virgil and Dante. Why could that be?

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Cato's second speech at the opening of PURGATORIO. We'll talk through its implications and see how it opens up the possibilities of redemption this early on in the second third of Dante's masterwork, COMEDY.

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

[01:13] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto I, lines 85 - 111. If you'd like to read along, print it off, or drop a comment, please go to my website: markscarbrough.com.

[03:40] Did Virgil make a mistake in mentioning Marcia? Or is Virgil even more human in this canticle?

[06:01] Cato most likely was redeemed during Jesus's harrowing of hell.

[09:03] There's a strange Latinate construction at line 87. It feels very much like legalese.

[11:08] Cato addresses his reply to Virgil, thereby accepting Virgil as Dante's guide.

[12:23] Cato's reference to a "smooth rush" may call us back to the wood of the suicides in INFERNO Canto XIII. And his reference to "reclothing" the pilgrim may have a reference to St. Paul's theology in it.

[15:43] Cato indicates that rhetoric won't save them--but their story will.

[18:19] Cato is not the first minister of Purgatory--which leads some to say that Cato is not ultimately redeemed.

[20:16] Pliancy is a prime virtue of PURGATORIO, both for the pilgrim and the reader.

[22:58] Cato warns them off, as the Magi may have been warned off after Jesus's birth.

[25:19] The sun is rising on Easter Sunday morning.

[26:37] Our first glimpse of the mountain ahead of us.

[27:25] The pilgrim stands up--a huge change from his behavior in INFERNO, Canto I.

[28:55] Rereading PURGATORIO Canto I Lines 28 - 111.