Virgil continues his discourse about love, the central discourse in all of COMEDY. It's a tour de force of scholastic reasoning . . . that may leave something to be desired after INFERNO.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Virgil's scholastic understanding of all human action and his vision of love as the seed of all that we do.

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

[01:42] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, lines 106 - 126. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:08] Virgil's scholastic background in the text.

[08:01] Virgil's two premises: no one can hate their own self or the first cause (that is, God).

[11:33] Virgil's understanding of the three terraces of Purgatory below us.

[16:12] Can Virgil be a scholastic thinker? What do we make of this very oracular Virgil?

[20:39] Virgil's argument is less a celebration of Aquinas and more one of Aristotle.

[22:48] Love may move the fence, but love doesn't tear down the fence.

[26:46] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, lines 106 - 126.