Dante and Virgil have come across a group of souls who are hanging back against the cliff's steep rise. They're like shepherd-less sheep--which may indeed be the secret to living a life of the "quia," the "what is”—yet also the heart of Virgil's despair.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore one of the most famous similes in PURGATORIO and find out how the pilgrim Dante and his guide navigate a new way to be: in congregation, reacting and moving, without truly knowing why.

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

[01:36] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto III, lines 79 - 102. If you'd like to read along, print it off to make notes, or drop a comment about this episode, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:29] A famous pastoral simile from PURGATORIO, a similie that shows us a humble flock without a distinct shepherd.

[06:04] The flock lives in the "quia," the "what is," without a full understanding of the "why"--which is exactly the stance that Virgil exhorted humans to take and that left him in such despair earlier in Canto III.

[10:41] Virgil seems to be trying out a similar spell to one he often used in INFERNO.

[12:36] The flocks seems to accept Dante and Virgil as their leaders.

[15:28] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto III, lines 79 - 102.