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Dante seemed so full of confidence when he learned that his dream was indeed only a dream and that Lucy had in fact carried him to the gate of Purgatory.

But that was before he faced the angel guardian at the gate, whose forbidding presence seems to silence the pilgrim.

Fortunately, Virgil is ever ready to answer.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we continue to watch the interplay among our pilgrim Dante, his classical guide, and the Christian afterlife ahead of him.

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

[02:28] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto IX, lines 79 - 93. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation, do so in the comment section for this episode at my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:12] The angel at Purgatory's gate is so threatening that he silences the pilgrim Dante.

[06:37] The angel is a blocking figure, reminiscent of the Cherubim placed at the Garden of Eden, yet also of medieval iconography for St. Paul.

[08:51] This is the first angel to speak in COMEDY! We begin to understand Dante's notion of divine transcendence.

[13:13] The angel's questions have answers but still seem forbidding, like the questions of other gatekeepers in COMEDY.

[16:22] The damned Virgil is ever ready to give a reply to the gatekeepers of COMEDY. Apparently, even to an angel.

[19:03] The angel calls the stairs "ours." Whose?

[20:35] Rereading PURGATORIO, Canto IX, lines 79 - 93.