Even at this point, at the end of INFERNO's Canto XI, we've come a long with Dante-the-pilgrim. We've walked down six circles of hell. We've also encountered lots of problems in the text, moments that need explanation, lots of interpretive knots.

But I want to call our attention to the criticism of an Italian scholar who essentially says that at this point, the COMEDY has been killed with footnotes.

It's a great moment to stop, reflect, and think about the achievement and beauty of Dante's masterwork. Sure, it's fun to be down in the weeds. But since Virgil stopped to offer a map of the road ahead, I thought we'd stop and I'd encourage you to look back at the the road we've been on.

This episode does not break into easily divided segments.