In a previous episode, I talked about how Dante defines Virgil as a poet, not a philosopher, and why that was important in Dante's medieval context.

But there's more to Virgil than poetry. There's prophecy. Because as we'll discover, perhaps the most important part of being a poet is being a prophet, too.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we now find out why and how being a prophet is so crucial to a poet's role. We'll hear Virgil predict not only Dante's future but the future of the Italian peninsula itself.

This is a tough passage, made tougher because of centuries of commentary. I'll lead you through four interpretations, then offer my own, a fifth possibility.

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

[01:56] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO, Canto I, Lines 97 - 136. If you'd like to read along or (better yet) find a more intense study guide for this episode, please find this episode under the header for INFERNO, Cantos I - IV on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:23] Virgil's true role: a poet-prophet.

[05:37] What is a prophet in the Biblical tradition? What does Virgil predict? What's up with a greyhound?

[10:25] I'll offer you five interpretations of Virgil's opaque prophecy, four from the commentary tradition and one under my own steam.

[19:02] Virgil simplifies things by telling the pilgrim's future (that is, not the future for the Italian peninsula but just the road ahead). But in telling about the journey ahead, Virgil reveals his misunderstanding (or maybe his limited understanding) about what's ahead.

[21:02] My own journey is not Dante's. But the pilgrim is off under his own steam, even without me in tow. But he seems to forget that Paradise is ahead.