Our pilgrim, Virgil, and Statius arrive on the otherwise empty sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory. Virgil seems more hesitant. And our pilgrim, Dante, more passive, as he listens to the two older, wiser poets discuss the craft of poetry.

This passage represents the paradox of circularity and linearity, of stasis and advancement, that is the major structural (and thematic!) tension in COMEDY.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through a seemingy easy passage while the pilgrim learns the craft of poetry.

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

[02:01] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 115 - 129. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, find this episode on my website and drop down the page to see the translation and a place to start a conversation with a comment: markscarbrough.com.

[03:23] Circularity and linearity: the crux paradox of COMEDY.

[08:37] Marking the temporal as a reality claim in COMEDY.

[13:25] A possible change in Virgil's characterization.

[16:25] Learning the craft of poetry (to engage the play of quotation and interpretation).

[21:12] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 115 - 129.

At the end of their first conversation, Virgil and Statius reconstruct limbo. They transform it into a neighborhood where all the lost, classical writers live.

They also transfer limbo's sighs from the damned to the poet Dante and potentially to his reader. Where have these great authors gone?

And if their texts are one way to God, how many ways to redemption have then been lost with them?

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the ironic and complex conclusion to Virgil and Statius' conversation in PURGATORIO, Canto XXII. We end at a place of the final misreading and misquotation: that of COMEDY itself.

If you'd like to help underwrite the many fees and costs of this podcast, please consider making a one-time contribution or setting up a very small monthly stipend with this PayPal link right here.

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

[02:25] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 94 - 114. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the comment section for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:31] The reconception of limbo over the course of COMEDY.

[09:56] The Roman authors in the list of those lost.

[17:48] The Greek authors in the list of those lost;.

[21:02] The characters from Statius' poems who are apparently in limbo.

[24:55] The displacement of Manto in COMEDY: the final misreading and misquotation in a canto full of them.

[27:57] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 94 - 114.

Statius finally tells Virgil what we all want to know: the story of his conversion. How did this Latin poet who dedicated his great epic to a Roman emperor become a Christian.

Through a long process and by subterfuge. Statius was a closeted or hidden (or to use the medieval Florentine term, "closed") Christian.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look through this passage in which Dante the poet attempts to justify putting this pagan Roman poet in Purgatory and on his way to Paradise.

If you'd like to help out with the costs of this podcast, please consider a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend, using this PayPal link right here.

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

[01:20] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 76 - 93. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:27] Two minor issues: Who converted Statius? And was Dante the poet rethinking his position toward the neutrals in INFERNO?

[08:08] Statius' journey in the afterlife to the fourth circle of Mount Purgatory . . . and where else?

[08:40] Statius' improvised backstory and the inclusion of a historical figure: Emperor Domitian.

[13:13] Dante's concept of conversion (v. modern conceptions).

[16:36] Statius' words and the problem of the "above" text.

[20:01] Texts in texts and the inevitable overlay of irony.

[24:50] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 76 - 93.

Given that Statius claims a passage from The Aeneid made him see the error of his ways, Virgil wants to know how this poet of the Thebes could have ever become a Christian, particularly since his poetry shows little evidence of the faith.

Statius replies with some of the most shocking lines in COMEDY: He became a Christian AND a poet because of the damned, pagan Virgil. Virgil's own poetry led Statius to his profession and his confession.

To put it another way, Statius was redeemed, not by divine light, but a small human candle.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work our way through one of the most revelatory passages in all of PURGATORIO, lines that help us understand the framework of COMEDY.

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

[01:53] My English translation of the text: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 55 - 75. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to start a conversation, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:39] Virgil's questions about Thebes, history, and faith.

[15:02] Virgil's inspiration toward both poetry and God.

[19:07] Statius' misquoting from Virgil's ECLOGUES.

[27:31] Poetry and conversion founded in inspiration from a text.

[30:01] Statius and Christianity in COMEDY.

[32:00] Rereading the text: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 55 - 75.

Since we’ve come to a moment of (perhaps!) profound irony as Statius misquotes and even misinterprets Virgil’s AENEID to find his way to salvation, we should perhaps pause and talk a bit about irony, both as an artistic concept and specifically as tool our poet, Dante, uses to make meaning in his text.

In this interpolated (or interstitial?) episode of WALKING WITH Dante, we’ll talk about the two basic forms of irony: simple (or verbal) and situational. Then we’ll talk about three types of situational irony: dramatic, cosmic, and what I like to call “creative” irony.

Statius and Virgil continue their conversation as they climb to the sixth terrace with the pilgrim Dante.

Statius explains that he discovered his error when he read two lines from Virgil's AENEID. The problem is that Statius misquotes these lines and misinterprets them, making them fit his personal situation while pushing them through Aristotle's ethics.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this wild passage that has inspired over seven hundred years of commentary. What if the way you can get saved is by misinterpreting a classical text?

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

[01:57] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 25 - 54. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[05:08] The binary relationship becomes a triangulation, thereby elevating the pilgrim Dante.

[08:30] Statius' changing status in Purgatory colors (or darkens) Aristotle's notions of accidents and substances.

[16:06] Statius seems to have read Dante's INFERNO!

[21:19] Statius misquotes and misinterprets a passage from THE AENEID, which then leads to his salvation (or at least to the recognition of his errors).

[29:16] Avarice and prodigality are apparently mostly connected to the clergy.

[30:18] The whole discussion falls back to Aristotle's ethics, (mis)interpreted for the Christian reader.

[32:58] To sum, a misquoted, misinterpreted passage from classical literature begins the journey toward redemption.

[35:46] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 25 - 54.

Blinded by the angel, Dante the pilgrim begins his climb to the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory. But his plight is overshadowed by Virgil’s desire to know more about Statius . . . in this strange passage of misquotings and misreadings.

The angel cuts short a beatitude from the gospels. Virgil seems to misquote Francesca from INFERNO, Canto V. And Virgil himself seems to toss out Aristotle’s Golden Mean to get what he wants from Statius.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the start of many misquotations and misreadings that make up PURGATORIO, Canto XXII.

If you'd like to help out with the many fees associated with this podcast, you can offer a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend of a couple of dollars, pounds, or Euros, using this PayPal link right here.

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

[01:59] My English translation of the medieval Florentine. If you'd like to read along or add a comment to continue the discussion with me, please find the entry for this episode of the podcast on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:02] My opening remarks on PURGATORIO, Canto XXII.

[06:57] The climb and the truncated beatitude.

[12:23] Action off-stage . . . because of haste or because of blindness?

[15:47] Virgil's quotation (or misquotation) of Francesca from INFERNO, Canto V.

[20:55] Virgil's tragedy and Dante's hope.

[25:43] The question on all of our minds (with a passing reference to Aristotle's Ethics).

[29:29] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 1 - 24.

We have been a long time on the terrace of the avaricious (without knowing there's another sin punished there as well). We're ready to climb on up to the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory with Virgil and Statius as the pilgrim Dante's guide.

On this episode, sit back for a read-through of these three cantos.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I read a rough translation of PURGATORIO, Cantos XXII, XXIII, and XXIV, exploring the climb up from the fifth terrace, the discussions between Virgil and Statius, and the poetic-prophetic space that makes up the arboretum of the sixth terrace, the one with the gluttons.

If you'd like to help underwrite the many costs of this podcast, you can make a one-time contribution or set up a very small monthly stipend by visiting this PayPal link right here.

[01:33] A read-through of Cantos XXII, XXIII, and XXIV of PURGATORIO. No translation available--just sit back and listen. A closer, better translation lies ahead when we break down these cantos into their respective parts.

Statius has sung his (first!) hymn of praise to Virgil without knowing that the old poet is right in front of him. Dante the pilgrim is caught between them in this most human episode with his master, Virgil, demanding silence and his new friend, Statius, wanting to know why the pilgrim is smiling.

Which means Dante is also caught on his emotions which seem to be overriding his will . . . in a canto about the will's primacy.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the very human ending to his surprising and comedic canto in PURGATORIO.

If you'd like to help out with the many fees associated with this podcast, for streaming, hosting, editing, and more, please consider a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend, using this PayPal link right here.

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

[02:25] My English translation of the passage. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[05:33] The curious inelegance of the poetry in this passage.

[08:31] The welling up of emotions into the eyes.

[11:50] Virgil's curious reticence.

[13:21] The will v. the emotions--ever the human dilemma.

[17:43] The dramatization of the anxiety of influence--and of the divided will.

[19:56] The revelation of Virgil on this road to Emmaus.

[22:46] Polytheism in this monotheistic poem?

[24:10] Statius' error and apology.

[29:12] The imperfections of the perfected.

[31:03] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 103 - 136.

We finally get to know our unknown shade on the fifth terrace of Purgatory: Statius, the epic Roman poet.

His salvation is one of the most audacious moves in all of COMEDY. Dante has to work every fiction-making muscle he has to assert that this pagan poet has spend so long in Purgatory on his way to heaven . . . and finds himself face to face with Virgil, his poetic inspiration and apparently the carrier of God's revelation.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we discover another way that love moves the fence.

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

[01:52] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 76 - 102. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:49] Introducing Publius Papinius Statius (45 - 96 CE), the author of THE THEBIAD and THE ACHILLEID . . . and a soul who should never be here in Purgatory.

[10:36] Virgil's continued insistence on the "why?"

[13:38] The lamentable if inevitable bloom of antisemitism in COMEDY.

[17:30] Statius, always without faith in the historical record but always vocalized in COMEDY.

[20:36] The shocking conjunction of THE AENEID and babytalk.

[24:06] A bit of heresy from Statius . . . unless the redeemed don't have to be perfect.

[27:19] Why Statius in Canto XXI of PURGATORIO?

[31:35] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXI, lines 76 - 102.