Young Heretics

Put that Twinkie down, you slob, and let's talk about GLUTTONY. The fourth circle of hell is where Dante encounters the people who lived their lives scarfing down cannoli and now spend their afterlife getting pelted with slime and chewed up by the three-headed beast Cerberus. It's also where the poet subtly introduces some key concepts that help make sense of the whole poem--the relation between body and soul, the nature of civil war, and ordo amoris--the principle of love that structures the entire divine comedy. Let's, erm...tuck in! PLUS: I am extremely excited to tell you about my new book, A Way With Words, out in February.

Pre-order A Way With Words now: https://a.co/d/0femohqf

Dante Translations, reviewed by Boze: https://bibliollcollege.substack.com/p/the-eleven-best-translations-of-the

Get the Hollander translation: https://a.co/d/0iCgdYaQ

Get the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translation: https://amzn.to/4wPbiK7

Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj

Get the Dorothy L. Sayers translation: https://amzn.to/4djdh2s

Get the Allen Mandelbaum translation: https://amzn.to/4dG6izR

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction 00:46 Gluttony: Material versus Spiritual Reality 10:23 Reading Canto VI 19:31 Cerberus, the Embodiment of Ravenous Hunger 25:44 Dante's Hell and the Classical Underworld 41:49 On Pride, Envy, and Avarice 50:11 The Seven Deadly Sins Explained 1:00:53 Book Announcement: A Way with Words

We're in hell for real now. Dante enters the circle of the lustful, where the sinister King Minos strips souls naked and condemns them to their proper place. What does that mean? What does it mean to be "evil-born," and what does Dante show us about the nature of lust? Not, it turns out, that its wages are physical or sexual suffering, but that it has to do with broken love and broken communities--betrayal, rebellion, and adultery. Not that Dante's off the hook himself: in one of the poem's most famous episodes, the pilgrim is brought face-to-face with his own role in tempting others. Because art's not a game, and poetry has consequences.

Plus: a mailbag question! Which Greek plays should you read?

Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/

Check out my book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://amzn.to/4tKWACP

Get the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translation: https://amzn.to/4wPbiK7

Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj

Get the Dorothy L. Sayers translation: https://amzn.to/4djdh2s

Read the Allen Mandelbaum translation: https://amzn.to/4dG6izR

Read my (various) reviews of Nolan's Odyssey: https://wapo.st/4wHArGy

https://open.substack.com/pub/wsjfreeexpression/p/what-nolans-odyssey-leaves-out

https://www.thefp.com/p/there-is-good-and-evil-christopher

Bacchae: https://amzn.to/4fqwhMw

Oresteia: https://amzn.to/4wdRGzI

Clouds: https://amzn.to/4whfJhi

Theban Plays: https://amzn.to/44ESdOX

00:00 Introduction 02:50 King Minos's Judgement – The Soul Laid Bare 20:35 Plato and the Myth of King Minos 29:43 Dante Enters the Second Circle: Lust 43:54 Doomed Lovers and Heroes, The Fallen to Lust 1:02:08 Details of the Longfellow Translation 1:04:21 Mailbag Question: Reading Recs

Hell is murky. Today we enter limbo, which is technically the least painful section of hell but actually leaves me with some of the toughest questions in the poem. What does Dante make--what do Christians in general make--of all the noble, wise, and humane people who apparently lived outside the reach of Christ? Were they outside His reach? Are human virtues enough to save us? If so, why aren't we doing better?? Dante, in his characteristic way, rachets these questions up to 11 and then moves through them subtly, confoundingly, and above all, beautifully. His poetry leads us to contemplate what it might look like for God's justice and God's mercy to become one.

Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/

Check out my book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://amzn.to/4tKWACP

Read my review of Backrooms: https://www.thefp.com/p/the-kids-who-grew-up-online-are-coming-for-hollywood-backrooms

Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj

Get the Dorothy L. Sayers translation: https://amzn.to/4djdh2s

Read the Allen Mandelbaum translation: https://amzn.to/4dG6izR

00:00 Introduction

01:05 Canto 3: Hell's Vestibule

24:25 Appetites and Inhabitants of Hell

44:22 Tragedies of Futility and Fate

56:28 Mailbag: Meditations on Suffering

1:09:56 Closing Remarks

ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE: We've made it at last to the gates of hell, and we're on our way to the river of Acheron. On the way, we'll meet the "neutrals" and the cowards—those who never lived and have no names. From here on out, the poem becomes a horror movie. But in this episode, I want to show you just how deep the horror goes. Worms and flames are just the beginning: it's the spiritual deformities that the torments represent that make them truly chilling. Then, Dante goes off the chain in a set piece that establishes him as one of the all-time epic greats, as souls like fallen leaves come streaming down to the river of death.

Check out my book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://amzn.to/4tKWACP

Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/

Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj

Get the Dorothy L. Sayers translation: https://amzn.to/4djdh2s

Read the Allen Mandelbaum translation: https://amzn.to/4dG6izR

00:00 Introduction

01:05 Canto 3: Hell's Vestibule

24:25 Appetites and Inhabitants of Hell

44:22 Tragedies of Futility and Fate

56:28 Mailbag: Meditations on Suffering

1:09:56 Closing Remarks

Where can I find a woman like...Dante's girl? On this episode of Young Heretics, we finally get the high-fallutin' invocation of the Muses we've come to expect from any epic poem. But it's not enough! Dante needs more woman than the Muses can be...more grace, more truth, more light. And it comes from on high--first from the Virgin Mary, then Sainty Lucy, then finally his beautiful, his famous, his beloved Beatrice. Today we introduce this central figure in the Comedy, inspiration of Dante's career and "lady of his mind." We'll talk about the Muses, memory, and the communion of saints. And hopefully by the end, we'll see how much courtly love meant to the poets of this age--and how much, perhaps, it can mean to us.

Check out my book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://amzn.to/4tKWACP

Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/

Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj

Get the Dorothy L. Sayers translation: https://amzn.to/4djdh2s

I'm very pleased to introduce a new Young Heretics feature. Since I've been teaching at the University of Austin, Texas, I've had the chance to get to know some brilliant, energetic, and charismatic professors. And none more so than J.J. Kimche, assistant professor of religion and philosophy. I got together with J.J. while in Austin for a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation on the intertwining histories of science and religion. Does faith inform, or compete with science? Does science enrich, or undermine faith? We talked about where things are headed now and how the liberal arts can inform our high-tech age. This is the first of hopefully many conversations I'll record with J.J. and other UATX professors as part of my ongoing work at the university. Enjoy!

Sign up for J.J.'s newsletter, "The Jew from Nowhere": https://firstthings.com/introducing-the-jew-from-nowhere/

Check out the NEW episode of Klavans on the Culture, my new podcast with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://youtu.be/ZJpXAoIlbxI?si=3uzICi-kmeShxezu

Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/

Take a look at my book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: Illuminating Science through Faith: https://amzn.to/4mN9vBP

Lions, and wolves, and leopards...oh my! Dante the pilgrim is balanced on a knife-edge, tipping over into the start of a new century, a new period of life, a new world. It's creation and crucifixion all at once, a fever pitch of both hope and dread. How can he go on? How can he make sense of things? How can we? Those are the questions we'll deal with today as we continue our journey toward the mouth of hell. We'll talk about the zodiac, the significance of allegory, the three beasts of sin, and the reappearance of our boy, the GOAT, the man himself: Virgil! He's back! And so are we, with the next episode in our Divine Comedy series.

Check out the NEW episode of Klavans on the Culture, my new podcast with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://youtu.be/ZJpXAoIlbxI?si=3uzICi-kmeShxezu

Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/

Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj

Welcome to Young Heretics, the classical education you didn't know you were missing. It's Good Friday...in the year 1300. And also now! Because Dante's Divine Comedy is a poem for all time and our time. Today we are (finally!) beginning our Young Heretics journey through this masterpiece, following Dante's pilgrim step by step as he wanders from the straight and true way into a dark and dangerous adventure that will lead him, ultimately, to the heights of heaven. We'll talk about gu(w)elphs, gh(w)ibellines, art, theology, and of course Studio Ghibli memes. Join me on this new adventure!

Check out Klavans on the Culture, my new podcast with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://youtu.be/ZJpXAoIlbxI?si=3uzICi-kmeShxezu

Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/

Listen to Inferno read aloud on the Digital Dante site: https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/sound/bausi-readings/

Check out Jonathan Pageau on Dante: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-inferno-the-course

Get the Durling and Martinez translation: https://amzn.to/47zWZPK

Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj

Welcome back!! Happy 2026!! After a holiday hiatus, we're starting the year off strong with the Second Annual Inkling Awards for Literary Excellence. As an exciting new term of teaching kicks off for me at the University of Austin, TX, It's a good time to be thinking about some of the best questions: why should we read? How should we read? And how much? Without further ado, here are Dr. Klavan's rules of thumb for reading, the best books I read last year, and the books I'm looking forward to in 2026. Plus: C.S. Lewis on why you should read old books.

Check out my cover essay in First Things on Virgil's Aeneid: https://firstthings.com/in-the-footsteps-of-aeneas/

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com

It's the most wonderful time of the year: that's right, the Lent of St. Martin! Okay okay, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but the lead-up--known as the season of Advent--is an unbelievably rich tradition filled with deep meaning. On this Young Heretics special, I explain the big ideas of Advent through the surprising history of everyone's favorite song of the season, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." And God bless us, every one!

Read my co-authored essay with Andrew Klavan (no relation) on AI: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/07/ai-idols-consciousness-religion-llms/

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com