Walking With Dante

Beatrice continues her rectification of Dante's doubts by using a passage from Plato's TIMAEUS to turn her argument from accommodation to free will.This passage contains perhaps the heart of Beatrice's second grand discourse in PARADISO. But even so, it's a tad garbled as it attempts to answer Plato while giving his works full authority.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we continue our way toward the grand climax of free will in the next passage from PARADISO.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:25] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 49 - 63. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:14] Summarizing the sense and intricacies of the passage: Plato's understanding of the origins and fate of human souls.[10:05] Dante's reluctance to charge Plato's work with error, since ancient texts are forming an important matrix of authority.[15:35] The garbled conclusion about naming the stars (or planets) Jupiter, Mercury, and Mars.[22:34] Full-throated medieval feminism: Beatrice reads Plato![25:00] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto IV, lines 49 - 63.

Beatrice begins to take apart the two questions (or doubts) that she has intuited the pilgrim Dante is holding in silence.She first takes on the one with more "poison" in this passage, in which she reveals that the souls in the moon aren't really in the moon but appear here as an accommodation to the pilgrim's limited understanding, based on sensory data.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our journey through the Beatrice's second major discourse in PARADISO.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:33] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 28 - 48. If you'd like to read along or continue the discussion, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:51] Dante's frustration of even anger may be connected to the accommodating nature of revelation.[07:09] Beatrice reveals the status of souls in the highest heaven . . . and in the moon at the same time.[20:18] Possible irony: Beatrice argues from her observation while telling the pilgrim Dante that he shouldn't trust his powers of observation.[23:04] Does the poet intend any irony in this passage?[26:36] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto IV, lines 28 - 48.

Piccarda may have vanished but questions remain. The pilgrim Dante is caught between them, unable to voice them.Beatrice to the rescue! She voices what he cannot say . . . or perhaps what he is afraid to say.She articulates his two questions, makes one of them very personal, and attempts to mitigate the anger of King Nebuchadnezzar . . . or maybe the pilgrim's anger.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the fascinating opening to the fourth canto of PARADISO.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:01] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto IV, lines 1 - 27. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:24] PURGATORIO Canto XVIII as the background for PARADISO Cantos IV and V.[06:27] The multivalent, triplicate, opening simile--a man, a lamb, and a dog; hunger, fear, hunger--which embellishes a simile from PARADISO Canto III.[12:51] Beatrice : Daniel :: Nebuchadnezzar : Dante?[15:09] Beatrice's two intuited doubts from the pilgrim: the souls' origins and destinations, as well as the problem of coercion and the will.[20:01] The Latin in the text, the veil of the will.[22:22] The canto's opening simile again: paralysis, perhaps between women, certainly because of desire, hardly a hymn to rational free will.[26:14] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto IV, lines 1 - 27.

Piccarda Donati doesn’t stop her monologue with the cryptic line about her life after the convent. She turns to another figure in the lunar landscape: Constance I of Sicily, the Holy Roman Empress and mother of Frederick II, the stupor mundi.Piccarda offers Constance a parallel life to her own. The problem is, Piccarda’s account doesn’t match the historical record.But maybe Dante has other fish to fry. Maybe he’s more interested in Constance’s son, the Holy Roman Emperor that many are insistent on calling “the anti-Christ.”Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the final lines of Canto III, the shortest canto of PARADISO.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:22] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 109 - 130. If you’d like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:02] Linguistic and poetic details at the end of Canto III: shades, dark spots in redemption, Narcissus, line rhythms, and a seal in the wax.[10:24] Constance I of Sicily, the mother of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and the grandmother of Manfred (PURGATORIO, Canto III).[14:17] Parallels with the Donati family in COMEDY and a possible rehabilitation for Frederick II.[17:17] The sphere of the moon, a community of women (only women?)[20:10] When they vanish, where do they go?[21:36] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto III, lines 109 - 130.

Piccarda Donati finally answers the question about who she is. She's given her name but not much else about her. In twelve lines (or four tercets) she brings her personal story to its violent yet elliptical conclusion.Before that the poet has to explain what he's learned, the pilgrim has to express what his time with her has felt like, and then she gets to take center stage . . . and not fully answer the question.Piccarda Donati is one of the strongest feminist characters in COMEDY. Her voice is an essential part of the puzzle that includes Francesca from INFERNO and Pia from PURGATORIO.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the conclusion to Piccarda's story.If you'd like to help underwrite the many fees associated with this podcast, you can make a donation or even offer a small monthly stipend through this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:12] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 88 - 108. 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.[03:13] Unity is expressed in diversity (at least as far as grace goes).[06:15] A Latin word in the pasage--for one-upmanship or to elevate the sweet new style?[08:32] The mixed metaphoric space of the pilgrim Dante and Piccarda Donati.[12:38] The monastic prelude to Piccarda's personal story.[18:56] The violent yet elliptical end of her story.[25:45] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto III, lines 88 - 108.