Walking With Dante

From its opening lines, it's clear that PARADISO is not like what has come before in COMEDY. Dante seems to be renegotiating the terms of his poem, establishing a new voice, a new model, and a new methodology for who he will proceed.
These opening lines are already packed with the sort of theological and philosophical stumbling blocks that make PARADISO a challenge, not just for a modern reader, but even for a medieval one.
Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slowly walk throug the first twelve lines of what is assuredly the most imaginative canticle, PARADISO.
Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:
[02:42] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto I, lines 1 - 12. If you'd like to read along, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.
[03:56] The glory of the unmoved mover.
[09:39] The varying illuminations of the universe.
[13:27] The finite geography of heaven.
[15:54] A passing glance at the highest heaven.
[17:34] Dante and St. Paul, renegotiated.
[19:25] The interrelations of desire, intellect, memory, and potentially Beatrice.
[22:23] The memory of a memory--or knowing by not knowing, the core of the aphophatic revelation.
[29:37] The key paradox of the mystical experience: the cross-currents of the material and the immaterial.
[33:02] The resurrection of Brunetto Latini.
[35:25] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 1 - 12.

We're about to start our flight among (and even through!) the stars on WALKING WITH DANTE. We've been on hiatus for several weeks, but we'll be back with Dante and stepping off into the insurmountable wilds of PARADISO on 26 July 2026. I hope you're ready for the most mind-blowing part of the incredible poem, COMEDY. See you soon!

Here's just a brief episode about where I am and how the podcast will start again in about six weeks. Hang tight and we'll be walking . . . no, actually flying through the spheres of PARADISO in a few weeks.
Until then, gird up your loins. PARADISO is not for those weak in spirit . . . or leggings.

Hey there. We're going to pause our slow-walk for a couple of months as I get out from under chemotherapy. We've come to the end of PURGATORIO and it also seems natural that we rest a little before the big ascent ahead in PARADISO. Look for more announcements here, but let's plan on being back on our walk (or what will become our flight) in mid-summer. See you then!

We've reached the end of our time on the great mountain of Purgatory . . . and in the great second canticle of COMEDY.
Here are some final thoughts, an attempt to bring our time with this part of the poem to a close.
Dante has worked hard to make PURGATORIO the hinge of his entire poem. Let's explore some ways it reflects back on INFERNO and looks ahead to PARADISO.
Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:
[01:01] PURGATORIO is an inversion of INFERNO.
[02:54] PURGATORIO is most human part of COMEDY.
[04:34] PURGATORIO is a rehearsal of the structure of the New Testament.
[07:29] PURGATORIO is a meta-commentary on the writing of INFERNO.
[09:45] PURGATORIO is the end of one sort of poem and the beginning of another.
[10:35] PURGATORIO ends with two unique creations by Dante.
[12:01] Where do the souls go when they are lifted out of Limbo?
[13:46] Why does PURGATORIO end with the virtue of purity?
[15:48] Is the will truly the necessary, sufficient, and final cause of a soul's purgation?