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Belacqua, The King Of Misdirection Through Centuries Of Reading Dante's COMEDY: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 115 - 139
Season 2 Episode 36
Belacqua has been the subject of hundreds of commentaries over centuries as readers have grappled with who this figure is and what purpose he serves …
2 years, 8 months ago
When The Going Gets Tough, Some People Just Sit Down: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 97 -114
Season 2 Episode 35
After all that scholastic reasoning, all that discussion of medieval astronomy and geography, all that cogitation on the soul's unity and the sun's p…
2 years, 9 months ago
Astronomy = Geography = Morality: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 76 - 96
Season 2 Episode 34
Dante the pilgrim continues to rest on the first small ledge that runs around Mount Purgatory. Here, he and Virgil first discuss astronomy--or why th…
2 years, 9 months ago
A Geocentric Rest Stop: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 52 - 75
Season 2 Episode 33
Virgil and Dante the pilgrim have completed their first major, breath-taking climb on Mount Purgatory. They hang out for a bit on a ledge for a littl…
2 years, 9 months ago
The Way Up Is Always Hard: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 19 - 51
Season 2 Episode 32
Virgil and Dante leave behind the sheeplike souls that include Manfred to begin their hard climb up Mount Purgatory.
The initial ascent is rough on th…
2 years, 9 months ago
The First "Scientific" Disquisition Is A Grand Misdirection: PURGATORIO, Canto IV, Lines 1 - 18
Season 2 Episode 31
Manfred's monologue has ended with some shocking conclusions: the excommunicated can indeed end up in heaven, a person can indeed repent at the last …
2 years, 9 months ago
The Sad (And Fictional) Story Of Manfred's Corpse: PURGATORIO, Canto III, Lines 121 - 145
Season 2 Episode 30
Manfred continues his shocking speech, giving us the details of his body after his death--thereby continuing the theme of the body in PURGATORIO, Can…
2 years, 9 months ago
The First Great Penitent Of Purgatory, Manfred: PURGATORIO, Canto III, Lines 103 - 120
Season 2 Episode 29
Dante our pilgrim and his guide, Virgil, have come across a flock of sheep-like souls at the very bottom rung of Mount Purgatory. They've fallen in w…
2 years, 9 months ago
Of Flocks, Pilgrims, And Living In The “What Is": PURGATORIO, Canto III, Lines 79 - 102
Season 2 Episode 28
Dante and Virgil have come across a group of souls who are hanging back against the cliff's steep rise. They're like shepherd-less sheep--which may i…
2 years, 9 months ago
Virgil, The Flattering, Witty Sage: PURGATORIO, Canto III, Lines 67 - 78
Season 2 Episode 27
In this episode from Purgatorio, Canto III, we might not see Virgil in his best light. He appears to frighten some souls on the bottom ledge. Then he…
2 years, 9 months ago