Erasing God's Writing Even If Virgil Smiles: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 118 - 139

Walking With Dante

Dante the pilgrim and Virgil have a little ways to go before they finally exit the terrace of pride. In fact, Dante has to come to a surprising revelation: It's getting easier. And Virgil has to explain why: Desire is being purified. How? By erasing what God has written.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the interpretive dilemmas and philosophical quagmires of the final moments on the terrace of pride, the first of the terraces of Purgatory proper in Dante's PURGATORIO.

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

[01:12] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 118 - 139. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please go to my website, markscarbrough.com.

[03:36] The climb in hell and in Purgatory both involve the notion of a throat.

[06:44] Pride is the primary sin and delight is the primary motivation forward. But has it always been this way in COMEDY?

[12:57] Canto XII ends on a light-hearted note . . . perhaps for poetic reasons.

[16:32] First hard question: Is Dante the pilgrim truly expunged of pride?

[19:51] Second hard question: Has Dante the poet moved the fence of his world to include himself in his own schematics?

[24:56] Third hard question: Why does God's writing have to be erased?

[30:53] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 118 - 139.