HeyJaredWalking With Dante
Ever wanted to read Dante's Divine Comedy? Come along with us! We're not lost in the scholarly weeds. (Mostly.) We're strolling through the greatest work (to date) of Western literature. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I take on this masterpiece passage by passage.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 18
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- Sep 23, 2026
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- Jul 26, 2026
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The Expanding Community of Women in the Moon: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 109 - 130 (opens the original)
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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 insisten
The Violent yet Elliptical End to Piccarda Donati's Story: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 88 - 108 (opens the original)
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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
Piccarda Donati's Apotheosis of the Will: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 58 - 87 (opens the original)
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Piccarda has confessed to her more humble place in the heavens. Our pilgrim Dante then wants to know if she wants more. Her answer leads her to an apotheosis of the will. Everything in the universe is in harmony; all dissonances are put aside. It also leads her to a similar spot that Francesca comes to in INFERNO V: a riff off a quotation from St. Augustine's CONFESSIONS. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as Piccarda offers her answer to a central question in COMEDY: How does the universe reconcile its
The First Soul in Paradise, Piccarda Donati: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 34 - 57 (opens the original)
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At long last, the first soul--or "shade"--steps forward in Paradise. She's Piccarda Donati, a figure we've already encountered once (maybe even twice) in COMEDY. Dante flatters her to speak and she begins, not with herself, but with some theology and thoughts on her placement in the heavens. Along the way, her speech takes on some dark spots of ambiguity, about like the moon with its rare and dense material. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our time with the first soul in Paradise. Here are
Catching Feelings in the Sensual Sphere of the Moon: PARADISO, Canto III, Lines 1 - 33 (opens the original)
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Dante is about to meet the first souls in Paradise, emerging from the liquid light of the moon. The poetry is lush and sensuous. The metaphors are complex and compounded. And Beatrice is a bit chilly, full of Latinisms and a condescending smile. It's a marvelous banquet for the senses, here in this first sphere, where the souls seems to emerge as reflections in the diaphanous lunar realm. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we see our first redeemed souls in heaven--and discover that Paradise is not as
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