1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,160 Speaker 1: Hello everyone, because we're getting ready to do our last 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:08,400 class of Dante's trilogy of Dante's Comedia, We're going to 3 00:00:08,439 --> 00:00:12,119 do the Paradiesel very soon with the Deacon Seraphim Roland. 4 00:00:12,439 --> 00:00:15,480 I thought that because now it's getting dark, and because 5 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,600 it is fall and winter is coming and the days 6 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,679 are getting shorter and we're in the season of Halloween, 7 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:27,960 that I could maybe read the first conto of Dante's Comedia, 8 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,960 of Dante's Inferno with you, and you can see how 9 00:00:31,039 --> 00:00:36,159 masterful Dante is in terms of symbolism, how he is 10 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:40,640 able in a poetic form of pulling in all of 11 00:00:40,719 --> 00:00:45,759 these analogies that are related to this idea of being 12 00:00:45,799 --> 00:00:48,759 lost in the dark wood. And so what I'm going 13 00:00:48,799 --> 00:00:50,119 to do is I'm going to I'm literally I'm going 14 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:55,759 to read the canto and we will stop in certain 15 00:00:55,799 --> 00:00:59,719 places in order to look at how beautiful and how 16 00:00:59,719 --> 00:01:03,560 power orful Dante is able to contract all of these ideas. 17 00:01:15,359 --> 00:01:31,159 This is Jonathan Pegel, Welcome to the symbolic world. Hello everyone, 18 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:35,879 we are finally announcing our Paradiso class. We have done 19 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,359 two already. We have the Inferno, we have the Purgatory, 20 00:01:39,599 --> 00:01:41,719 and now we are moving to paradise. 21 00:01:42,359 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 2: That is right, Dante himself says Inferno that we prefer 22 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:51,400 hell to paradise, and similarly, most of us prefer to 23 00:01:51,439 --> 00:01:54,599 read Inferno, but when we come to reading Parodiso, we're 24 00:01:54,719 --> 00:01:56,799 very confused. So we're going to be actually taking you 25 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:59,000 through that poem line by line like we did with 26 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:03,680 Inferno Purgatoria, and actually looking at how Dante very carefully 27 00:02:03,799 --> 00:02:09,800 reconciles some of the contradictory traditions about the heavens in 28 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,479 the Christian apocalyptic tradition and does that through the persons 29 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:14,360 of the saints. 30 00:02:15,039 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: And so this is truly important for us right now 31 00:02:18,439 --> 00:02:20,599 with the re enchantment of the world happening, we have 32 00:02:20,719 --> 00:02:23,800 to be able to look at those that that did 33 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:25,719 it in the most powerful way that we're able to 34 00:02:25,719 --> 00:02:31,520 reconcile the ancient pagan traditions with Christianity, with his modern understanding, 35 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,159 the most modern understanding of the cosmos that he had. 36 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:36,360 And so this is the work that we need to do. 37 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,039 So we need to learn from Dante. So the course 38 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,560 it starts November fifth to December third, right, is that 39 00:02:42,599 --> 00:02:46,639 what I've got five weeks two to five on Wednesdays. 40 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 2: So the cost is going to be one hundred ninety 41 00:02:48,159 --> 00:02:51,159 dollars US, but we do have an early bird sale 42 00:02:51,199 --> 00:02:52,919 through the month of October, which bumps it down to 43 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,159 one hundred and sixty one. You can use the code 44 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,520 early Paradiso and that is good through the end of October, 45 00:02:58,879 --> 00:02:59,560 and the. 46 00:02:59,439 --> 00:03:02,319 Speaker 1: Inferno and the Purgatorial class are also on sale at 47 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,680 the same time, so you have fifty percent off during 48 00:03:04,719 --> 00:03:08,280 the month of October Code Dante fifty. And you know 49 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:10,719 that means you have no excuse. So if you haven't 50 00:03:10,759 --> 00:03:13,879 taken the first classes, now is the chance to scoop 51 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:14,520 all that up. 52 00:03:15,039 --> 00:03:17,039 Speaker 2: Yeah, And if you don't want to watch live or 53 00:03:17,039 --> 00:03:19,039 it doesn't work for your schedule, you'll be able to 54 00:03:19,319 --> 00:03:21,120 follow along at your own pace. Just like with all 55 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,360 of our courses. You'll have access to lecture recording, slides, 56 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,439 additional readings, and you can still ask questions and interact 57 00:03:27,439 --> 00:03:31,039 with your fellow classmates in our circle forums. 58 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: And so join us. After all of this suffering through 59 00:03:34,439 --> 00:03:38,439 Inferno and Purgatorio, the symbolic world finally goes to heaven. Yeah, 60 00:03:38,639 --> 00:03:43,439 join us. So, of course many of you know the beginning. 61 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:49,840 I'm reading from the version by John Carty. This is 62 00:03:49,879 --> 00:03:52,879 the version we're using in the class as well. So 63 00:03:53,039 --> 00:03:56,840 midway in our life's journey, I went astray from the 64 00:03:56,879 --> 00:04:00,639 straight road and woke to find myself a loan in 65 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:05,759 a dark wood. Good start, right, And so he strays 66 00:04:05,879 --> 00:04:10,439 from the straight road, right, and finds himself alone in 67 00:04:10,719 --> 00:04:14,919 a dark wood. And so all ready you have this 68 00:04:15,039 --> 00:04:19,040 image of going away from the path. You know, I 69 00:04:19,199 --> 00:04:22,000 just gave you an interpretation of Little Red writing Hood, 70 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,759 and I talk about this idea of going astray or 71 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,920 getting off the path of life. Until midway on the 72 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,279 road to Grandma's house, Little Red riding Hood goes astray 73 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:38,240 and she finds herself in the dark wood, where she 74 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:44,279 will encounter some beast right, just like Dante did. How 75 00:04:44,319 --> 00:04:47,920 shall I say what wood that was? I never saw 76 00:04:47,959 --> 00:04:53,079 so drear, so rank, so arduous. A wilderness. Wilderness is 77 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,560 important here, right, the idea of that which is outside 78 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,600 of civilization. Right. Usually when we translate the the idea 79 00:05:00,639 --> 00:05:04,160 that the Israelites left Egypt and were in the desert, 80 00:05:04,399 --> 00:05:08,040 Actually what it really means is more like the wilderness, right. 81 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,720 It has more to do with the woods and that 82 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:14,319 wild place, the place where you know, identity doesn't make 83 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,680 sense anymore. Right, the place where there is no road, 84 00:05:17,879 --> 00:05:21,839 there is no there is no planning, right, it is 85 00:05:22,079 --> 00:05:28,120 just chaos that is out there. It's very memory gives 86 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:32,240 a shape to fear. Death. Could scarce be more bitter 87 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:37,639 than that place. But since it came to good, I 88 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,720 will recount all that I have found revealed there by 89 00:05:40,759 --> 00:05:44,160 God's brace, goy, God's grace. Of course, this idea of 90 00:05:44,199 --> 00:05:46,800 death as bitterness is very important. It is a very 91 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:51,199 very important symbolism in the Bible. If you think, for example, 92 00:05:51,319 --> 00:05:54,879 of the Israelites who go into the desert and they 93 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:59,279 first find bitter waters, right, they found Mara, the Mara waters, 94 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:02,279 the waters that are bitter. And this bitterness, of course 95 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,720 has to do with a lack of fertility, it has 96 00:06:05,759 --> 00:06:07,959 to do with death. It has to do with something 97 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,480 that is incapable of being assimilated. Right. If something is bitter, 98 00:06:12,639 --> 00:06:15,759 it is it's not something that you can assimilate in 99 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:19,040 your body. It's like poison. And so this is of 100 00:06:19,079 --> 00:06:22,199 course how we related to death. And of course anybody 101 00:06:22,199 --> 00:06:25,439 who's read any literature is used to this imagery of 102 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,319 talking about death is bitter. But it's important to understand 103 00:06:28,319 --> 00:06:31,680 that when you're reading biblical symbolism, and notice, for example, 104 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:36,920 when Naomi's mother in law says that you know, because 105 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,800 her sons have died now she is bitter. Her name 106 00:06:39,879 --> 00:06:42,839 is Mara, and this is related to the bitter waters. 107 00:06:42,879 --> 00:06:46,279 It's related to this lack of fruitfulness, right, this moment 108 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:50,839 where you're stuck where nothing, you don't have fruits of 109 00:06:50,879 --> 00:06:54,279 your actions. Okay, how I came to it? I cannot 110 00:06:54,319 --> 00:06:58,560 rightly say so drugged and loose with sleep had I 111 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:02,240 become when I first wandered there from the true way? 112 00:07:02,759 --> 00:07:05,720 Look at all the image is there, It's perfect right, 113 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,360 the idea of being inebriated, the idea of being drugged, 114 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:15,720 the idea of being loose, right of not being girded. 115 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:18,800 All this imagery in the Bible of girding yourself in 116 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:23,160 order to perform a proper actions. Well, if you are loose, 117 00:07:23,519 --> 00:07:26,160 it means you're not focused, right, you're I mean you 118 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,439 know that because when you want to relax, you dress loose. 119 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:33,199 If you want to do something particular, if you're going to, 120 00:07:35,519 --> 00:07:38,680 I don't know, go like saw some saw some planks 121 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,360 of wood. You don't want bits hanging off of you. 122 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,120 You don't want it. You don't want to be loose. 123 00:07:43,199 --> 00:07:45,720 You want to be tight in terms of your of 124 00:07:45,759 --> 00:07:48,839 your things. Right. But then also this idea that he's 125 00:07:48,879 --> 00:07:53,279 loose with sleep and that he has wandered. Right, All 126 00:07:53,319 --> 00:07:56,160 of these images are perfect. He is sleep. That is 127 00:07:56,199 --> 00:08:01,399 this relationship between bitterness and sleep and death and wilderness, 128 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:06,199 and then ultimately the idea of wandering, right, of wandering, 129 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:11,519 of not being following your true way, of being distracted. Right. 130 00:08:11,639 --> 00:08:14,600 Think again of Literat riding hood on the path going 131 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,079 to her grandmother, who is distracted and wanders off the 132 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:22,720 path and finds herself in the wilderness. But at the 133 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:27,120 far end of that valley of evil, whose maze had 134 00:08:27,199 --> 00:08:31,360 sapped my very heart with fear, I found myself before 135 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,720 a little hill and lifted up my eyes. Its shoulders 136 00:08:35,759 --> 00:08:39,200 glowed already with the sweet rays of that planet whose 137 00:08:39,279 --> 00:08:43,200 virtue leads men straight on every road. Look at how 138 00:08:43,279 --> 00:08:47,039 beautiful this is. And Dante is powerful because he works 139 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:51,320 in these little microcosms. Right, he's already seeing the entirety 140 00:08:51,519 --> 00:08:55,120 of the story right there in that little paragraph becomes 141 00:08:55,399 --> 00:08:59,840 he descends into a valley. Right, So add that to 142 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,320 all the images that we've talked about death, bitterness, sleep, 143 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,000 going down the mountain, right, going down into the valley, 144 00:09:07,159 --> 00:09:10,759 and then amaze, amaze, where you don't have a straight way, 145 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,919 where all the ways are crooked, where all the ways 146 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:19,240 are confusing, and you have to wander and puzzle yourself 147 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:21,240 in order to be able to find your way through. 148 00:09:22,399 --> 00:09:25,639 But right away he finds himself in front of a hill, 149 00:09:25,879 --> 00:09:30,320 and this hill is ultimately the Hill of Paradise itself. 150 00:09:30,399 --> 00:09:32,600 Of course, he describes it as a little hill, but 151 00:09:33,159 --> 00:09:35,240 there is this whole sense in which it is a 152 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,759 microcosm of the whole structure. He sees the hill, and 153 00:09:38,799 --> 00:09:43,360 then the hill is glows with the sweet rays of 154 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,600 the sun. So he goes down into the valley of darkness, 155 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,080 right the valley of death that's described by the Psalmist. 156 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:53,440 But he can see ahead of him the mountain Zion. 157 00:09:53,519 --> 00:09:55,879 He can see the mountain. He can see the revelation 158 00:09:56,039 --> 00:10:00,039 at the top of the mountain, of course, but he 159 00:10:00,159 --> 00:10:02,200 will not be able to get there right away. He'll 160 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:04,919 have to take a bit a detour in order to 161 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,639 kind of replay this little bit of a moment in 162 00:10:08,799 --> 00:10:15,320 an entire kind of cosmic cosmic scope. And the shining 163 00:10:15,399 --> 00:10:18,799 strengthened me against the fright, whose agony had racked the 164 00:10:18,879 --> 00:10:21,919 lake of my heart through all the terrors of that 165 00:10:22,039 --> 00:10:25,279 piteous night. Right, look at how beautiful this is the 166 00:10:25,399 --> 00:10:28,440 lake of my heart. Right, And so this idea that 167 00:10:28,519 --> 00:10:32,120 now his heart has become this lower waters, right, his 168 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,960 heart has we see say that right, my heart sank. 169 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,720 My heart went down into the bitterness, into the bitter 170 00:10:38,799 --> 00:10:41,360 water that are at the bottom of the world. And 171 00:10:41,399 --> 00:10:45,120 this is of course related to being afraid, to the terror, 172 00:10:45,639 --> 00:10:49,000 and of course to that night right, the night that 173 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,240 is contrasted to the hill on which the sun is 174 00:10:52,279 --> 00:10:56,759 shining at the top. So, just as a swimmer who 175 00:10:56,799 --> 00:11:01,240 with his last breath flounders ashore from parallel sees, might 176 00:11:01,279 --> 00:11:04,720 turn to memorize the wide water of his death, so 177 00:11:04,879 --> 00:11:09,759 did I turn my soul, still fugitive from death's surviving image, 178 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:14,759 to stare down that pass that none had ever left alive. Right, 179 00:11:16,039 --> 00:11:20,279 So he describes himself now as drowning. Right, he's in 180 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:24,279 the waters, he is reaching his last breath. He realizes 181 00:11:24,399 --> 00:11:28,039 that no one has gone through this alive. Noah has 182 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,000 gone through the waters. Right, he is looking. He is 183 00:11:31,279 --> 00:11:34,159 at the end of a world, and he sees the 184 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,320 flood in front of him. That flood is the red 185 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:38,879 sea that the Israelites crossed. That flood is, of course 186 00:11:38,919 --> 00:11:43,240 the flood of Noah. And he is sees it as 187 00:11:43,279 --> 00:11:47,679 the wide water of his death, right as this image 188 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,039 of death and water and all the things that we've 189 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:54,480 already mentioned. And there I lay to rest from my 190 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,799 heart's race till calm and breath returned to me. Then 191 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,480 rose and pushed up that dead slope at such a 192 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:08,759 pace each footfall rows above the last, and lo almost 193 00:12:08,759 --> 00:12:13,240 at the beginning of the rise, I face the spotted leopard, 194 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:17,720 all tremor and flow, and God he pelt. So he 195 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:21,639 falls down right, so he dies right this he sleeps. 196 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:26,320 He goes down horizontal, which in all the Bible is 197 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:30,120 an image of this death, or this little death. And 198 00:12:30,159 --> 00:12:33,159 then he finds the courage right, he resurrects. He lifts 199 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,360 himself up, and he wants to go up the hill. 200 00:12:36,759 --> 00:12:39,879 He's willing to go up the hill, but he can't. 201 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:45,639 He finds an obstacle which is stopping him from getting back. 202 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:45,879 Speaker 2: Right. 203 00:12:46,039 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: There is a animal there. There is a beast there. 204 00:12:49,399 --> 00:12:53,720 Of course, that beast is all of the beasts that 205 00:12:53,799 --> 00:12:57,960 you encounter before the going up the hill. Right, it is, 206 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,639 of course, the it is the spa of Oedipus. It 207 00:13:01,759 --> 00:13:04,200 is it is you know, the ogre that is on 208 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:08,879 the bridge, the gargoyle, and of course it is also 209 00:13:08,919 --> 00:13:11,039 the wolf in Little Red riding Hood that is an 210 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:16,159 obstacle to Little Red riding Hood reaching her grandmother's house 211 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:21,320 and accomplishing her purpose, getting to home, getting to safety. 212 00:13:21,919 --> 00:13:22,039 Speaker 2: Right. 213 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:25,279 Speaker 1: So he talks about the leopard, and it would not pass, 214 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,840 but stood so blocking my very turn that time and 215 00:13:28,879 --> 00:13:31,480 again I was on the verge of turning back to 216 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:35,879 the wood. This fell as the first widening of the dawn, 217 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,360 as the sun was climbing areas with those stars that 218 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:42,440 rode with him to light the new creation. Right. So 219 00:13:42,799 --> 00:13:45,840 he is standing in front of a new beginning, right, 220 00:13:45,879 --> 00:13:50,120 he is watching the sun rise. He's watching a new 221 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:53,840 creation that he can see it, right, But he there's 222 00:13:53,879 --> 00:13:57,799 something blocking him. There are these guardians, these these animals, 223 00:13:57,879 --> 00:14:02,000 these gargoyles. Thus the holy hour and the sweet season 224 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:06,879 of commemoration did much to arm my fear of that bright, 225 00:14:07,039 --> 00:14:12,480 murderous beast with their good omen So, of course he is, 226 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:14,679 you know, as you don't know this like this is 227 00:14:14,799 --> 00:14:19,440 happening of course also on Holy Friday. That is, this 228 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:24,440 experience that he is having is also related to the 229 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:28,639 crucifixion of Christ. And so he is there on Holy Friday, 230 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,639 at the day of the death of Christ, and he 231 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:37,399 is encountering, of course his own death. And he can 232 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:42,679 see of course the resurrection ahead of him in terms 233 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:45,840 of Easter, right in terms of the liturgical calendar. But 234 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:48,200 he can and he can also see a new beginning 235 00:14:48,279 --> 00:14:53,240 for him after having gone through this difficult time. But 236 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,639 there are obstacles along the way, right, So you can 237 00:14:56,679 --> 00:15:00,360 see how powerful I mean, imagine now all of the 238 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:07,039 layers that Dante has already put into this, into this poem. Yeah, 239 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,080 not so much. But what I shook with dread at 240 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,039 sight of a great lion that broke upon me, raging 241 00:15:13,039 --> 00:15:16,919 with hunger, its enormous head held high as if to 242 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,399 strike a mortal terror into the very air, and down 243 00:15:20,519 --> 00:15:24,679 his track a she wolf drove upon me, a starved horror, 244 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:28,440 ravening and wasted. Beyond all belief. She seemed a rack 245 00:15:28,559 --> 00:15:32,440 for avarice, gaunt and craving. Oh many the souls she 246 00:15:32,519 --> 00:15:36,600 has brought to endless grief. She brought such heaviness upon 247 00:15:36,679 --> 00:15:40,080 my spirit. At sight of her savagery and desperation, I 248 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,159 died from every hope of that high summit. And like 249 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,720 a miser, eager in acquisition but desperate in self reproach. 250 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:51,159 When fortune's wheel turns to the hour of his loss, 251 00:15:51,799 --> 00:15:55,919 all tears and attrition, I wavered back. So let's stop 252 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:57,639 a little bit. I don't want to go too much 253 00:15:57,679 --> 00:16:00,840 into the symbolism of the three beasts. You know, there 254 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:02,480 are plenty of places where you can look at them. 255 00:16:02,559 --> 00:16:05,519 The most important thing to understand, at least in our 256 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:07,320 what I'm trying to describe to you in terms of 257 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:09,639 the three beasts is that they're beast, right, is that 258 00:16:09,679 --> 00:16:12,679 they are ravenous. That they are they are hungry, They 259 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:17,360 want to eat him. Right. They are something like his passions, 260 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,200 are something like his enemies. They are related to all 261 00:16:21,279 --> 00:16:25,080 of these these oppositions of things that are either inside you, 262 00:16:25,519 --> 00:16:28,919 like your desires, your passions, or outside you in terms 263 00:16:28,919 --> 00:16:32,279 of your enemies, the people that want to harm you, 264 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:36,600 that are in the way of experiencing this new light. 265 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:39,200 Of course, this is you know, the wolf in the 266 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,519 little red riding hood that wants to eat little red 267 00:16:42,559 --> 00:16:46,320 writing hood and wants to prevent her from becoming a woman, 268 00:16:46,399 --> 00:16:50,159 from reaching her purpose. Okay, And it's important to see 269 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:54,440 how he relates this to Fortune's wheel, you know, because 270 00:16:55,159 --> 00:16:58,120 this idea of the turning, right, this idea that in 271 00:16:58,159 --> 00:17:01,039 some ways he's at the mercy of the world. Right, 272 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,119 when you talk about the wheel of fortune, you're talking 273 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:06,440 about the world in a way that you don't have 274 00:17:06,519 --> 00:17:08,839 any control over the causality, right, you are in some 275 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:12,359 ways completely subject to the whims and to you know, 276 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,480 the chaos of this wheel that turns and will stop 277 00:17:15,519 --> 00:17:18,160 wherever it stops. You know, it is not the It 278 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:20,599 is the contrary of an image of a path. So 279 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:22,160 he has a path that he wants to get to 280 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,480 the top of the mountain, but he's caught in a wheel. 281 00:17:24,519 --> 00:17:27,880 He's caught in this circle and this turning where he 282 00:17:28,039 --> 00:17:33,160 is not able to reach the top. Okay. I wavered back, 283 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,480 and still the beast pursued, forcing herself against me bit 284 00:17:36,599 --> 00:17:40,480 by bit, until I slid back into the sunless wood, 285 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,400 and I fell to my soul's ruin. A presence gathered 286 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,519 before me on the discolored air, the figure of one 287 00:17:48,519 --> 00:17:54,079 who seemed horse from long silence right, so he backs down. 288 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,640 He basically returns back to the darkness. He can see 289 00:17:57,759 --> 00:17:59,759 the image right, You can almost see him like going 290 00:17:59,759 --> 00:18:03,319 back into the water, right and sinking back into the mire, 291 00:18:03,599 --> 00:18:08,000 sinking back into the pond and seeing the beasts that 292 00:18:08,079 --> 00:18:11,640 are preventing him from going up the hill and reaching 293 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,039 the new beginning, reaching the sunlight. And so what happens 294 00:18:15,279 --> 00:18:19,680 is that you could say, there is another type of 295 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,640 intermediary figure that appears right. So you can imagine that 296 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:28,680 intermediary figures have different functions. Some intermediary figures are obstacles 297 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:33,160 and some intermediary figures are help. And so Dante will 298 00:18:33,279 --> 00:18:38,440 encounter this intermediary figure at sight of him in that 299 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:42,000 friendless waste, I cried, have pity on me, whatever thing 300 00:18:42,039 --> 00:18:45,400 you are, whatever shade or living man, and it replied, 301 00:18:46,079 --> 00:18:49,359 not man, though man I once was, and my blood 302 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:53,920 was Lombard, both my parents Mantuan. I was born though 303 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:58,359 late sub Julio, and bred in Rome under Augustus in 304 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,160 the noon of the false and line gods. I was 305 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:05,640 a poet and saying of old Achilles, noble son who 306 00:19:05,759 --> 00:19:08,720 came to Rome after the burning of Troy all right. 307 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,240 So now I want you to notice the way that 308 00:19:12,279 --> 00:19:14,960 he presents himself. Right. So he says he is going 309 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,599 to be Dante's guide. Of course, this is Virgil, Virgil, 310 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:20,240 the great poet, the great pagan poet. He is going 311 00:19:20,279 --> 00:19:23,519 to be Dante's guide. But the first guy that Dante 312 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:27,480 encounters has to have something in common with the world 313 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:32,079 that he's in. It has the first mediator that the 314 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,960 first bridge, you know, the guide to carry you across, 315 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:39,880 has to have something in common. And so Virgil has 316 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,440 something in common with the dark Woods, the dark Woods 317 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,200 that Dante was in. That is he he says himself 318 00:19:47,519 --> 00:19:51,799 that he was born in Rome and was you know, 319 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,200 and grew up under Augustus in the noon of the 320 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:59,160 false and lying in gods. So he says that he 321 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:04,079 was raised, that he was under the false gods. He was. 322 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:09,960 He is an image of the dark Woods in which 323 00:20:11,279 --> 00:20:14,680 in which Dante is lost. But there's something different about him. 324 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:19,119 There's something which instead of him being having something of 325 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,039 that dark woods but belonging to the woods, he has 326 00:20:22,079 --> 00:20:25,559 some enough of that dark Woods in order to bring 327 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:27,880 Dante out of it, right, in order to be a 328 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,240 kind of bridge to move him up into the next 329 00:20:32,559 --> 00:20:35,119 step right to kind of guide him to where he 330 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:37,240 needs to go in order to go on his way. 331 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:41,279 But you so so now he is saying, but you, 332 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,640 why do you return to these distresses instead of climbing 333 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:47,920 that shining mount of Joy, which is the seat of 334 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,440 the first cause of man's bliss. Right, So he's like, 335 00:20:51,559 --> 00:20:53,839 why are you not going up the hill? You know 336 00:20:54,319 --> 00:20:56,319 what's stopping you from going up the hill? And it's 337 00:20:56,319 --> 00:20:59,319 beautiful because it says it's the mount of Joy, which 338 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,720 is the seat of the first cause of man's lists. 339 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:03,799 So now you can see that this little hill that 340 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,119 he saw, right, that he says, I see, and that 341 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,799 I'm that I'm kind of moving towards, is the hill 342 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,160 of Paradise. Right. It is the great Mount Zion, on 343 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,880 which the seat of the Messiah is there, right on 344 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:19,240 which on which God's Holy Temple is set, on which 345 00:21:19,279 --> 00:21:21,880 the Garden of Eden is there at the top of 346 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:26,680 that mountain. Right. So then Dante askims, and are you 347 00:21:26,839 --> 00:21:30,480 then that Virgil and that fountain of pure speech? My 348 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:35,240 voice grew tremulous Glorian light of poets. Now, maybe that 349 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,880 zeal and Love's apprenticeship that I poured out on your 350 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:42,960 heroic verses serve me well. Right, So he's saying, you 351 00:21:43,039 --> 00:21:46,279 describe yourself as this pagan poet, right, you describe yourself 352 00:21:46,279 --> 00:21:48,720 as the man who rose in the time of the 353 00:21:48,759 --> 00:21:54,039 pagan gods. But he sees Dante sees rather right, that 354 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,960 he is someone of pure speech, right, that he is 355 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,640 the great and light of poets. I would look at 356 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,599 the image he's using. He's connecting him with the light 357 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,440 that's at the top of the mountain he's he's saying, 358 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:10,000 you're like the mountain. Virgil says, I'm like the I'm 359 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,359 like the dark woods. And so. But ye's because he 360 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:16,160 has this kind of transition figure. And so in seeing 361 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:20,519 in Virgil an aspect of the place where he wants 362 00:22:20,559 --> 00:22:22,960 to go the top of that mountain. By saying that 363 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,319 he is light, the light of poets, and that he 364 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:30,279 and that he uh, he has this apprenticeship of love, 365 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,680 says he hopes that it will serve him well, that is, 366 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:37,839 that it will guide him towards higher and higher truth, 367 00:22:37,839 --> 00:22:40,440 that it will take him out of the darkness in 368 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:42,759 which he is and guide him to higher truth. All right, 369 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:46,319 And so Donta continues, he says, for you are my 370 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:51,640 true master and first author, the soul maker, from whom 371 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,240 I drew the breath of that sweet style, whose measure 372 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:01,319 have brought me honor. So there immortals age the beast. 373 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,400 I flee for my soul's salvation. I beg you guard 374 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:08,400 me from her, for she has struck a mortal tremor 375 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:12,400 through me. And he replied, seeing my soul in tears, 376 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:17,759 he must go by another way. Who would escape this wilderness? 377 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:23,200 For that mad beast that fleers before you, there suffers 378 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,759 no man to pass. She tracks down all, kills all, 379 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:31,279 and knows no glut. But feeding she grows hungrier than 380 00:23:31,279 --> 00:23:35,440 she was. She mates with any beast, and will mate 381 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:39,079 with more before the greyhound comes to hunter her down. 382 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:43,359 So you know, there are some political commentary here, but 383 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:47,000 look at what he's also saying. He's attributing to this 384 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:53,960 wolf the hunger of devouring, but also this kind of mixture, right, 385 00:23:54,039 --> 00:23:56,720 this chaos, like a wolf that mates with all kinds 386 00:23:56,759 --> 00:24:00,440 of beasts is of course impossible. So there's a an 387 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,440 imagery of kind of of transgression and hybridity in the 388 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:09,000 image of the beast. And so that's why Virgil says, like, 389 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:12,839 you can't go this way. You know this, This sphinx 390 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,680 is too powerful, right, this beast is too strong. You 391 00:24:16,839 --> 00:24:19,720 have to go around, right, You kind of have to 392 00:24:19,759 --> 00:24:23,720 go around. He will not feed on lands nor loot. 393 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,799 He's not about the greyhound, but honor and love and 394 00:24:27,839 --> 00:24:31,359 wisdom will make straight his way. Right. So, even without 395 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,400 knowing who the greyhound is, notice what he's saying, right, 396 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:38,640 he's talking. He's using that imagery of straightness, compared to circle, 397 00:24:38,799 --> 00:24:44,079 to circularity, to light, right instead of darkness. He will 398 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:46,559 rise between Feltro and Felter, and in him shall be 399 00:24:46,599 --> 00:24:47,960 the resurrection and new day. 400 00:24:48,039 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 2: Right. 401 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,279 Speaker 1: So these are political. You can look them up if 402 00:24:51,319 --> 00:24:53,519 you want to. But notice what he's saying. Right, He's 403 00:24:53,599 --> 00:24:56,079 using the imagery of the resurrection. The imagery of the 404 00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,440 sun coming back is the imagery of light. And that's 405 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,400 sad Italy, for which Nicenesses died, and Turnus and Aurelius 406 00:25:04,559 --> 00:25:07,599 and the made Camilla. He shall hunt her through every 407 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:11,000 nation of sick pride till she has driven back forever 408 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:15,400 to hell, whence envy first release her on the world. Therefore, 409 00:25:15,519 --> 00:25:17,960 for your own good, I think it well, you follow me, 410 00:25:18,079 --> 00:25:20,119 and I will be your guide and lead you forth 411 00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:24,359 through an eternal place. There you shall see the ancient 412 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:28,680 spirits tried in endless pain, and hear their lamentation as 413 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:32,319 each bemowns the second death of souls. Next, you shall 414 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:36,720 see upon a burning mountain, souls in fire and yet 415 00:25:36,759 --> 00:25:41,000 content in fire, knowing that whensoever it may be, they 416 00:25:41,039 --> 00:25:45,599 will mount into the blessed choir. Right. Notice what he's doing. 417 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:49,279 It's amazing, Like this is the second like microcosm that 418 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:52,960 we have. We have this first microcosm where the very 419 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,680 structure of Dante's situation, where he is going down the 420 00:25:56,759 --> 00:25:59,119 valley into this darkness, he sees the light and the 421 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,880 hill above. And now Virgil is saying, we're gonna go 422 00:26:03,599 --> 00:26:06,640 We're gonna repeat your gesture, but at a bigger scale. 423 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,440 We're gonna go down not just this hill, you know, 424 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,799 into the water. We're gonna go down into hell. Then 425 00:26:12,839 --> 00:26:15,279 you're gonna go up the mountain of purgatory, which is 426 00:26:15,319 --> 00:26:19,279 what he's describing of the idea of souls in fire, 427 00:26:19,279 --> 00:26:23,000 but content and fire, and then ultimately you're going to 428 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:26,480 go up into heavens. Right. So this idea that in 429 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:29,480 someone it's a detour is true, but it's also he's 430 00:26:29,519 --> 00:26:33,000 repeating the same thing that he just told you. And 431 00:26:33,039 --> 00:26:35,440 so there's this like beautiful microcosm, and it's so interesting 432 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,119 because it's like it's such a different sense of how 433 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,480 to tell the story. You know, in modern storyteller telling, 434 00:26:41,559 --> 00:26:45,319 we modern storytelling, we like surprises, you know, we like 435 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:48,559 to to trick our readers so that they don't know 436 00:26:48,559 --> 00:26:50,799 what's going to happen and kind of surprise them with 437 00:26:50,839 --> 00:26:53,880 different twists and turns. But here he basically tells the 438 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:56,279 whole story right at the beginning. He's like, this is 439 00:26:56,279 --> 00:26:58,960 what we're gonna do, and you're gonna follow me along 440 00:26:59,279 --> 00:27:02,960 on this trip. So then he talks about they will 441 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,079 mount into the blessed Choir. So he means that those 442 00:27:05,079 --> 00:27:06,960 people that are in purgatory, that are going up the 443 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:10,640 mountain but still suffering, will ultimately reach the top and 444 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:13,839 will enter into the choir, to which if it is 445 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,160 still your wish to climb and worthier spirit, a worthier 446 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,319 spirit shall be sent to guide you with her. Shall 447 00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:24,079 I leave you for the King of Time, who rings 448 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:27,000 on high, forbids me to come there, since living I 449 00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:30,440 rebelled against the law. He rules the waters and the 450 00:27:30,559 --> 00:27:35,519 land and air, And there holds court, his city, and 451 00:27:35,599 --> 00:27:38,279 his throne. Right, so he's saying, at the top of 452 00:27:38,279 --> 00:27:41,599 this hill is the heavenly Jerusalem, right, it's the Escaton 453 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,480 is there at the top of the hill. And because 454 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:47,799 I am, you know, he's now again notice what he's saying. 455 00:27:47,839 --> 00:27:51,000 He is relating himself to the darkness. He's saying, because 456 00:27:51,079 --> 00:27:54,559 I am from the darkness, I can't go there, you know. 457 00:27:55,319 --> 00:27:59,359 But because Dante sees in him light, then he will 458 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,759 go away, you know, with him. He will be his 459 00:28:02,799 --> 00:28:09,160 guide to bring him closer to the closer to the paradise. 460 00:28:09,839 --> 00:28:12,119 And the imagery is very beautiful because it's like a court, 461 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:16,839 a city, a throne. You know, all of these images, acquire, 462 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:19,880 all of these images of order, right of the heavenly Jerusalem. 463 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,599 You know of the order that comes from heaven, et cetera. 464 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,440 Poet by that God, to you unknown, lead me this 465 00:28:26,519 --> 00:28:31,240 way beyond the present ill and worst to dread, Lead 466 00:28:31,319 --> 00:28:34,079 me to Peter's Gate, and be my guide through the 467 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:39,720 sad halls of hell. And he then follow and he 468 00:28:39,759 --> 00:28:42,839 moved ahead in silence, and I followed where he led. 469 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:46,799 And so that is the first canto of Inferno. It 470 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:51,440 is a masterful poem you know, and is masterful in 471 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:56,240 the capacity that Dante has to pull pretty much a 472 00:28:56,400 --> 00:29:01,359 whole master class of symbolism into one conto and to 473 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:05,920 give you an image of the entire cosmos while telling 474 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:08,920 you of the specific moment of the beginning. Right because 475 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,720 because this is the beginning, and because Dante is the 476 00:29:11,799 --> 00:29:15,440 symbolic thinker. Just like in the beginning of Genesis, you 477 00:29:15,519 --> 00:29:18,200 have the entire cosmos. Just like in the beginning of 478 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,440 the Gospel of John, you have the entire cosmos. So 479 00:29:21,599 --> 00:29:25,079 too in Dante's Inferno. At the beginning of Inferno, he 480 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:28,240 gives us a glimpse of the entire story of the 481 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:32,640 whole cosmos, the discent, the ascent, and of course the 482 00:29:33,279 --> 00:29:35,799 you know, the divine revelation that will come at the 483 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:40,480 end of the entire comedia. And so if you like me, 484 00:29:40,759 --> 00:29:44,960 love Dante, if you if you see the power in 485 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,759 the stories, I want to invite you to join us 486 00:29:48,319 --> 00:29:52,000 for Paradiso that is starting very soon. All the details 487 00:29:52,039 --> 00:29:55,519 are in the description and that we hope see you there. 488 00:29:55,559 --> 00:29:59,599 Thank you, bye bye. If you enjoy these videos and podcasts, 489 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:02,359 please go to the Symbolic World dot com website and 490 00:30:02,519 --> 00:30:04,839 see how you can support what we're doing. There are 491 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:08,279 multiple subscriber tiers with perks. There are apparel and books 492 00:30:08,279 --> 00:30:10,839 to purchase. So go to the Symbolic World dot com 493 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:12,519 and thank you for your support.