Of Moon Spots and Virgil: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 46 - 63

Now that our pilgrim Dante is standing in the moon, he has a fundamental question: Why are there spots on the moon?

And he thinks he knows the answer, right out of natural philosophy. They're caused by rare and dense material in the moon.

He's asking a question for which he knows the answer, trying to play teacher's pet. But Beatrice is having none of it. She's ready to show him how he's not as smart as he thinks he is.

Let’s begin our descent into some of the most complicated material in all of COMEDY.

The segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

[01:14] My English translation of PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 46 - 63. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please scroll down this page.

[02:57] Two small thematic details: the uses of the word "body" and Beatrice's watery metaphor of "submerged."

[06:02] Two of three explanations for moon spots in this canto: 1) the folkloric myth and 2) the natural philosophy deduction.

[07:57] Folklore: Cain and his thorns in the moon.

[09:21] Natural philosophy: rare and dense materials (and how they reflect light).

[12:54] The distance Beatrice puts between her arguments (to come) and 1) sensory input and 2) reason . . . and thereby Virgil.

[17:07] Diversity and a pluralistic world.

[19:07] Rereading the passage: PARADISO, Canto II, lines 46 - 63.

My English translation of PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 46 - 63:

I replied, “My lady, as devoutly as it’s

Possible to be, I thank him,

Who has taken me out of the mortal world.

“But tell me: What are the dark imprints

On this body, the ones that make people

On earth tell tall tales about Cain?”

She smiled a bit, then she said,

“If the opinion of mortals goes awry

In the spot where no key of sense can unlock it,

“The arrows of wonder certainly shouldn’t

Pierce you now, since you see that reason

Has short wings, even if [it arises] from the senses.

“In any event, tell me what you yourself think of all this.”

And I [said], “What appears to us up here as diversified

Happens, I believe, because of rare and dense bodies.”

And she [said], “To be sure you’re going to see

Your belief submerged in fallacy, if you pay close attention

To the argument I’ll make against it. . . .”