The terraces of Mount Purgatory, starting at pride and moving up beyond lust to the final staircase of the climb. Here are the episodes for PURGATORIO, Cantos X through XXVII, from the moment the pilgrim realizes what’s at stake until the climax of Virgil’s character in the poem. The episodes are in reverse order, so scroll to find what you want.

Posts tagged Classical imagery

PURGATORIO, Episode 179. Did Dante Think The Characters In Classical Poems Were Real?

Did Dante think the characters in classical poems like those by Virgil, Statius, and Ovid were real, historical people? The answer lies at the heart of our problem of reading Dante across the scientific-revolution divide. He may find texts more reliable than we do . . . and may find meaning less stable than we do.

Interpolated EpisodesMark ScarbroughJune 4, 2025Dante's poetics, Classical imagery Comments

PURGATORIO, Episode 132. Three Ecstatic Visions And Dante's Warning (To Himself?) About Anger: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 19 - 39

Dante the pilgrim has three more ecstatic visions as he gets ready to depart Purgatory's terrace of the angry. These visions are all about the destructive nature of excessive wrath and may give us an indication about why anger sits at the center of COMEDY: to mitigate Dante's own anger at Florence.

Mark ScarbroughSeptember 11, 2024Purgatorio XVII, The terrace of wrath, the terrace of anger, Purgatory, Purgatorio, Classical imageryComment