INFERNO, Episode 6. Virgil To The Rescue: Inferno, Canto I, Lines 67 - 96

Dante is saved! (Or at least, momentarily saved.) And by none other than the great Roman poet Virgil, author of THE AENEID, the old poet Dante calls “my master.”

Catch up with Dante on his journey, a walk that almost ended just as it got underway, but that has to be redirected by, well, classical poetry—and by a classical poet, Dante’s “author,” Virgil.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as Virgil arrives on the scene, not as the allegory of human reason (as he’s often seen), but Virgil with all his Virgil-ness in tow. He may not be all he’s cracked up to be. Or maybe he’s more than how he’s usually portrayed. He’s often seen as the allegory of reason. But what if Virgil is more than that? What if he’s a human—damned, yes, but human, fallible, a little insecure, a little preening, a great poet, and a bit of a windbag.

If you’re new to this podcast, go back to episode 1, down this blog. You can start on the walk and come along with us. It is one giant story, after all. Best to start at the beginning.

Otherwise, drop in here.

Here’s my rough English translation that I used on this episode (INFERNO, Canto 1, Lines 67 - 96):

“Not a man,” he replied, “though I once was a man,

And my parents were Lombards,

Both with Mantua as their homeland.

“I was born sub Julio, although it was late,

And I lived in Rome under good Augustus

In the period of the false and lying gods.

I was a poet, and sang of that just

Son of Anchises who came from Troy

After proud Ilium was burned up.

“But you, why are you going back to all that sorrow?

Why aren’t you climbing this delightful mountain,

Which is the source and cause of every joy?”

“Wait, are you Virgil, the great fount

That opens out into a big expanse of language?”

I bowed my head in shame when I answered him.

“O glory and light of all the other poets,

Let my long studies and great love pay off,

All that I’ve done ever since I searched inside your volume.

“You are my master, you are my author.

I got the beautiful style from you

That has won me such honor.

“Look at the beast that made me turn back.

Save me from her, famous sage,

For she makes my veins and pulse quiver.”

“You must commit to another road,”

He answered when he saw me start to cry,

“If you want to get out of this savage place.

“The beast that makes you to wail

Doesn’t let anyone get by that way.

She will set upon you until she kills you.”