PURGATORIO, Episode 202. The Episode In Which My Voice Breaks: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, Lines 25 - 48

The pilgrim can’t answer the question for why he’s in Purgatory while in his corporeal body because he’s interrupted by a new group of penitents. Moving in the opposite direction to anyone on the mountain, these are the homosexuals, placed right at the end of the climb to heaven. Love has truly moved the fence in Dante’s understanding of the world.

Mark ScarbroughAugust 24, 2025Purgatorio XXVI, Purgatorio, Purgatory, The terrace of lust, love, HomosexualityComment

PURGATORIO, Episode 136. Love Is The Seed Of All You Do: PURGATORIO, Canto XVII, Lines 91 - 105

Virgil opens the central discourse of Dante’s COMEDY with his thesis on love: it’s the seed of all human action, good or bad. He then parses that thesis with scholastic reasoning, only to repeat the claim and come to rest at the conclusion. You’re in heaven or hell because of love!

Mark ScarbroughNovember 10, 2024Purgatorio XVII, Purgatorio, The terrace of envy, love, Virgil's discourse, PurgatoryComment