Dante the pilgrim, Virgil, and Statius begin the ever-quickening ascent to the final terrace of Mount Purgatory. As he climbs, the pilgrim has a question about the gluttons on the previous terrace . . . but it's really a question that's been brewing since almost the opening of COMEDY itself.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the opening lines of PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, a canto that was often treated as a scientific treatise in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance but that is now too often dismissed as a medieval curiosity: Statius's wild discussion of embryology.If you'd like to support this work, please consider a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend to underwrite the many hosting, licensing, editing, streaming, and royalty fees by using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:29] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 1 - 21. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:33] PURGATORIO's Canto XXV is a bridge between gluttony and lust, as well as a bridge between two important discussions of poetry.[07:04] We get a brief glimpse of Jerusalem as we hurry up the stairs.[09:42] Is there symbolism or even allegory in the notion that the narrow stairs "unpairs" the travelers?[11:48] The pilgrim is a baby stork--he wants to fly but still needs parental protection.[15:30] The pilgrim Dante finally asks the central problem of corporeality that has troubled COMEDY almost since its beginning.[18:43] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 1 - 21.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.