Images, Schools, Obscurities, And The Promise Of Clarity: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 79 - 102
From Walking With Dante by Mark Scarbrough
April 1, 2026 · 25 min · Season 2 · Episode 255
About this episode
Mark Scarbrough discusses Beatrice's final discourse in PURGATORIO and the implications of Dante's understanding of theological truths.
After her final discourse in PURGATORIO, Beatrice and Dante enter into a brief conversation in which he admits he already has images stamped into his brain but he doesn't know what many of them mean, particularly those from her. She, on the other hand, launches into her final condemnation: the school he followed was too debased to capture the truths she has in hand. But she doesn't end there. She also promises greater clarity ahead. Thank goodness! Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the conclusion of her discourse and discover the ways Dante may be signaling us that the rational mind is not enough to understand theological truths. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:18] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 79 - 102. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me about this passage, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com . [03:15] Questions about brain impressions, perhaps derived from the figurae of Joachim da Fiore. [09:22] Beatrice's condemnation of the school Dante followed . . . and the questions about which school does she mean. [17:38] The question of whether…
People in this episode
Host: Mark Scarbrough
Topics covered
- Dante
- Purgatory
- Theological truths
- Beatrice's discourse
- Brain impressions
- Clarity in understanding
Keywords
- Dante
- Beatrice
- PURGATORIO
- Canto XXXIII
- theological truths
- brain impressions
- clarity
- Joachim da Fiore
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII
More episodes of Walking With Dante
- An Update about PARADISO and WALKING WITH DANTE · May 28, 2026 · 3 min
- Walking With Dante is going on a short hiatus · April 30, 2026 · 3 min
- Final Thoughts On PURGATORIO · April 26, 2026 · 20 min
- The Seven Addresses To The Reader In PURGATORIO · April 19, 2026 · 25 min
- Dante's Theories Of Writing Across INFERNO and PURGATORIO · April 12, 2026 · 31 min
- All The Hopeful Ambiguity Of The Second Canticle: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 124 - 145 · April 8, 2026 · 20 min
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