Take Notes, Dante: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 46 - 60
From Walking With Dante by Mark Scarbrough
March 25, 2026 · 24 min · Season 2 · Episode 253
About this episode
Mark Scarbrough explores Beatrice's discourse in the final canto of PURGATORIO, focusing on the challenges of writing and interpretation.
Beatrice continues her discourse at the end of PURGATORIO by offering Dante classical examples of her own obscurity, Christian resonances for the very hope of writing, and a challenge for him to become her scribe, to take notes on her lectures. This passage falls in the middle of her long monologue in the last canto of PURGATORIO and it forms the fulcrum that turns us from the apocalyptic vision to something much closer to Dante's own concerns: the craft of writing. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we tease out the difficulties in this notoriously challenging passage at the end of PURGATORIO. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:59] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXXIII, Lines 46 - 60. 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 . [03:24] The obscurity as the point. [07:02] Themis and the Sphinx, early human riddles. [10:02] Dante's well-intended mistake about the Naiads. [13:41] Beatrice's theory of Dante's craft. [15:59] The classical to the Christian: the dominant move in INFERNO and PURGATORIO. [17:35] A twice-robbed tree--but how? [19:50] The…
People in this episode
Host: Mark Scarbrough
Topics covered
- Dante's writing craft
- Beatrice's discourse
- classical examples
- Christian resonances
- interpretation of PURGATORIO
- obscurity in literature
Keywords
- Dante
- PURGATORIO
- Beatrice
- writing craft
- literary analysis
- classical references
- Christian themes
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: PURGATORIO, INFERNO, 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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