Dante in a Year: Recent Episodes
Danny Fitzpatrick
Dante in a Year is dedicated to sharing Dante’s Divine Comedy with a new generation of readers and listeners in honor of the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death. We will be using my new translation of the Comedy, beautifully illustrated by sculptor Timothy Schmalz. Along the way we will periodically hear from artists and scholars on why Dante remains relevant today.
In which Dante finds himself lost in a shadowy wood and encounters Vergil, who proposes himself as guide.
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In which we delve into the Comedy anew, seeking to explore its poetic, imaginative, and spiritual depths.
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In which Beatrice discusses whether or not anything else can be offered in place of a broken bow.
In which Beatrice gazes at the Sun and explains to Dante that to soar Heavenward is simply to fulfill the instinct of his nature.
In which the desolation of the tree of knowledge proceeds to the defilement of the whore and the angry transports of her consort.
The end of Purgatorio! In which Dante drinks the waters of Eunoe and prepares to ascend with Beatrice to the stars.
In which Dante passes through the fire, spends the night on the final stair to the summit of the mountain, and dreams of Leah garlanding herself in flowers.
In which Dante, Vergil, and Statius ponder the origin of souls and wonder at lust’s refining fire.
In which Vergil and Statius discuss the latter’s conversion and the finer points of the poetic arts.
In which Dante and Vergil hear examples of greed and listen as all the mountain rejoices at the liberation of a soul to Heaven.
In which Dante and Vergil discuss the soul’s loves and watch as penitent spirits purge acedia.
In which more scenes of pride unfold in miraculous images at the pilgrims’ feet and the P of pride is wiped by an angel’s wing from Dante’s brow.
In which Dante and Vergil ascend to the terrace of pride, where they see miraculous images of humility on the face of the mountain and the sinful souls moving beneath great stones.
In which Dante dreams of an eagle which snatches him up into flame even as St. Lucy bears him on toward the gate of Purgatory. There an angel slices seven Ps into his brow.
In which we meet three late-repentant souls who beg for Dante’s assistance in securing prayers.
In which Dante and Vergil begin their ascent and meet Belacqua, another late repentant.
In which Dante and Vergil seek to ascend the mountain and meet Manfred, who repented at the moment of his death.
In which we see a skiff of souls borne across the ocean by an angel to the foot of Purgatory.
In which Dante and Vergil meet Cato, who instructs Vergil to wash Dante at the base of the mountain of Purgatory so that the two might begin their ascent.
We’ve reached the end of Inferno, where Dante and Vergil use Satan as a stair to reach the other side of the world.
We’re down to the second to last canto of Inferno! We hear Count Ugolino’s tale of horrid death at the hand of Archbishop Ruggieri, and we meet souls so evil that they’ve rained into hell before their bodily death.
In which Ulysses describes his journey beyond the end of the world to the mountain of Purgatory, where his cleverness meets its end.
In which Dante and Vergil descend into a pit of snakes, wherein they meet Vanni Fucci, a Tuscan who prophesies ill fortune for Dante.
In which Dante and Vergil flee the Malebranche devils and find themselves among the hypocrites.
In which the Malebranche hook a barrator from the pitch, only to be fooled by his scheme.
In which we watch a band of devils hurl a sinner into boiling pitch. Then the leader of the devils commands his crew to escort Dante and Vergil further along.
In which the diviners walk backward with their heads twisted around. Among them we meet Michael Scott.
In which Dante and Vergil make their way into the pit and begin to encounter all sorts of deceivers.
Dante and Vergil meet Jacopo Rusticucci and then come to the edge of the pit of fraud, where they await the monster Geryon.
Today Dante and Vergil descend past the Minotaur into lower Hell. They come to a river of boiling blood filled with the souls of those who were violent toward others. The river is patrolled by centaurs, one of whom guides Dante and Vergil to a place where they can cross.
Today we meet Farinata, a Florentine who reveals to Dante the fact that those in Hell cannot see the present but only the future.
An angel arrives and lets Vergil and Dante into the city of Dis, though only after the peril of the Furies and Medusa.
In this second bonus episode, Dr. Frank Ambrosio of Georgetown University interviews Danny Fitzpatrick and Timothy Schmalz.
Phlegyas bears Dante and Vergil across the swamp of Styx. Then fallen angels bar the gates of Dis against our heroes.
Here Dante and Vergil watch the hoarders and the squanderers and then descend into the swamp of acedia.
Today we have an interview with me and renowned sculptor Timothy Schmalz, hosted by Dr. Cynthia Toolin-Wilson!
Today we journey with Dante and Vergil in Limbo, where Dante is crowned one of the six greatest poets of all time. Then on into Hell proper!
We’re back for Canto 3, wherein Dante passes through the famous gate of Hell and begins his journey.
In this first episode, we introduce the show and dive right into Dante’s Inferno, Canto 1, the awe-inspiring opening to the Divine Comedy.