12/07/23: Dante’s Purgatorio, Cantos 19 – 21.
Things discussed in this episode:
- Why is it the stench of the woman in the dream that wakes up Dante?
- Is the dream-women made beautiful by Dante’s gaze, or is her beauty an illusion she produces?
- Why does a different woman (“holy and alert”) have to intercede on Dante’s behalf before Virgil can rouse him?
- Is the woman in the dream an allegory for greed, and the distorting power of money? If so why is she likened to the sirens in mythology?
- Generally, why does Dante the pilgrim require so much intercession? God has to send Mary, who has to send Beatrice, who has to send Virgil, to rescue Dante from the dark woods.
- Is it possible to be a moral pope, or is the position itself inherently corrupt and corrupting?
- How much of their reality do object contain in themselves and how much is produced by our minds and our senses?
- Are we reading too much Aristotle forward into Dante? Are we reading too much Heidegger backwards into him?
KtAM 