Episode 91. Walking On Pride, Part Three: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 49 - 60

We've come to the last four reliefs carved in the paving stones of the terrace of pride. We're almost on our way to the next terrace of Purgatory . . . but not quite. Dante the pilgrim has to pay attention to four final moments, four final exemplars, some of whom are stated outright and some of whom are strangely occluded.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look through this last passage on the reliefs in the road bed. There are still plenty of surprises under our feet!

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Here are the segments of this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

 [01:24] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO,  Canto XII, lines 49 - 60. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please scroll down this page.

[02:42] The final figures in the hard pavement: Alcmeon (and Eriphyle), Sennacherib, Tomyris (and Cyrus), and Holofernes (and Judith).

[11:16] The craft of the passage: children killing their parents v. women killing warlords, sacred spaces v. profane/political slaughter, occluded v. presented figures.

[15:41] Curiosities in the passage: the unnamed figures, the allegory of the hard pavement, the connection between Sennacherib and Satan, and the odd notion of Holofernes' "relics."

[21:24] Our final discussion on the virtue of humility: its possible evolutionary necessity for a communal animal.

And here’s my English translation of Purgatorio, Canto XII, Lines 49 – 60

Now the hard pavement showed

The way in which Alcmeon caused the unfortunate jewelry

To appear not worth the price his mother paid for it.

And it showed the way in which his sons

Fell on top of Sennacherib inside the temple—

And how, having killed him, they left him there.

And it showed the way in which Tomyris

Made ruin and cruel slaughter when she said to Cyrus,

“You were thirsty for blood; I intend to fill you up with it.”

And it showed the way in which the Assyrians

Were routed and put to flight after Holofernes was killed

And the remains of his slaughter were littered about.