Episode 96. Erasing God's Writing And Virgil's Smile: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, Lines 118 - 139

Dante the pilgrim and his guide, Virgil, take on the last bit of the climb out of the first terrace of Purgatory proper, the terrace of pride. PURGATORIO continues to compellingly difficult and enjoyable because they exit the terrace with two interesting and unexpected moments: Virgil smiles and God’s writing is erased.

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Episode 84. Proud Oderisi Confronts The Vagaries Of Artistic Fame: PURGATORIO, Canto XI, Lines 73 - 108

On Purgatory’s terrace of pride, Dante encounters Oderisi, an artist, a manuscript illuminator, who utters some of the most famous lines in PURGATORIO. Oderisi discusses the vagaries of artistic fame and finds himself both forgotten and yet still prideful . . . about as Dante, our poet, who seems to vaunt his fame high in the passage but may actually be bringing himself pretty low.

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