Since we’ve come to a moment of (perhaps!) profound irony as Statius misquotes and even misinterprets Virgil’s AENEID to find his way to salvation, we should perhaps pause and talk a bit about irony, both as an artistic concept and specifically as tool our poet, Dante, uses to make meaning in his text.

In this interpolated (or interstitial?) episode of WALKING WITH Dante, we’ll talk about the two basic forms of irony: simple (or verbal) and situational. Then we’ll talk about three types of situational irony: dramatic, cosmic, and what I like to call “creative” irony.

Statius and Virgil continue their conversation as they climb to the sixth terrace with the pilgrim Dante.

Statius explains that he discovered his error when he read two lines from Virgil's AENEID. The problem is that Statius misquotes these lines and misinterprets them, making them fit his personal situation while pushing them through Aristotle's ethics.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this wild passage that has inspired over seven hundred years of commentary. What if the way you can get saved is by misinterpreting a classical text?

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

[01:57] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 25 - 54. 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.

[05:08] The binary relationship becomes a triangulation, thereby elevating the pilgrim Dante.

[08:30] Statius' changing status in Purgatory colors (or darkens) Aristotle's notions of accidents and substances.

[16:06] Statius seems to have read Dante's INFERNO!

[21:19] Statius misquotes and misinterprets a passage from THE AENEID, which then leads to his salvation (or at least to the recognition of his errors).

[29:16] Avarice and prodigality are apparently mostly connected to the clergy.

[30:18] The whole discussion falls back to Aristotle's ethics, (mis)interpreted for the Christian reader.

[32:58] To sum, a misquoted, misinterpreted passage from classical literature begins the journey toward redemption.

[35:46] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 25 - 54.

Blinded by the angel, Dante the pilgrim begins his climb to the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory. But his plight is overshadowed by Virgil’s desire to know more about Statius . . . in this strange passage of misquotings and misreadings.

The angel cuts short a beatitude from the gospels. Virgil seems to misquote Francesca from INFERNO, Canto V. And Virgil himself seems to toss out Aristotle’s Golden Mean to get what he wants from Statius.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the start of many misquotations and misreadings that make up PURGATORIO, Canto XXII.

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

[01:59] My English translation of the medieval Florentine. If you'd like to read along or add a comment to continue the discussion with me, please find the entry for this episode of the podcast on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:02] My opening remarks on PURGATORIO, Canto XXII.

[06:57] The climb and the truncated beatitude.

[12:23] Action off-stage . . . because of haste or because of blindness?

[15:47] Virgil's quotation (or misquotation) of Francesca from INFERNO, Canto V.

[20:55] Virgil's tragedy and Dante's hope.

[25:43] The question on all of our minds (with a passing reference to Aristotle's Ethics).

[29:29] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 1 - 24.