PURGATORIO CANTO 1 Summary and Analysis

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PURGATORIO CANTO 1 Summary and Analysis

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Күн бұрын

PLAYLIST LINK to ALL the 100 VIDEOS IS HERE (save it!): • DIVINE COMEDY 100 Cant...
Synopsis and analysis of Canto I of Dante’s Purgatorio, with an overview of the whole Cantica.
Some studies on Dante I used:
Dante: Poet of the secular world, Eric Auerbach
The Cambridge Companion to Dante's ‘Commedia' (Cambridge Companions to Literature)
www.amazon.com...
English translations used for this video:
Allen Mandelbaum, Purgatorio, Second Book of the Divine Comedy (California Dante) www.amazon.com...
Daniel Fitzpatrick, Purgatorio www.amazon.com...
Thanks for your comments and questions. I will keep trying to upload at least one video every week.

Пікірлер: 61

@TheCodeXCantina 3 жыл бұрын

The quality of these videos are amazing. It’s like a free education.

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you 🙏🏻 That’s what makes this so meaningful to me - and I’m sure this is a big part of why you are passionate about your channel as well. Also - I’ve tagged you on my latest “Literary Adventures” video, hoping to get some Japan-related stories 😉 Of course , as always, less than zero problems if you don’t do the tag. And I know you have a pretty busy schedule!

@TheCodeXCantina 3 жыл бұрын

@@tomlabooks3263 oh I failed to comment. I saw it and appreciated the tour of Italy. I might have to cheat on the tag

@gerriegriffin5735 3 ай бұрын

Tom your videos are wonderful. I finished inferno and watched all your videos and am now starting on purgatory. I used Mark Musa's translation for inferno and have Dorothy Sayers for Purgatory. Then I have the benefit of the translations you use in your videos. I have a question about Canto 1 and Cato. Since Cato guards the entrance to Purgatory does he himself ever climb the mountain to Paradise or does he go back to limbo? What is your view of Cato given that everyone in purgatory goes eventually to Paradise?

@gerriegriffin5735 3 ай бұрын

One question. What is your view of Cato? Since everyone in purgatory goes to Paradise eventually, does he ever climb the mountain to paradise like the other souls?

@tomlabooks3263 11 күн бұрын

@@gerriegriffin5735 Sorry about my delay here. Cato doesn’t climb the mountain. He is on the beach forever, but more in a symbolic fashion.

@acruelreadersthesis5868 3 жыл бұрын

Ironic what you said about Dante not wanting to seem prideful in his idea of himself as a poet, since he put himself alongside Ovid, Lucan, Homer, and Horace early in the Inferno!

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

That’s right - he was aware of his own prideful nature. He will examine that deeply on the terrace of Pride and go through a special penitence himself for this sin, which he doesn’t do in the other terraces. Oh, he knew!! 😂 Thanks for watching, Lukas.

@charlessmith5465 3 жыл бұрын

Columbia University has a public site called "Digital Dante" which includes the Mandelbaum translations of all the cantos for Purgatorio and the rest of the Comedia. I listened to a conference from Columbia as a celebration of the resource, and one of the speakers said Mandelbaum was very enthusiastic about what they were trying to do by creating the site as a place for the texts and for essays and other works contributing to its legacy. So maybe that'll help someone who doesn't have immediate access to the book. Godspeed!

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you Charles! I had included the link to that great Columbia resource in some of my Inferno videos. Another one that I find very useful is the “Dante reader”, created by Dartmouth College (on their website) with many commentaries in Italian and in English for each canto.

@knittingbooksetc.2810 3 жыл бұрын

So happy you’re continuing with this. I’ve read a bit already. I’m dealing with sloth right now. Meanwhile I bought two resources related to the DC, which I will share as soon as they arrive.

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

“I’m dealing with sloth right now” is something I could say about my own life 😂 Thanks for joining our chat yesterday, I could see the live comments only today. Looking forward to hearing more about your Comedy-related books.

@knittingbooksetc.2810 3 жыл бұрын

@@tomlabooks3263 Even yesterday I said the same to my friends. How appropriate that I’m reading about sloth!

@avvGiuseppeTodesca 3 жыл бұрын

congratulations and best wishes for your new beginning. Go Tom go !

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

Grazie Giuseppe 🙏🏻 😄

@jons2225 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this great introduction! This has pretty much always been my favorite canto of my favorite cantica. Your joy and enthusiasm for it are infectious. Everything is so fresh and clean after the weight, filth, and pain of Inferno. And thanks for your help with the Italian and its many links. In addition to what you said, I had a note from somewhere that “cantero” in line 4 is the first use of future tense in the Comedy. (True?) And “salire” in line 6 is repeated in the last line of Purgatorio. Thanks again!

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

I didn’t realize that - about “canterò” - that’s so interesting. In Inferno there is no future, so it makes sense. Thank you so much for your comment, yes Purgatorio is such a treasure. I hope these videos will also maybe help people who still don’t know it realize that there is nothing inaccessible or “dry and boring” about it... quite the exact opposite!

@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse 3 жыл бұрын

This was great Tom. Thanks for bringing out more in the text for me personally, this is set to be an awesome journey! It is beautiful how Dante illustrates through image and physicality deep concepts. A poet of the highest order! The dew as grace, my heart thanks you ❤️😊

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this comment my friend - it means a lot 🙏🏻

@hesterdunlop7948 3 жыл бұрын

I'm so excited for this ...I've decided to switch translation too and have opted for Stanley Lombardo , the introduction has been really helpful in contextualising this cantiche..and it's such a relief to have such light and colour and space after the dark clamour of Inferno ...

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

I’m VERY curious to hear about the Lombardo translation, Hester.

@hesterdunlop7948 3 жыл бұрын

@@tomlabooks3263 likewise I'd love your views . It prints the Italian on one page and the translation in the other ...I don't speak Italian but wanted to see the words and get a sense of the rhymes ...Lombardo uses some rhymes but strives to maintain rhythm as he intends it to be read aloud .....and the introduction and footnotes are by scholars from my local Leeds University so I had to give it a try ...

@leahwolf4188 2 жыл бұрын

I read Black, but switched to Mandelbaum. Will keep both close by. Thank you for the discussion of the root of desire. Never heared that bebore.

@tomlabooks3263 2 жыл бұрын

Welcome to Purgatorio!!

@maankawas5957 3 жыл бұрын

Excellent video!!! 😊🙌 I'm loving "Purgatorio" so much!

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

It’s pure beauty. Thank you for your kind comment.

@TootightLautrec 3 жыл бұрын

From despair to desire! Your explanation of the etymology of desire was amazing, and I love the concept of the education of desire--learning how to train desire for the right purposes. This is wonderful (in all its meanings).

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

I guess I was scarred by years of Latin + ancient Greek... once the school-hate washed away, the love for understanding the story behind each word remained - sounds like you also enjoy the wonders of etymology.

@attention5638 3 жыл бұрын

It begins! That is a beautiful edition. I never see Purgatorio on its own like that. I am looking at it now, and I completely forgot how different the language is. Do you know the time he took between writing Purgatorio and Inferno? I have never heard of Dante trying to commit suicide, but those connections do seem like the case--which is really odd taking in his religious commitments. I really need to read that biography you have spoken about. I need more time in a day! haha. I very much look forward to going through these Cantos!

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

They say the first 7 cantos of Inferno pre-date the writing of the rest of the Comedy , with a big hiatus in between. But I believe he started Purgatorio right away, after Inferno. It was around 1315, which when I really focus on and understand what it means, it gives me a sense of vertigo. Anyway, yes, let’s pack our stuff and go climbing ... soon we’ll get rid of this old roman poet who keeps embarrassing himself with everyone 😂

@attention5638 3 жыл бұрын

@@tomlabooks3263 😂🤣 It is going to feel strange when we hit the last Canto in Paradiso. A BookTube era will have ended.😅

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

@@attention5638 Outside Dante’s tomb in Ravenna some passers-by will hear a voice from below shouting: “Oddio, finalmente!!” ( = “finally, for God’s sake!”).

@attention5638 3 жыл бұрын

@@tomlabooks3263 🤣😂

@knittingbooksetc.2810 3 жыл бұрын

@@tomlabooks3263 Aren’t we supposed to restart? 😂

@bighardbooks770 3 жыл бұрын

In Tarot the Four Cardinal Vertures are: (Works w the Southern Cross astronomy, too): Prudence = #8/Strength; Justice = #11/Justice; Fortuna = #10/The Wheel and Temperance being #14/Temperance! Christianity and the start go hand-in-Hamd, Tom.

@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711 3 жыл бұрын

And so the next adventure starts. I have Kirkpatrick not Mandelbaum but that will be fine I think. The moment when Virgil washes his face with dew is so tender and almost sacramental.

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

Definitely one of the highest points of Purgatorio.

@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711 3 жыл бұрын

@@tomlabooks3263 don't say we've had the best already in Canto 1! Actually I could hear you enthusiasm for the whole cantiche in this video.

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

@@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711 Oh no no, there is an endless amount of beauty in Purgatorio! I would say this is one of the most memorable scenes. No wonder people mocked him about it (in an affectionate way) in the street.

@bighardbooks770 3 жыл бұрын

#17/The Star has ofen times been called "Prudence."

@GoreVidalComicbooks 3 жыл бұрын

Good day, Tom. Interesting discussion about the word "desire." Back to T.S. Eliot, "memory and desire" which appears in the first stanza of The Wasteland are central to the poem, as I think it is for Dante. My remembered reading of Purgatorio is Dante's attempt to purge himself of his deep love for Beatrice. I don't think he was successful, despite being immersed in the river Lethe. The destiny of Fancesca and Paolo, I think are always on his mind. And when he meets Cato, who is given clemency, but not his beloved wife, Marcia. Cato, though, is no longer controlled by physical love, he's been freed. But will Dante?

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

Great question! The Divine Comedy IS, after all, a monumental poem about love. Love for Beatrice that evolves into a broader and deeper “love” within the christian framework. Thanks for watching.

@richardemerson549 3 жыл бұрын

Also love your ideas about Dante's feelings about suicide.. a new thought! But it would make sense, perhaps in his early 30s... after losing the love of his life with Beatrice at 25 years old, which might have broken him internally. And then being a "prior" around 30, and losing everything at 31/32 years. Plus being arranged for marriage when he was 12 years old. All of this might have "peaked" at some point. There are some sentences in the Comedy about "climbing stairs" in homes that are not your own, that have a very strong feeling.

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you Richard. That sentence about the stairs in homes that are not your own has always hit me as very powerful. I have seen your comments about the website - thank you so much for including a link to my video there! I guess KZfaq selectively allows or doesn't allow links to be included in comments, but I don't know what criteria they are using.

@richardsonreads573 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Tom. I’m finally starting this.

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

Fantastic news! I hope you’ll enjoy Purgatorio, it’s the “hidden gem” of the Divine Comedy. Chat soon.

@faithbooks7906 3 жыл бұрын

But Cato was a pagan. How'd he get saved when all the other virtuous pagans have to hang out in Limbo? I am really enjoying Purgatorio and your commentary is so illuminating!

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

That’s right! Controversial choice! Thanks Faith , I mentioned you at some point since we had a chat about “time” somewhere in this multi-media-social-platform thing....

@misslady2470 3 жыл бұрын

nice ! Im going to read inferno soon!

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

My advice is, the slower you go with the Comedy, the better! Because there are SO many little details and nuances.

@HeyYallListenUp 3 жыл бұрын

Great discussion. How do we know that Dante and Virgil are talking to Cato? My translation only refers to him as "old man". Is it the reference to Marcia or something later in the text?

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

I don't think he is ever mentioned by name in Purgatorio, and yes it is the reference to Marcia that confirms his identity.

@bighardbooks770 3 жыл бұрын

Mandelbaum's illustrations are okay. 😎🖖😁

@bighardbooks770 3 жыл бұрын

First, Tom and have a difference of opinion ion texts: altho I've read and own Alanantelbàum's (it's prose; indeed, not poetry,!) Ilike Ciardi's the best.Therefore, in my comments, I'll be reading Ciardi. All Respect to Tom.

@bighardbooks770 3 жыл бұрын

Ok I shall first say how happy I'm for you to continue, my friend. I say that because we've become friends. _Grazie,_ Tom, my new friend 😎🖖🤗

@tomlabooks3263 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you my friend! I heard great things about Ciardi, I’m sure his version is a great one too.

@norahamerman8677 2 жыл бұрын

Ciardi is a good poet and his version is fun to read but he undermines terza rima by omitting the interlocking rhyme of the middle verse. Since English is so poor in Rhyme compared to Italian several translations abandon rhyme and use blank verse which has a great tradition in English. Mandelbaum is one of these. I also think that Ciardi too often changes the meaning in his effort to get the rhyme to work.