InfoCoBuild

ITAL 310: Dante in Translation

Lecture 05 - Inferno IX, X, XI. In this lecture, Professor Mazzotta discusses Inferno IX-XI. An impasse at the entrance to the City of Dis marks Virgil's first failure in his role as guide (Inferno IX). The invocation of Medusa by the harpies that descend while they wait for divine aid elicits Dante's first address to the reader. The question of literary mediation, posed in the previous lecture in the context of Inferno V, is explored further, and the distinction Dante draws between the "allegory of poets" and the "allegory of theologians" is introduced. Inferno X is read with a view to the uniqueness of the sin it deals with - heresy. The philosophical errors of the shades encountered here, Farinata and Cavalcante, are tied to the political turmoil they prophecy for Florence. From the disorder of the earthly city, Dante moves on to the order on its infernal counterpart, mapped by Virgil in Inferno XI. The moral system of Dante's Hell is then discussed with a view to its classical antecedents. (from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 05 - Inferno IX, X, XI

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Introduction to Cantos IX-XI
[00:03:52] 2. Canto IX: The Three Furies and Medusa; Address to the Reader
[00:11:01] 3. An Allegory at Work
[00:18:30] 4. Understanding the Threat of Petrifaction
[00:29:53] 5. Canto X: The Heretics
[00:51:49] 6. Canto XI: The Sins of Fraud
[01:03:08] 7. Question and Answer

References
Lecture 5 - Inferno IX, X, XI
Instructor: Professor Giuseppe Mazzotta. Visual Resources - Lecture 5 [HTML]. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Introduction
Lecture 02 - Vita Nuova
Lecture 03 - Inferno I, II, III, IV
Lecture 04 - Inferno V, VI, VII
Lecture 05 - Inferno IX, X, XI
Lecture 06 - Inferno XII, XIII, XV, XVI
Lecture 07 - Inferno XIX, XXI, XXV, XXVI
Lecture 08 - Inferno XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII
Lecture 09 - Inferno XXX, XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII, XXXIV
Lecture 10 - Purgatory I, II
Lecture 11 - Purgatory V, VI, IX, X
Lecture 12 - Purgatory X, XI, XII, XVI, XVII
Lecture 13 - Purgatory XIX, XXI, XXII
Lecture 14 - Purgatory XXIV, XXV, XXVI
Lecture 15 - Purgatory XXX, XXXI, XXXIII
Lecture 16 - Paradise I, II
Lecture 17 - Paradise IV, VI, X
Lecture 18 - Paradise XI, XII
Lecture 19 - Paradise XV, XVI, XVII
Lecture 20 - Paradise XVIII, XIX, XXI, XXII
Lecture 21 - Paradise XXIV, XXV, XXVI
Lecture 22 - Paradise XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX
Lecture 23 - Paradise XXX, XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII
Lecture 24 - General Review