ITAL 310: Dante in Translation
Lecture 10 - Purgatory I, II. In this lecture, Professor Mazzotta introduces Purgatory and proceeds with a close reading of Cantos I and II. The topography of Mount Purgatory is described, and the moral system it structures is contrasted with that of Hell. Dante's paradoxical choice of Cato, a pagan suicide, as guardian to the entrance of Purgatory ushers in a discussion of freedom from the standpoint of classical antiquity, on the one hand, and Judaism, on the other. In his refusal to be enslaved by the past, both on earth and in the afterlife, Cato is seen to embody the virtues of exile, setting an example for the penitent souls of Ante-purgatory (Purgatory II), including the pilgrim, who still clings to the comforts of the past. (from oyc.yale.edu)
| Lecture 10 - Purgatory I, II |
| Time | Lecture Chapters |
| [00:00:00] | 1. Purgatory as an Idea and as a Poetic Construction |
| [00:07:34] | 2. Canto I: A New Departure |
| [00:16:35] | 3. The Muses: Tonality and Orientation |
| [00:23:27] | 4. Cato |
| [00:30:14] | 5. Suicide; Purgatory as the Domain of Freedom |
| [00:40:42] | 6. Canto II: Purgatory as the Antipodes of Jerusalem: Exodus |
| [00:49:46] | 7. Internalizing the Narrative; The Exilic Condition; Casella |
| [01:00:29] | 8. Question and Answer |
| References |
| Lecture 10 - Purgatory I, II Instructor: Professor Giuseppe Mazzotta. Lecture 10 - Texts [PDF]. Visual Resources - Lecture 10 [HTML]. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov]. |
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